Magnesium is an essential mineral that is required to sustain healthy blood vessels, generate cellular energy, and maintain healthy nerve and muscle function. Magnesium is known to help maintain healthy heart rhythm and blood pressure. The results of research conducted at Harvard Medical School show the importance of magnesium in lowering risk of death from sudden cardiac death. Adding more magnesium-rich foods to your diet will dramatically improve your chances of surviving a heart attack.

Obtaining sufficient magnesium from your diet can be difficult, though, due to modern unnatural farming practices. The result of a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition provides evidence that women with the highest dietary intake of magnesium were 41% less likely to suffer a fatal cardiac event.

The study followed more than 88,000 women over a period of 30 years and examined magnesium intake as well as other vital nutrients and lifestyle factors. Women in the highest quartile for dietary magnesium consumption experienced the highest degree of protection from sudden cardiac death. The study authors determined that 291 lives were spared in the study group for those women with the highest magnesium intake.

The study authors concluded: “In this prospective cohort of women, higher plasma concentrations and dietary magnesium intakes were associated with lower risks of sudden cardiac death. If the observed association is causal, interventions directed at increasing dietary or plasma magnesium might lower the risk of sudden cardiac death.”

Magnesium can be obtained from a diet high in green leafy vegetables, grains, and soaked nuts and seeds. The minimum recommended daily allowance for the mineral is set at 320 mg per day for women while men need 420 mg. Studies indicate that the vast majority of adults are deficient in their daily intake.

Magnesium works with calcium to regulate blood sugar and assist the normal function of insulin. The results of a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology show that women with the highest intake of magnesium from diet or supplements have a 27% lower risk of developing suboptimal insulin function. Those individuals with the lowest levels of circulating magnesium are 25% to 38% more likely to develop insulin resistance, resulting in poor blood glucose regulation.

Hippocrates Pure Food-Grade Magnesium Chloride is available.