Healthy Recipe Doctor

We all know calcium is vital to our health, but the mineral, magnesium, deserves some respect too. Magnesium is involved in biochemical reactions that keep our bones strong, keep our heart rhythm healthy, and our nervous system functioning smoothly. That sounds pretty important don’t you think? But only about 32% of the U.S. population met the recommended daily intake for magnesium, according to data from the Agricultural Research Service Community Nutrition Research Group.

Eating a magnesium-rich diet may also help reduce your risk of development metabolic syndrome (a collection of risk factors leading to heart disease, stroke and diabetes). Researchers from a huge multi-center study called CARDIA that followed thousands of adults over 15 years, found that people with the highest magnesium intakes from foods were 30% less likely to develop metabolic syndrome than those with the lowest magnesium intakes. [Circulation 2006; 113:1675-1682]

I was actually one of their research dietitians in the beginning of this study, many moons ago, while I was a graduate student at Cal Berkeley. But I digress!

You can actually meet almost your entire magnesium requirement with a healthy handful of roasted pumpkin seeds! Just 1/4 cup contains about 300 mg of Magnesium (95% of the Dietary Reference Intake.) Foods listed as “good sources” of magnesium, by the Agricultural Research Service, other than pumpkin seeds, include barley, buckwheat flour, lowfat vanilla yogurt, trail mix, halibut steaks, garbanzo beans, lima beans, soybeans, and spinach. Other foods considered to be “rich” sources by other sources include: almonds, cashews, beans in general, avocados, and whole grains in general!

~Elaine

Related Topics: Sally Field: An Osteoporosis Story, Metabolic Syndrome Hurts Heart

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