Magnesium… how much?

A friend of mine introduced me to the lifestyle I am currently living, just a few of her influences are Paleo, Whole 30 and the art of being positive.  She is also a big believer of Magnesium.

I am currently sorting out the best dose of Magnesium for my body and it's not easy as too much Magnesium will upset the stomach. Instead of thinking it was upsetting, I am accepting it's powerful ability to relax the muscles ( including the gut ) too much so diarrhea can be the result.

In the past few days, I found my energy has dipped, mood is low and not producing satisfying bowel movements. I thought about adding a bit Magnesium supplement in my diet again but was concerned about the possibility of it causing digestive upset.

The current Magnesium supplement I am taking for this experiment is composed of Magnesium Oxide, Malate and Glycephosphate and Oxide has laxative properties in it.

The first day, I took 1 whole tablet 250mg in the morning and felt wonderfully relaxed, I took another in the evening and that didn't go so well, my sleep was disturbed and so was my stomach.

The next day, I took 1/2 tablet 125mg in the morning ( ground to a powder and added to my smoothie ) The powder form was better tolerated. In the evening, I tried another 1/2 tablet (whole, not ground) with dinner. That night, I felt stomach upset again, but less than the night before and by the next morning I was still feeling some effects.

Topical application:

I tried applying Magesium "oil" but am not finding the same relaxing effect as taking it internally, the only place I can apply it without skin irritation is the sole of my feet. Another method I haven't tried is to cut the Mag oil with a carrier oil like coconut oil. I will try that tonight.

Food Source Magnesium - source from nature

I haven't consciously looked for Magnesium from food source until I am giving the supplement more thoughts. Foods that is rich Magnesium include Pumpkin seed and basil, which are two of my favorites so I will try to up those in my diet and see how that affects me.

In conclusion, I found that grinding my Magnesium tablets into a powder and adding it to my smoothie seems to be best absorbed. I might add some pumpkin seeds into my smoothies to give it another boost. I would really like to find the best dose of Magnesium for me as my body feels relaxed when I am not experiencing digestive upsets.  Apparently, not all Magnesium is the same, some has more laxative effects which I will be staying away from.  My research shows the easiest form of Magnesium for absorption without upsetting the digestion are Magnesium Glycinate/ Chloride/ lactate. I will be picking up some and we will see how it works out.

Reference Source:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/12/17/magnesium-benefits.aspx

http://drhoffman.com/article/crohns-disease-and-ulcerative-colitis-2/#sthash.j13gMImB.dpuf