To keep your body thriving, aim for a varied, balanced diet packed with proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and antioxidants. These essential nutrients fuel growth, development, and help ward off illnesses and injuries. One powerful habit endorsed by nutritionists? Add a magnesium-rich dinner to your routine. This essential mineral plays a key role in regulating countless body functions, boosting your physical, mental, and emotional well-being for a healthier, more energized you.
The Clínica Universidad de Navarra confirms that magnesium is an indispensable mineral for human nutrition and most of it comes from vegetables such as dark green leafy vegetables. According to members of the academic and health institution, minerals are inorganic components, i.e., those found in nature without being part of living beings. Among their functions are the formation of tissues, the synthesis of hormones and participation in most chemical reactions. Magnesium is essential for the assimilation of calcium and vitamin C, it affects the transmission of nerve impulses and balances the central nervous system. It also allows an increase in bile secretion. Its presence is key and necessary in the group of minerals, responsible for the transport of oxygen to the cells. “Minerals serve as structural material and for growth, maintain water balance and contribute to the defense against infections,” they explain.
What foods for dinner are rich in magnesium?
The table of foods that stand out for their considerable magnesium content is wide and diverse. But if you want to elaborate dinners rich in magnesium, you have to look for the following ingredients to make healthy and natural preparations: snails, chickpeas, white beans, peas, corn, whole wheat bread, lentils, langoustines, prawns, shrimp, chard, mashed potatoes, dates, pasta and spinach.
The Cleveland Clinic suggests making preparations with a select group of foods that allow you to incorporate this mineral into your body. For that, nutritionist Anna Taylor selects nuts and seeds, legumes, fiber-rich whole grains, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and fruits.
“Nuts and seeds may be small, but they pack a lot of nutritional value thanks to their high protein, fiber, healthy fats and minerals such as magnesium,” says Taylor. Favorable choices are roasted almonds, roasted cashews, whole flaxseeds, dry roasted peanuts, peeled and roasted pumpkin seeds and chia seeds.
Legumes, dairy products and fruits to obtain magnesium
In the legume group, boiled black beans such as edamame and lima beans are recommended. Within the fiber-rich whole grains are quinoa and shredded wheat.
If you want to use low-fat dairy products for your magnesium-rich dinners, you have to use preparations with skim milk and natural yogurt. At the same time, to follow a healthy diet, you can supplement with fruits such as avocados, bananas, papaya and blackberries.
Why are you deficient in magnesium?
The Spanish Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics explains that there are different causes that trigger a decrease in magnesium values in your body. The most frequent are stress, drug interactions and digestive disorders.
The professionals of the academy indicate that magnesium is involved in the regulation and neurotransmission of the normal nervous response to stress. At the same time, they warn that stressful situations with increased cortisol increase the loss of magnesium.
“The physical response is generated because there is a greater elimination of magnesium through urine and a lower intestinal absorption that favors a deficit of this mineral, which is essential for the proper functioning of the nervous system,” according to Carolina Alejo, dietician-nutritionist, biochemist and pharmacist.
Regarding drug interactions, the use of drugs such as diuretics and proton pump inhibitors (antacids) increase the elimination of magnesium or interfere with its absorption.
If we are unwell and with digestive system difficulties, it is common to trigger a deficit in magnesium levels and values.
Dietitian Carolina Alejo explains that altered intestinal absorption for different reasons, vomiting or chronic diarrhea, altered renal function, type 2 diabetes and alcohol abuse, are situations that can contribute to lower magnesium levels in the body.
A diet containing magnesium-rich dinners allows you to care for and strengthen your immune system. In this way, you get enough of the mineral that your body requires in the development of the functions of all its systems.