Ensuring you get enough magnesium can help reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 16 million Americans suffer with cognitive impairment. This impairs quality of life, steals the enjoyment from life and can eventually be fatal. Cognitive decline has reached epidemic proportions.

A lot of different factors are responsible for the declining brain health of Americans: nutrient deficiencies, high sugar and vegetable oil diets and environmental toxins. One critically important nutrient for brain health is magnesium, and a large number of people don’t get enough of it.

Recent studies have shown that the serum and brain magnesium levels in Alzheimer’s disease patients are reduced. Research conducted on rats has shown that magnesium administration protected the learning and memory capacities of those with Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, magnesium also reversed impairments in long term nerve potentiation, dendritic abnormalities (nerve cell abnormalities), and the impaired action of synaptic proteins. Importantly, magnesium also improved insulin sensitivity. This is significant because type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance are major risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. The authors of the study concluded by saying that magnesium is important for protecting cognitive function and also offers a useful treatment for people who already have dementia.

Magnesium deficiency can be difficult to diagnose because it can cause such a wide range of different symptoms and health problems. It is also difficult to test whether a person has sufficient magnesium in their body. Blood tests are not useful because only approximately 1 percent of the body’s magnesium is present in the bloodstream. Most magnesium is in the bones, muscles and organs.

Not many people realize just how critical magnesium is to your body. This mineral is responsible for approximately 300 metabolic processes in your body. Many people associate magnesium deficiency with anxiety, insomnia and muscle cramps. This is certainly true, although magnesium is also required for energy generation in your body and is brilliant for helping to overcome fatigue.

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