Magnesium-Are you getting enough?

While the main reason most of my patients come to see me is because they have lower back and/or leg pain and have heard that nonsurgical spinal decompression is often the treatment of choice for their complaints, whether it be due to a herniated disc or other spinal malady, often the discussion turns to nutrition and what role if any may it play in their recovery.

The importance of dietary magnesium and the role in plays in health and disease frequently comes up.

So what is magnesium anyway?

Approximately 99% of the total magnesium in the human body is located in our bones, muscles and soft tissues. This makes it very hard for us to measure the magnesium level in our bloodstream as only about 1% is extracellular, so taking plasma or serum magnesium levels is not going to be a very accurate measuring tool.

Magnesium is an essential mineral that is involved in more than 300 regulatory enzyme systems that control our muscles, nerves, bone, protein, DNA, glucose and energy metabolism. Now that’s pretty important, don’t you think?

Interestingly, magnesium deficiency gets implicated in a wide range of disorders such as heart arrhythmias, anxiety, kidney stones, high blood pressure, anxiety, diabetes, fatigue, seizures, leg cramps, restless leg syndrome, headaches, premenstrual syndrome, chest pain, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, weakness, and an array of other problems. Given that magnesium plays such a vital role throughout the body, it’s not surprising to find a deficiency of magnesium to be correlated with so many disorders.

How much is enough?

The average person should get at least 400 mg of magnesium a day, and fortunately there are a lot of foods that are excellent sources of magnesium. These include dark leafy greens such as kale, chard and spinach; tree nuts and peanuts; seeds; oily fish; lentils, whole grains, beans and legumes; avocado, yogurt, bananas and dried fruit; dark chocolate and molasses just to name a few. Magnesium supplements are also available and many of our patients choose to supplement with magnesium to assure they are getting adequate intake.

I personally got interested in this a few years ago and in addition to my intake of magnesium rich foods I also supplement 400-800mg daily.

For those of you who are struggling with herniated disc or other spinal related issues, do make sure that your magnesium intake is on track as it will make a difference in your ability to heal.

LOW CARB OR LOW FAT? Which one is right for you?

Many of the most common questions I receive from patients concerns how to lose weight and how to maintain a healthy weight.

This discussion always comes around to what do the ‘experts’ recommend, and to be quite frank the literature is all over the place!

While we can find loads of experts with all sorts of theories and tons of research papers on all sides of the aisles, at the end of the day most folks are thoroughly confused and don’t know who to believe.

Here’s a link to a discussion of 23 studies that were done on the hotly debated topic of Low Carb or Low Fat? Which one is right for you?

http://authoritynutrition.com/23-studies-on-low-carb-and-low-fat-diets/

Secret to Weight Loss? Food Not Exercise

Not a day goes by that I am not discussing nutrition and its relationship to our health. Many of the questions we get from patients relate to how can they possibly manage their weight better.

Here’s yet another article about why our nutrition is so critically important to both our health and in helping us manage our weight.

 

http://blogs.webmd.com/breaking-news/2015/04/secret-to-weight-loss-food-not-exercise.html

Why You Shouldn’t Skip Breakfast

As usual, your mom was right. Most of us can recall our mother’s voice each morning, sternly reminding us to eat breakfast. After all, she would say, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Well, she might not have known just how right she was.

Not only do we need energy to start the day, but researchers have learned that breakfast also affects our mood and our waistlines. Those of use who regularly skip breakfast are likely to gain more weight, mostly because we make it up later in the day by eating more.

The latest news is particularly unsettling. A study published earlier this year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that individuals who regularly skip breakfast had a whopping 21 percent increased risk of developing diabetes.

The researchers, from Harvard’s School of Public Health, followed more than 29,000 men for 16 years, looking at their diets, exercise and various disease rates. None of the men had diabetes when the study began, but when the scientists zeroed in on eating habits, they found that the men who ate three meals a day were less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than men who only ate once or twice a day. This was true even if they had a higher BMI (Body Mass Index) and lower quality diets.

Although this particular study looked only at men, I was struck by the sheer number of individuals at risk for diabetes. Especially when we have simple, powerful solutions right at our fingertips-like a yummy breakfast!

Sadly, with most of us rushing through our mornings-late to work, frantically packing school lunches and signing permission slips, worried about traffic-a leisurely breakfastbreakfast feels like an elusive luxury.

Good news is, there are many easy ways to break the fast. For example, it’s blueberry season. Blueberries are amazing for many reasons, not to mention how great they taste. They’re full of antioxidants, packed with nutrients and might even help you stave off osteoporosis by keeping your bones strong.

 

 

Does my weight affect my back pain?

Remember our discussion about Gravity? Well how about the effects of our weight on our spine? Excess weight obviously will play a role on the health and well being of each of us, and without question lugging around a lot of extra weight is going to add insult to injury when it comes to our backs!

scaleRemember our discussion about Gravity? Well how about the effects of our weight on our spine?

Excess weight obviously will play a role on the health and well being of each of us, and without question lugging around a lot of extra weight is going to add insult to injury when it comes to our backs!

If you are carrying around an extra 40 lbs. for example, that means you are carrying a 40 lb. barbell up and down the stairs all day long. Every time you get up to go somewhere you are taking that 40 lb. weight with you! You get the picture I’m sure, and all the extra weight is being carried by your heart, your lungs, your muscles, and so on. Trust me, your entire body will thank you if you can get back to a weight that promotes good health!

Each of us has an ideal weight that will allow our bodies to function at their highest possible level and unfortunately many of us are significantly overweight resulting in a great deal of added stress.  The added stress of excess weight when we have lower back pain is a recipe for disaster.

I can hear you now saying what the heck can I do about it? Losing weight is everyone’s nightmare, but it doesn’t have to be! Many of the patients that we treat for persistent and chronic lower back and/or leg pain show up in the clinic with weight problems as well. The good news is that losing weight is incredibly easy when you follow a few simple rules.

Want to learn how? Get in touch with the clinic and attend one of our upcoming Nutrition and Low Back Pain workshops…. you’ll be glad you did!!

Dr. Jeffrey K. Tunick