Magnesium is critically necessary to treat all hormonal imbalance issues - including PMS, PCOS, thyroid conditions, perimenopause, anxiety, and adrenal fatigue. It is the one sure-fire supplemenst we always recommend. In our experience, there is not one woman we have met who has not needed a boost to her magnesium levels.
Magnesium is magic for your hormones. It is a foundational support to all hormone functions in the body - without it you will not produce hormones at levels you need, and ovulation will become irregular. If you’ve just arrived at this website and you know you have a hormonal imbalance (even if you don’t yet know), and you want someplace to start, start with magnesium!
How to know if you are magnesium deficient
Our bodies literally get rid of magnesium when we are stressed because magnesium is a stress-preventer (evolutionarily, this makes sense - in generations past, if you were stressed it was usually because of an immediate threat to your life. Your body doesn’t want you to feel relaxed in those moments, so it gets rid of this chilled-out, sleep-aiding mineral).
The reality is that we are all too stressed, too much of the time these days. With busy schedules, nonstop demands, as well as both perceived and real concerns coming at us, we live in a state of chronic stress. If you lead a pretty regular life - that is, you work, you juggle jobs, you worry about your finances, you worry about your kids, and you have trouble sleeping - then you do not have enough magnesium, plain and simple. There are other reasons you’re likely magnesium deficient - aside from stress - including your intake of sugar (sugar requires magnesium to be processed in the body, so every time you eat sugar, your body is wasting magnesium), and how much coffee you drink (studies have shown that caffeinated drinks force your body to excrete magnesium).
Basically a lot of the things many of us do every single day - get stressed out, drink coffee, eat sugar, stress some more, sleep little - cause us to have a deficiency in magnesium.
The benefits of magnesium
These are some of the ways in which magnesium is vital for your hormonal balance and overall health, and why it is critical to supplement when dealing with PMS, PCOS, adrenal fatigue, anxiety, a thyroid disorder, perimenopause symptoms, and really any issue relating to your hormone cycle.
- Cortisol regulation – magnesium calms your nervous system and prevents the creation of excess cortisol, the stress hormone. When your stress hormonal system is in balance, your levels of progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, FSH and LH will be too.
- Blood sugar balance – magnesium helps to control insulin production and reduces sugar cravings, and as such, prevents blood sugar spikes. This is vital when it comes to healing hormonal issues like PCOS.
- Thyroid support – magnesium helps the production of the thyroid hormone and, as an anti-inflammatory, prevents thyroid disease.
- Sleep aid – magnesium will make sure you get to sleep and stay asleep through the night. It also prevents chronic urination, which can be a sleep interruptor.
- Hormone creation – magnesium actually makes your hormones progesterone, estrogen and testosterone, so if you’re getting into perimenopause or are just coming off the Pill and your levels are low, it’s a great help to your body.
How to boost your magnesium levels
There are many foods that contain magnesium, including good quality dark chocolate and sunflower seeds (which is why I have a bit of both every single day), but I do suggest supplementing with a more direct approach to make sure you’re getting the levels of magnesium you need. You can do this by using either:
- Epsom salts - add two cups of epsom salts to a bath a couple of times a week and you will receive sufficient magnesium (and a nice relaxing bath, preventing magnesium-zapping stress!).
- Topical oil - I recommend Ancient Minerals that you apply directly to your skin. Applying magnesium to the skin helps with absorption as you avoid the gut, which can compromise absorption if your gut health isn’t great.
