MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY + PCOS

Remember when I did a magnesium mini-series back in March? We talked about different ways you can get magnesium into your body without using a supplement. If you missed it, it was a social media series you can find on Facebook or Instagram.

While researching I discovered the connection between magnesium, deficiency, and PCOS. I have done a lot of digging on ways to naturally balance my hormones and help alleviate my PCOS symptoms so I was shocked when I discovered this connection I had yet to hear of.

The Connection Between Magnesium Deficiency and PCOS and Other Reasons Why You are Low on Magnesium

Women with PCOS are 19 times more likely to have magnesium deficiency which increases their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Why is this the case? One theory is that chronic insulin lowers magnesium levels.

There are other factors of course like diet and lifestyle that could be playing a role in magnesium deficiency. Individuals who eat low amounts of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains also tend to lack adequate amounts of magnesium. Whole grains, bananas, spinach, avocado, raspberries, broccoli, cabbages, are all foods that contain magnesium.

Something to keep in mind, research shows there are fewer minerals in soil than there used to be resulting in, you guessed it, fewer minerals in our foods. When possible getting your vitamins and minerals through whole foods is ideal, however, this is not always possible.

Another reason you may be deficient in magnesium is there is an absorption issue. You are eating well, maybe even taking magnesium supplements but your body isn’t actually getting it. Reasons? It is estimated that only 20-55% of internal magnesium from supplements are absorbed. Which means the majority of internal magnesium supplements are exiting the body in urine. One solution I gave to this during out magnesium mini-series is through a transdermal application, apply magnesium to the skin.

Fluoride in your water supply could be adding to this issue of magnesium deficiency as it binds to magnesium and makes it unusable in the body. You can easily check to see if your city has fluoride in it water by checking HERE.

The last potential factor I will mention is over-consumption of caffeine and sugar which both deplete magnesium. Being under consistent stress is another magnesium depleting factor. So as you can see there are quite a few reasons why you are depleted in magnesium.

How Magnesium can Help Women with PCOS

There is a lot of information here on why many people are deficient in magnesium? There are probably 1/2 a dozen more potential reasons but I think you get the idea, so now let’s talk more about PCOS and Magnesium.

Although there are many different “kinds” of PCOS most women with it have some kind of insulin resistance. There is a connection with a deficiency in magnesium and insulin resistance. Studies have shown that magnesium can help reduce insulin by allowing the glucose to enter cells where it is then used for energy.

This is huge for women with PCOS as we are almost all deficient in magnesium, which could be naturally helping our body process glucose. Many women with PCOS find great help in using medication like Metformin. Metformin increases the sensitivity of muscle cells to insulin, which enables cells to remove sugar from the blood more effectively. I am not saying you should go off your medication if you are diabetic or have insulin resistance from PCOS but making sure you are getting enough magnesium is a really good place to start if you are looking for natural solutions to you insulin problem, besides the obvious one, cut out refined sugar.

There are are also some other amazing supplements that could benefit you like: Inositol (vitamin B8, and Chromium. I am not going to go into details on these in this post but they are worth looking into if you have insulin resistant PCOS.

Anxiety and depression is another common symptom with PCOS. Having low levels of magnesium is believed to be an underlying cause of anxiety. Studies show that magnesium benefits those who have anxiety. This is thought to work because magnesium works to calm the excitability of the nervous system which then reduced anxiety.

High blood pressure? It could be linked to not enough magnesium! If this is another one of your PCOS symptoms you may want to give magnesium a try!

How to Get More Magnesium Into your Body

Now you may be wondering how can I get more magnesium into my body? I mentioned above that only 20-55% of internal magnesium from supplements are absorbed and recommend applying magnesium topically through a lotion, spray or even add into a bath!

Topical application is the most effective way to get magnesium into your body but it definitely wouldn't hurt to add some magnesium rich foods in there as well!

I make a big batch of my frozen Spinach Cubes, you can find the Simple Recipe Here. Cooking spinach makes it easier for your body to absorb iron and magnesium making it a great addition to your daily smoothie!

Other foods that are high in magnesium and easy to add to your diet: