I could talk a long time about a LOT of things, but few things more than the importance of adequate mineral intake.
And one of my favorites to park at and chat about is: Magnesium.
Now magnesium is ESSENTIAL. It’s one of the seven essential minerals that your body must have.
Linus Pauling, double Nobel Prize winning chemist, famously said, “You can trace every sickness, every disease, and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.”
Our children are often deficient and we often don’t even realize it!
What are some of the signs? They include (but aren’t limited to):
- Grumpiness/Irritability
- “Growing Pains” or cramps
- Anxiety/Stress
Are you kids experiencing any of these?
As they hit major growth spurts, childrens’ bodies gets really depleted of magnesium which can lead to growing pains, night terrors and trouble settling down at night in general.
Magnesium is one of 60+ minerals that I, and my children, take every single day.
In my opinion, it’s more important (and beneficial) than a multivitamin; it’s essential for hundreds of biochemical pathways!
And what about safety? Great news. It’s water soluble, and easy to spot when you’ve had enough (your stools will be loose).
The known benefits of Magnesium are too bountiful to even list in their entirety, but I’ll share a few.
- Fights depression (better than drugs in many cases)
- Balances mood
- Supports bone growth and health
- Relieves anxiety
- Support healthy bowels
- Improves sleep
- Stops headaches
- Relaxes muscles
- Brain support
Basically…you want magnesium and you want enough of it-for you and your family.
When sick, it’s invaluable.
Amazingly, a protocol of magnesium has even shown effectiveness against viral illness.
If you or your child is very deficient, it can take a few days, weeks or even months to replenish. Give yourself time to see the benefits. You deserve it!
So how can we get some?
Pumpkin seeds are super high in it, followed by almonds and spinach.
Choose sprouted raw seeds/nuts when possible!
An ionic supplement will also get you all you need, and my favorite is Young Living. In my opinion, it's the best one on the market-it’s blended with 60 naturally occurring and derived trace minerals (like selenium, copper and ZINC) plus herbs that help with absorption. It's called Mineral Essence.
It even assists with hydration of cells, making your water-drinking more efficient!
To be honest, it doesn’t taste great (although all of my children take it without struggle, so it must not be SO bad).
I bribe them with a Lily’s chocolate chip.
Dark Chocolate
Avocados
Pumpkin Seeds
Chia Seeds
Flax Seeds
Legumes
Fatty Fish (like salmon)
Bananas
Greens
Want a recipe to make your kids super happy, and give them lots of magnesium to boot?
How about two recipes?
Keep reading!
This Chocolate Pudding packs tons of magnesium in each bite (but the kids won’t be able to tell!).
- Magic Chocolate Pudding
1 cup avocado (the less “ripe” the less avocado taste)
1 ripe banana (the riper, the better)
4 Tbs raw cacao powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbs Maple Syrup
Place ingredients at room temperature into a high speed blender. Blend until completely smooth and combined.
Chill for a minimum of 30 minutes before serving.
- The riper, the better on the banana
- The less ripe your avocado is, the less avocado taste
- If your produce is more firm, you may add up to 3 tbs of liquid water or your milk of choice
- You may sub any sweetener for the Maple Syrup
- A little almond extract is also yummy-it's strong so just a couple drops!
- Add a drop of Young Living Orange Vitality oil or Young Living Peppermint Vitality oil for a variation
- Top with any fruit/seeds you like! Chia seeds, crushed pistachios + sea salt, berries, and grain free granola are some of our favorites!
If you liked this recipe, head over to my post for my super cozy and convenient Pumpkin Mag Muffins to delight everyone in your house.
Before being “crunchy,” I baked all the time and was known for it.
Anytime I went to an event, friends would ask me to bring one of my elaborate cakes.
But when a health crisis hit our home and we started cleaning up our nutrition to get well, the sugar and white flour had to go.
One of the things I made often that was always a hit was a delicious pumpkin loaf.
Friends asked me to make it even in the summer….in Florida!
Seems sort of wrong to eat pumpkin when it's 102 degree heat index outside, but here we are.
Living our best peninsula life, and eating autumn squash with reckless abandon.
When I went to clean eating, I didn’t want to give up my favorite treat, so I found a great recipe for a grain-free, refined-sugar free pumpkin goodness.
Then enter kids, and we needed quick, easy snacks that would nourish their bodies, so muffins became a thing.
If you have been around little ones, you know sometimes getting enough nutrients in them can be a challenge.
Their varying appetites, growth spurts, moods and preferences can affect their nutrient intake greatly.
Sometimes they only wanted a microscopic few bites at dinner. I felt like they were living on air!
So, my goal became finding nutrient dense foods that bite-for-bite were going to provide solid fuel for growing brains and bones and all the rest.
The idea of nutrient dense food isn’t unique to me-many families are realizing the importance of making each bite count, especially for children!
We soon discovered that muffins are pretty much magic kid food.
They’re perfectly sized and portioned (little ones can hold one with two hands…meanwhile my oldest son grabs 3 at a time!), fairly un-messy, easy to transport, freeze well for make-ahead, and come in every variety you can dream up.
That’s why I have tried many ways to pack even more nutrients into the muffins that come out of my kitchen.
Chia seeds, ground flax seed and grassfed beef collagen often find their way into my mixing bowl, just to name a few.
My love for pumpkin loaf and desire to make nutrient dense foods for my children that they’d enjoy is how we arrived at these muffins.
Magnesium is one of the most important minerals to your body for so many things.
I am constantly talking about the benefits of Magnesium.
So I pumped up these muffins to make them magnesium-packed as well…..hence the name Pumpkin Mag Muffins!
Each muffin has 100 mg of magnesium in it-how about that!
The recipe uses a variety of food sources that are known for being full of magnesium, along with other powerful nutrients like omegas - chia seeds, flax seeds, and almond flour to name a few.
If you want to use a boxed mix, like my favorite one from Simple Mills, you can add up to ½ cup of magnesium rich seeds like chia and flax, and even substitute some of the liquid in the recipe for pureed pumpkin to do a semi-homemade version.
This recipe originally appeared in and has been adapted from Paleo Running Mama.
3 large eggs
1 cup organic pumpkin puree
1/3 cup organic coconut milk (The fattier the better! Full fat coconut or raw cow are my faves)
1/3 cup organic coconut sugar
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup or honey
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour or arrowroot
3 tbs whole chia seeds
2 tbs ground flax seed
1 Tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
½ -1 tsp cinnamon
small pinch of salt
- Preheat oven to 350 and line a muffin pan with parchment liners
- Whisk wet ingredients and sugar until very smooth
- Add dry ingredients to the wet and beat by hand until very smooth and blended
- Fill each cupcake liner ¾ of the way with batter. *sometimes I like to put a couple of pumpkin seeds on top to decorate them!*
- Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, checking with a toothpick for doneness.
These muffins store wonderfully in the freezer for grab-and-go breakfasts or travel, and they’re great “help yourself” snacks for bigger kids (and grown-ups!).
Do you like having baked goods on hand for quick snacks? What’s your favorite thing to make? I would love some more ideas!
What if I told you the #1 thing you can do to improve every single system in your body is absolutely FREE?
Yep!
You don’t need to buy a single thing to boost your immune system.
When I started doing this one thing, here’s what happened to me:
My skin cleared up at least 70%
Dark circles all but disappeared
I had more sustained energy all day
I ate less without trying (actually lost a few pounds accidentally)
I could think clearer & had less brain fog
Are you ready for it?
*stops to take a drink of water*
As it turns out, grannies advice to drink more water was absolutely correct.
See the thing is, in the morning when you wake up, you’re already dehydrated.
At just 5% dehydration, your energy is reduced by 25%!
Without adequate amounts of water, your brain chemicals and hormones can’t travel freely to flow where they need to flow so that you can GO where you need to go and do what you need to do.
Your body needs you to drink more water.
A few of the more critical functions in the body regulated by water include:
- removal of waste through the gastrointestinal and urinary systems,
- blood and lymph flow throughout the body,
- transfer of nutrients to the cells and the removal of toxins,
- regulation of body temperature,
- balance of hormones, and
- the cushioning and regulation of all organs, including the brain.
- In Water for Health, for Healing, for Life, Dr. Batmanghelidj writes that water normalizes the blood-manufacturing systems and “increases greatly the efficiency of the immune system in the bone marrow, where the immune system is formed.”
Dehydration, even subclinical dehydration-meaning you feel thirsty- is a breeding ground for your pathogens. It makes draining mucus and phlegm more difficult... making easier for you to get sick.
Are you convinced? Good.
So before you go to bed tonight, fill a glass of water and place it by your bed. In the morning, before your feet hit the floor, sip it down. Before the coffee or tea or whatever. Then, refill that glass after you brush your teeth. Before you shower. After hanging up your purse when you arrive back home.
Grab a free printable water tracker for a visual reminder and encouragement.
Start with the morning one, because starting your day by flooding your body with hydrations releases that brain fog, moves your blood and lymph and helps you get going on the right foot.
Make drinking water enjoyable so that it’s easier to incorporate to your day.
Are you excited to do this? I would love to hear your gameplan!
Enjoy being HYDRATED!