Magnesium

For those of us who are gluten sensitive, gluten affects us in three ways:

• Damage caused directly by the gluten.
• Damage caused indirectly as gluten reduces our ability to absorb vital nutrients.
• Distraction of our diets away from essential foods, namely vegetables and fruits, nuts and legumes.

One interesting nutrient that gluten inhibits is magnesium. I’m no expert, so here are some links to interesting articles I’ve found about magnesium:

Quick summary, easy to read:

Diet Blurbs

More in-depth but still very readable:

National Institute of Health

Here are some interesting facts I learned that hit home to me:

* Magnesium deficiency is responsible for nervousness that prevents sleep.

* Calcium and magnesium produce calming effects on the brain, essential for normal sleep.

* The lack of magnesium can cause leg cramps and may be associated with restless leg syndrome.

* Talking (and/or walking) in sleep may be related to magnesium deficiency.

Here’s a very interesting article on magnesium and sleep:

Yahoo! Answers

I’ve also learned that magnesium deficiency is associated with diabetes, irregular heart beat, and seizures.

If you are consuming sufficient quantities of magnesium and still have symptoms, you may still be deficient if your body has trouble absorbing it (maybe due to all that gluten!)