What is the one nutrient you may need to improve your sleep?  Magnesium deficiency may be the key.

I use to suffer frequently with irritability, PMS, inability to fall asleep and frequent migraines. I knew that stress played a big role but it took some research and confirmation from a naturopathic doctor that magnesium deficiency was also playing a big role in my symptoms.

Are you finding sleep difficult? Not feeling your best self so you can enjoy your life and be fully present with your friends and family can make life very challenging.

The Problem with Our Food

One of the main minerals required for plant growth is magnesium. There are a total of 17 required. However, there are only three that are used in the modern fertilizers which are potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus.

Why do we suffer from a lack of this one nutrient, magnesium. For one thing it plays a huge role in our overall health. Most of us do not eat near enough foods containing magnesium and due to industrialization, the soil is not as enriched with this mineral as it once was

There is a lack of crop rotation, erosion and continuous use of chemical fertiliizers, pesticides and herbicides which have prevented the ability of the soil to restore the nutrients needed for healthy crops.

Also if you use a water softener then you would want to use other water for drinking such as spring water since the sodium content in the water softener will hinder magnesium levels in your blood when consumed.

The role of magnesium in our body is numerous and 800 different roles have been identified. No wonder so many health conditions are linked to its deficiency. Our cellular energy depends on enzymes but these enzymes depend on magnesium to do their job.

Here is a list of just a few conditions that magnesium plays a role in:

• inflammation, 
• muscle tension,
• high blood pressure,
• anxiety and stress,
• blood sugar sensitivities,
• vitamin D deficiencies,
• adrenal fatigue,
• fibromyalgia,
• migraines and headaches,
• insomnia,

The list is much larger but for you, I am sure you can relate to at least one of them.

However, I did want to zero in on sleep. Sleep is so important for energy restoration, cellular repair and detoxification. The more stressed you are, the more magnesium you use up and the harder it is to fall asleep and stay asleep. 

The reason is that magnesium plays a role in the production of melatonin which is the hormone that regulates your sleep and wake cycle. Also if you are experiencing tension in your muscles, it will be difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. So you may want to look at the root cause which could be stress or a diet deficiency.

Here are some foods that are a good source of magnesium:

• Swiss Chard
• Kale
• Collard Greens
• Asparagus
• Nuts
• Whole grains

Eating your foods from an organic source will help with improved nutrient density due to better soil quality and lack of herbicidal sprays. However, if you cannot get organic, you can always take a magnesium supplement.

Also you will need to be able to break down and absorb your food properly with sufficient enzymes and stomach acid in order to absorb the magnesium through your small intestines.

So if you are using an ant acid, you need to be aware that they will hinder your ability to absorb magnesium into your body because you will not be able to efficiently dissolve it in your stomach. Stress will also hinder your body's ability to produce sufficient hydrochloric acid and enzymes for proper absorption. Any gastrointestinal inflammation will impede your ability to have sufficent magnesium for your overall health.

This is why I believe that supplementation is so important and why I always recommend this supplement as a main foundational supplement in your cupboard.

The one that has helped me with tension and improved sleep is magnesium bis-glycinate. This is magnesium bound to an amino acid called glycine to help with absorption. A study in 2016 showed that magnesium bis-glycinate absorbed better than the other forms of magnesium you may have taken called magnesium citrate or magnesium oxide.

So if you are having symptoms such as sleep disturbances, I would suggest keeping a food journal to see how many magnesium containing foods you are getting into your diet and consider supplementation.

5 Steps to Increase Your Energy

Client Support

I provide all my clients with easy access to magnesium bis-glycinate through my online dispensary and it get delivered right to your door.

You can create your own account here at: https://luanaflacco.com/products/ and scroll down to click on the Fullscript dispensary banner.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments!

References:

Goh Norman, Magnesium, A Complete Primer, Toronto, CanPrev; 2018

Pawlick, Thomas F., The End of Food. Vancouver; Greystone Books; 2006

Yingting Cao, Shiqi Zhen, Anne W. Taylor, Sarah Appleton,... Zumin Shi (2018.09.21), Magnesium Intake and Sleep Disorder Symptoms,Findings from the Jiangsu Nutrition Study of Chinese Adults at Five-Year Follow-Up LINK: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6212970/

Are you feeling tired and unable to find the energy you need to do the things you want to do?  This can be so frustrating!  I know you want to be all that you were created to be.

Does this sound like you?

• You do not bounce out of bed like you use to and feel that you just did not get enough rest.  
• Falling asleep seems to take forever and once you do, you may wake up one or more times before your alarm.
• You spend your days feeling stressed with so much to do and can hardly get dinner on the table.   
• If you could start a new hobby or work more for yourself,  that would help you feel like you were fulfilling your life’s purpose.   
• Having more energy means you can say yes to a volunteer opportunity at your favorite community charity or church.  Giving back in your community would give you so much joy. If only you could find the energy to do so.
• You love spending time out with your friends but sometimes you just feel too tired to do so.
• Taking longer walks or joining an exercise class seems like a chore.  Even too much exercise makes you tired
• Eating nutritious foods seem boring to you and you struggle to eat from scratch during the week since eating healthy makes you think you need to be a gourmet cook.  Prefab and oven ready is so much easier!
• You experience digestive and intestinal disturbances no matter what you do to fix your diet.  

No need to suffer, click the button below to book a complimentary End Your Fatigue strategy call.   Let's get acquainted and see if we can work together.

You feel your best years are behind you and just want to feel well.  But what does well feel like since you have settled for feeling so tired all the time.  It seems normal.

Do you have some of these symptoms?

• Catching a cold is the norm and when you do get sick, it seems to take a month for you to get back to yourself again.  Only then you fear getting another virus that will keep you from your goals.
• Sore throats
• chest colds
• laryngitis
• occasional fevers every year are just no fun and you think that this is normal for you at your age.

You spend at least $200 a month on supplements and you feel you have chosen the ones for you but still you have not found the solution to your problems.

If only you could find a solution!  You know your hormones are out of whack and your immune system is not the best.   Where is that magic pill?

You turn to Google searching for answers. However, you continue to be groping in the dark with quick fixes that never bring you lasting results.  It like “throwing spaghetti at the wall.”

No more groping in the dark and hoping.   Book your complimentary End Your Fatigue strategy call with me by clicking the button below.  Let's talk. No obligations. Let's get acquainted.

I sympathize with what you are going through.  After I turned 40 it seemed all downhill from there.  My body started turning on me too. I needed to learn the right way to nourish myself and eliminate the irritating foods until my body was better able to digest them.  

I needed accountability and a coach to help me find my way. I needed education about my hormones and digestive system.

If you haven’t joined my closed Facebook Support Group yet, please click Here.

I know you want to live your fullest potential.  You know you need help but fear of failure is holding you back.  

Investing in your health is what will give you the ability to move forward but you are scared of spending your hard-earned money in the wrong places and seeing very little results.

What you need is a system or a Roadmap.  If someone could give you a Roadmap to get to where you need to go, you would take it right?

You’ve been to your MD and probably a naturopath but need a better Roadmap and coaching partner.  Someone that will give you the steps to take, accountability and encouragement along the way

Take a minute to book your free End Your Fatigue strategy call with me by clicking the button below.

Improving your gut health is important for better absorption of the nutrients in the food you eat.  Absorbing your nutrients will provide you with energy to get through your day.  So if you are suffering from fatigue, this is a clue that you may have an imbalance in your gut.

I knew that this was true for me especially when I would eat foods I could not digest well and felt very lethargic and experienced brain fog a few hours later. 

Your gut is also known as your digestive system and includes the ecosystem of microbes that must exist in balance in order to digest and absorb nutrients in your small and large intestine, as well as detox out of your body substances that will only cause you to feel unwell.  The health of your gut influences the health of your entire body.

Your fatigue issues can tell you a lot about the health of your gut.

A Greek physician also referred to as the Father of Medicine was named Hippocrates who said, “All disease begins in the gut.”

Recent research shows that our gut (digestive system) has a bigger role to pay in many diseases than we used to think. These would include but not limited to allergies, pain and inflammation, mood disorders, and nutrient deficiencies.

There are a lot of reasons for this. Our gut is open to the outside world and acts as a barrier to toxins. It is here where we take in disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and parasites. We also take in nutrients through our gut.

The nutrients we ingest and absorb are the building blocks of every single part of our body. We're just learning the connections between our gut and other areas of our body, like our brain called the gut-brain connection.   Have you also heard of "the adrenal-gut connection"?  This is regulated by the HPA axis which is the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal axis. 

The adrenals which sit on top of your kidneys are very connected to the health of your gut.  When you are stressed the hypothalamus sends a signal to the pituitary gland to tell the adrenals to produce cortisol.  Cortisol that is pumping constantly will give you energy but will also interfere with the balance of your gut bacteria which consists of both good and bad bacteria that must exist in a balanced ecosystem in your gut for optimal health and increased energy.

So being constantly stressed is not good for the health of your gut. Also getting enough sleep and exercise will help to reduce the cortisol levels and therefore may help to bring your gut back into balance.

 Let's talk about the roles that your gut and gut microbes play in your overall health. Then I'll give you tips to improve your gut health naturally.

Your gut’s first pillar of health is its main role as a barrier. Your gut is a long tube with a job to let things in that should get in, and to keep things out that should stay out. Think of “absorption” of nutrients as things we want to let in; and “elimination” of waste as things we want to pass right through and out of our body.

The role of your gut is super-complex and can break down in so many places.

For one thing, your gut can "leak." That means the lining of your intestines can open and allow undigested food particles, bacteria and toxins to enter our bloodstream.  This can wreak havoc on your whole system causing you to feel unwell and and have a variety of symptoms in including fatigue. 

The result of this irritation causes inflammation, which is a starting point for many diseases. Inflammation is a cause of many fatigue issues.  It has been at the root of a lot my own fatigue issues even though I did not know it at the time.

Now do you see how your fatigue issues can be linked back to the health of your gut?

FUN FACT: About 70% of your immune system lives in and around your gut.

Maintaining a healthy gut barrier is the first pillar of gut health.

The second pillar of gut health is its role of producing and maintaining the billions of friendly health-promoting microbes. Gut microbes help us digest and absorb nutrients. They fight off disease-causing microbes, make B vitamins for us, and have all kinds of other health benefits, like mental health benefits, reducing inflammation, and stabilizing blood sugar.

So, keeping your gut microbes happy is the second pillar of gut health!

​There are a lot of natural ways to improve gut health. It’s always best to eliminate the cause, so let’s stop giving ourselves junk food. You can start with eliminating added sugars, processed foods, and alcohol? Try that for a few weeks, and you may be amazed at how much better your body (and gut) feels.

You may also want to eliminate other gut irritants. Dairy and grains are common gut irritants. Sometimes you only need to eliminate them for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference for your energy levels.

By eating nutrient-dense foods, you allow ample macro- and micro-nutrients into your gut to maximize the chance for absorption. These nutrients help your body to build and repair your gut lining, and every other body part as well. Some of the most nutrient-dense foods include dark leafy greens, colorful fruits and veggies, liver, and fish.

The second pillar of gut health is our microbes. By ingesting probiotic-rich foods and drinks, you can help to replenish your gut microbes.

These are found in fermented foods like:

•  kombucha,
• kefir,
• miso,
• sauerkraut, and
• kimchi. 

Make these a part of your daily diet.  If you do have food sensitivities you can try fermented foods such as dairy in the form of Kefir or bread in the form of sourdough.

Whole foods are full of gut-friendly fiber. Not eating enough fiber increases the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity.

Fiber helps us to:

•  eliminate toxins and some also
• act as food for your good microbes called prebiotics 
• help you absorb and digest your food better.

What foods have a lot of fiber?

Some examples are: fruits, whole grains, beans, vegetables, nuts, and seeds

​The function of your gut is key to your overall health. There are two pillars of gut health: maintaining a good barrier and maintaining healthy gut microbes.

The main ways to improve both of these naturally is by eating nutrient-dense whole foods. Foods filled with nutrition, probiotics, and fiber and eliminating common gut irritants like added sugar, processed foods, and alcohol.

References:

https://authoritynutrition.com/does-all-disease-begin-in-the-gut/

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-nutrition-gut-health

http://neurotrition.ca/blog/your-gut-bugs-what-they-eat-and-7-ways-feed-them