Precious Mineral Lowers Stroke Risk

01/19/2012

Joseph

Stock up on the green veggies and whole grains because they may just save your life. In a report published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Swedish scientists have found that foods rich in magnesium may lower an individual's chances of suffering a stroke.

Susanna C. Larsson and colleagues from the National Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden analyzed data from 7 case studies involving 241,378 participants and 6477 stroke cases to learn about the association between magnesium intake and stroke risk.

They surmised that consumption of 100 mg of Magnesium per day reduced total risk of stroke by 8% and was inversely associated with ischemic stroke - strokes caused by vascular obstruction. The data didn't show any association between magnesium and hemmorhagic stroke, though.

The Karolinska Institutet's findings suggest that eating a diet rich in magnesium could be effective for preventing ischemic strokes.

What Does Magnesium Do?

Magnesium is one of the most plentiful minerals in the human body. The mineral is important because:

it helps maintain normal blood pressure
helps build strong bones
strengthens the immune
helps cells talk with each other
helps heart rhythm

Magnesium is so integral to the normal functioning and stability of the body, that you can't long survive without it.

Good Sources Of Dietary Magnesium

(The image "Food sources of Magnesium" by the USDA on wikipedia)

It shouldn't be difficult to get magnesium into your diet. The mineral is commonly found in many foods including:

spinach
almonds
soybeans
peanuts
bananas
brown rice
pinto beans
cashews
dark chocolate
oatmeal
wheat
raisins
avocados
low fat yogurt

Although there is evidence that magnesium may be beneficial against stroke, the mineral can be dangerous if misused.

The National Academy of Sciences Institutes of Medicine recommends that adult women between the ages of 19 and 30 years consume 310 mg of Magnesium each day, with the recommended daily allowance increasing to 320 milligrams for women age 31 and older.

The NAS recommends that young men between the ages of 19 - 30 should consume 400 milligrams of Magnesium each day, whereas men over the age of 30 should 420 mg per day.

For more information on dietary sources of magnesium, visit the Office of Dietary Supplements which is maintaned by the National Institutes of Health.

That's the scoop on what this precious mineral can do, what you do with this knowledge is up to you.

“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Romans 10:9).

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Article Sources

Larsson, S., Orsini, N., & Wolk, A. (2011). Dietary magnesium intake and risk of stroke: a meta-analysis of prospective studies American Journal of Clinical Nutrition DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.111.022376

Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_in_biology