A rather sobering thought – there is at least one licensed medical practitioner in the U.S. who is instructing their patients that by using plenty of black pepper in their diet they are receiving adequate amounts of magnesium.
How do we know this? Well…
A customer of ours called in to us complaining of being tired and run down and asking about our Nascent Iodine as a means of boosting their energy levels. Through conversation it was discovered that she wasn’t sleeping well due to muscle cramps and various other aches & pains. When we suggested that muscle cramps may be a sign of magnesium deficiency, she explained that she couldn’t be magnesium deficient since she was using a lot of black pepper on her food, three times per day.
Excuse me, what was that?
Apparently, this person was told by her physician that black pepper was loaded with magnesium and that if you use enough of it, you’d be getting sufficient amounts. Make no mistake, black pepper does indeed contain magnesium. However, the quantity of black pepper that you would need to consume to obtain your daily requirement would be a bit daunting by even the most staunch pepper enthusiast.
Approximately 12mg of magnesium is contained in one tablespoon of black pepper. To give this some perspective, if you were to eat an entire cup of black pepper you’d still only be getting around 192mg of magnesium.
Of course, the average 1/2 teaspoon of pepper [with its 2mg of magnesium] that’s dashed onto a meal or stirred into a recipe will eventually add up – but by no means should that compose your primary manner of obtaining this utterly vital mineral. In our opinion, there are plenty of other sources of magnesium that should be explored before you resort to raiding your spice cabinet.
Other Uses for Black Pepper!
If you love black pepper, you probably love it for that little bite that comes with it. Well, that pungent bite is mostly due to an alkaloid called piperine. Piperine has been the focus of numerous studies and has shown some extremely promising potential amongst a wide range of uses.
Piperine…
- Has been shown to increase plasma levels of CoQ10
- Contains anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, antioxidant, and anti-diarrhoeal properties
- Is a natural bio-availability enhancer
- Shows cancer-preventative properties
- Has a mild anti-depressant effect
With all of these benefits and more, adding more black pepper to your meals sounds like an excellent idea… just not as an economical way of getting your daily magnesium (let alone battling a possible magnesium deficiency).