Losing a loved one is an emotional rollercoaster, and navigating the turbulent waters of grief can be incredibly challenging. The feelings of pain, sadness, and physical discomfort can be overwhelming. While there's no magic solution to make the pain go way, there are proactive steps you can take to manage any grief symptoms and provide your body and mind with some much-needed support during this difficult time.
Understanding the Power of Magnesium
One often-overlooked factor in managing grief is ensuring we are getting enough magnesium. Magnesium is an essential mineral that plays a pivotal role in over 300 biological processes in our body. Here are a few ways in which sufficient magnesium can help alleviate grief symptoms:
Muscle Relaxation and Pain Reduction: Grief commonly manifests as muscle tension and pain due to emotional stress and anxiety. Magnesium helps the muscles relax which in turn can help with swallowing and moving food along the GI tract, preventing many digestive issues.
Better Sleep: Difficulty sleeping is another common grief symptom, resulting from both physical discomfort and emotional distress. Magnesium can improve sleep quality and duration by calming the mind and reducing anxiety.
Mood Regulation: Grief often leads to low mood, and lack of magnesium has been linked to an increased risk of depression and anxiety. This is because magnesium contributes to the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin, the ‘happy’ hormone.
Energy Boost: Fatigue is another challenge we face when we are grieving. Magnesium plays a vital role in energy production by participating in the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats and regulating blood sugar levels.
Heart Health: Grief often leads to heart palpitations and high blood pressure due to stress. Magnesium helps maintain a steady heartbeat and normal blood pressure, reducing the need for blood pressure medication.
Bone Health: Grief can indirectly impact your bones due to changes in eating habits, digestion and nutrient absorption. Magnesium, along with vitamin D and calcium, helps keep your bones strong and healthy, providing essential support for your physical resilience.
The Grief-Magnesium Connection
Stress takes a toll on our magnesium levels – whether it’s stress due to our fast-paced modern-day lifestyle. Or emotional stress triggered by grief. Or both. However, lack of magnesium disrupts the balanced production of stress hormones, making it harder for us to cope with all the physical and mental symptoms of grief.
Now that we understand the link between stress and magnesium, let's explore how you can ensure you are maintaining consistently high levels of magnesium to navigate grief with more ease.
- Try to get plenty of magnesium through your diet. Some of the best sources of magnesium include:
- Dark leafy greens (such as spinach, Swiss chard or kale)
- Nuts and seeds (especially almonds and pumpkin seeds)
- Whole grains (such as brown rice and quinoa)
- Avocados
- Legumes (such as black beans and lentils)
- Dark chocolate
- Consider taking a supplement. The most absorbable forms of magnesium are
- Malate
- Glycinate or Bisglycinate
- Citrate
- Taurate
- L-Threonate
Talk to your doctor or a qualified healthcare provider to determine if a magnesium supplement is right for you.
- Not sure about supplements? Why not give Epsom Salt baths a try? Unlike oral magnesium supplements, which may cause digestive issues for some people, Epsom salt baths provide a gentle and relaxing way to improve your magnesium levels.
The warm water helps to open up the pores of your skin, allowing the magnesium and sulphate to be absorbed more effectively.
No bathtub? No worries! A foot bath will work wonders as well.
If you're curious about magnesium supplements, feel free to explore my newsletter on this important topic.