If you’re amongst the many people who are taking time off for Spring Break, we have something we’d like to impart…
Don’t forget your magnesium!
So often when we decide to set off for relaxation, fun, or just a change from our everyday routine, we forget some of the most important items in our effort to just let go and enjoy. But what if we told you that bringing something as simple as magnesium along on your trip could, in fact, help you enjoy your trip a lot more?
Here are 5 great reasons why you should make room in your suitcase for your magnesium:
1. Sleep
It’s a statistical fact that going on vacation often means that we struggle with both getting enough sleep as well as maintaining our existing sleep schedules.
Maybe it’s due to a change in time zones – trying to shrug off the dreaded jet lag. Or perhaps it’s simply that between the change in your everyday routine and the foreign accommodations, adequate amounts of quality sleep are more difficult to come by. Whatever it may be, sleep is often a casualty of taking a vacation… but it doesn’t have to be.
Magnesium nearly tops the charts when it comes to essential nutrients for rest and relaxation. As a natural muscle relaxant, magnesium works to ease the stresses of the day and assist in preparing biological systems for sleep. Studies have indicated that adequate levels of magnesium are crucial for not only sleep quality, but for prolonging uninterrupted duration as well.
2. Stress
Have you ever found yourself thinking “I’m going to need a vacation from my vacation?”
Well, you’re not alone. Traveling can be stressful, as well as mentally and physically exhausting, despite every intention to take it easy and decompress from daily life.
Akin to its ability to relax us from the inside out, magnesium plays a vital role in reducing our response to stressful stimuli. On top of diminishing impact on our mental well-being, it also helps moderate our biological response – such as regulating the release of the stress hormone, cortisol. In fact, optimal levels of magnesium have been shown to have an unparalleled mood stabilizing effect.
More importantly, decades of studies have indicated that magnesium is critical to our overall mental health – benefiting everything from irritability and anxiety, to anger and aggression, to severe depression.
3. Energy
I’m envisioning parents with young children, a theme park, copious amounts of walking… desperately wanting a cup of coffee and wondering how they’ll make it through the day.
But of course, you don’t have to be chasing kids to tucker yourself out. Vacation often means seeing the sites, immersing yourself in someplace new, engaging in outdoor activities, and making the most of your time away – the perfect recipe for sheer exhaustion.
But have no fear – magnesium to the rescue! Amazingly, this mineral quite literally helps keep your body powered. On a cellular level, magnesium is a component in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a coenzyme responsible for transporting energy within our cells. Magnesium deficiency has been tied to lethargy, brain fog, and muscle weakness… while at the opposite end of the spectrum, magnesium supplementation has been proven to help increase athletic performance and endurance. Obviously, you don’t need to be an athlete to reap those benefits, but sometimes all of that “sightseeing” makes you feel like one!
4. Alcohol (& Food)
It isn’t just students on Spring Break that tend to consume more alcohol on holiday. Statistics have indicated that alcohol consumption tends to increase when people are vacationing. Everyone, at some point, has probably either heard or said “What the heck, I’m on vacation.”
Of course, it isn’t just alcohol that sneaks its way in during these periods of leisure. Dietary habits are often put on hold or reassessed when traveling, whether due to lack of accessibility, convenience, or just the decision to partake in local fare without your normal “should I or shouldn’t I” filter.
Needless to say, our mineral stores are frequently the casualties of these indulgences, as alcohol, refined sugar, and processed foods result in an increased excretion of magnesium. In turn, that increased loss may impact other areas of your health – that is, unless you have a way to help make up for the deficit.
5. Pain
Pain can ruin a vacation (to put it mildly).
It may begin with something as common as neck and shoulder pain from lugging around a heavy carry-on at the airport. Maybe your feet are complaining from the extensive walking you’ve been doing. Or perhaps you brought chronic pain with you and have simply resigned yourself to its presence on your trip.
Whatever the case may be, pain is something that limits our ability to relax, unwind, and truly enjoy recreation to the fullest.
Fortunately, magnesium is highly adept at bringing those pain levels down. It functions as an anti-inflammatory agent and muscle relaxant… but more importantly, it actually helps to settle the very chemical that has been implicated as a major mechanism of pain itself – N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA). Just how effective is this pain reduction? Intravenous magnesium is utilized in many medical facilities as a post-operative measure to help reduce use of analgesics.
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So if you’re planning your next vacation as a relaxing escape from the stresses of everyday life, be sure to bring some insurance against the stresses of your vacation! Not only is magnesium supplementation readily available, but it’s convenient, inexpensive, and easy to use! Don’t forget to pack your magnesium!