Mad On Minerals

At times we are so concerned with our macro nutrients (fats, protein and carbohydrates), we sometimes put less emphasis on what needs to actually be present for our body to be able to absorb said ‘macros’ in the first place. These are known as ‘micro nutrients’ and minerals fit under this category along pre and probiotic foods, vitamins and anti oxidants.

Minerals work synergistically together to make our bodies function.  They are the true foundations as far as optimum nutrition goes, and it should be noted that without the correct mineral levels, a wonderful balance of vitamins can fall by the wayside and not be absorbed!!

It’s not always safe to supplement one mineral without another, such as copper and zinc. As they complete for the same active sites, taking zinc on its own for long periods of time can override copper. Copper must be present for iron to be absorbed, so if iron can no longer be absorbed, we may find ourselves over tired, with headaches and unable to recover well!

I say this because many of us may have been on a beauty or immune boosting supplement for a long time, which contains high levels of zinc for its amazing healing qualities.  Have a break every 4 months for at least 2 months if this is the case, and think about getting a copper jug or bottle to drink your water from to complement your zinc intake. Please speak to me about supplements containing both zinc and copper in safe levels, and remember that combinations of minerals work better to prevent the above happening.

At CF Organic Wellness, we add these Health Factory Okinowa Sea Minerals into our morning juices to support bone health. This tasteless super fine powder contains 70 essential and ionic minerals including calcium and magnesium. Magnesium is absolutely crucial for our body to function optimally. Its needed for any sort of recovery and healing, controls blood sugar, promotes sleep, reduces muscle cramps, reduces restless leg, aids weight loss & liver detoxification, supports mental wellness and a calms the nervous system. The more stress we put on our body the more magnesium is sapped up to help us remain balanced and our bodies to stay happy. So if we work hard and play hard it makes sense we need to hit magnesium equally hard!

When our body is out of wack it has to work really hard to bring us back into balance, this is know as ‘homeostasis’ or a ‘constant internal environment’. One way the body brings us back into balance is to release calcium from our bones to bring the alkalinity of our body back to where it should be in that particular part. So it would make sense to help our bone density through having plants and supplements containing calcium in abundance to cope with stress on the body. The darker green the vegetable is, the more calcium it contains. Okinowa Sea Minerals are a simple multi nutrient supplement to have every day in water regardless of whether you are cleansing or not. It tastes of nothing!

These sea minerals also contain high levels of iodine. Our bodies loves iodine, it gives us an element of calmness in the security that we feel at home. As it’s thought we are originally amphibious animals, the iodine supports our sea loving side! In particular, the calmer nervous and endocrine system to support our thyroid gland and improve our metabolism.

We sell Okinowa Sea Minerals in 50g and 100g options, available to purchase here.

When working with my fertility clients, or those pregnant or post pregnancy, this is a wonderful easy to take, safe option. As our beautiful beings grow inside of us, they do take rather a lot from our bones and it takes at least 2 years post pregnancy for our bones to remineralise post birth. This is a great way to improve bone health pre-pregnancy, maintain during pregnancy and speed up the remineralising process post birth and during breastfeeding.

I also use this to help children or adults who find a balanced diet slightly difficult to maintain. Children with food, texture or taste sensitivities can easily take this to maintain their mineral intake and help support their bodies develop. Parents with autistic children or those with very limited pallets have found this very helpful! They have noticed improvements in their wellbeing, calmness and learning.

Another way of increasing magnesium would be through magnesium salt baths. We don’t actually need to worry about overdosing on magnesium; any excess will be piddled out in a jiffy! I encourage salt baths to improve liver health by supporting the detoxification pathways during our 3 and 5 day gut and liver reset packages.

You can enjoy a magnesium bath anytime to gain these benefits, children included. Why not get them into good habits of self care when they are young, and let them help in putting the salts in. as the water is running. As kids are just going back to school we need to support their immune systems, and concentration levels by helping to calm their nervous system, improve their quality of sleep and clarity of their thoughts to help them learn better, as well as reduce their anxiety, improve their digestion  and strengthen their immune system. What an easy, fun and affordable way to do it!

Directions:

Babies - half a cup

Toddlers & children -1 cup

Adults - 2 cups

Relax for 20 minutes and rinse off any excess salts in the shower. You may feel slightly itchy in some parts during the first few times, normally in places that you exercise more such as your thighs. This is an indicator that you were more deficient in that area. Don't worry, that will subside after a few baths!

Another good idea for kids both large and small is Nano Magnesium Extra  Strong; an extra clean, safe magnesium supplement. This is the cleanest magnesium I know exists and the bonus that it is absorbed in the mouth, which means there is no question of it being partially destroyed by stomach enzymes and not being fully absorbed. This is another great way to get the kids into a ritual at bedtime by encouraging them to travel into the calmer nervous system through stimulating the vagus nerve and gargling the magnesium water in their mouths. My son is getting really quite good at it! It’s also fine to just hold it in your mouth if gargling isn’t your thing.

For those of you that don’t do baths, or feel you need more help to relax and improve quality of sleep, why not try the MegaMag Night Formula magnesium powder which combines tryptophan, theamine and hops all in one to help you transition into your calmer nervous system and aid further, body and mind recovery. I have received rave reviews from clients on this and use this myself daily. Simply have in water 30 minutes before bed and you're away!