Most of us hardly need reminding that getting stuck into a wide range of fruit and vegetables does wonders for our health and wellbeing.
The greater variety you can manage throughout the course of a week, the more nutrients you’ll be packing into your system and the healthier your gut microbiome will become.
Likewise, most of us will have been bombarded with information about how crucial vitamins are for keeping our bodies in tip-top condition.
However, there are numerous other vital nutrients that rarely grab the headlines, despite playing a fundamental part in keeping our bodies ticking over properly.
Magnesium is one such unsung hero; this mineral is so crucial that it’s actually involved in more than 300 reactions throughout the body, registered dietitian Patricia Bannan revealed.
Yet “despite its importance, about half of adults… don’t get enough magnesium from food”, she warned, according to Surrey Live.
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Boosting your magnesium levels doesn’t have to be complicated — and you don’t need to hunt down exotic or pricey foods or fork out ridiculous prices for supplements.
You can easily increase your magnesium consumption by choosing foods readily available on any supermarket shelf.
Magnesium is an incredibly important vitamin that humans need to have every day. Magnesium is a mineral that supports numerous bodily functions, including nerve and muscle function, as confirmed by Healthdirect Australia.
As well as this, there’s also compelling evidence that maintaining adequate magnesium levels benefits heart health.
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A peer-reviewed research paper, published in the Cureus: Journal of Medical Science, said magnesium is a “crucial mineral” that plays an important role in cardiovascular health.
The researchers warned that low levels of magnesium are “associated with several cardiovascular issues”, including high blood pressure.
This infers that an adequate intake of magnesium, found in passionfruit, could help to lower blood pressure readings.
Why passionfruit?
Research published in the Frontiers in Pharmacology journal revealed that “more than 110 phytochemical constituents” have been discovered demonstrating “a wide range of health effects and biological activities such as antioxidant, anti-hypertensive, anti-tumor, antidiabetic, hypolipidemic activities”.
The study continued: “These outstanding results suggest that passionfruit may offer a range of health benefits, such as managing inflammatory and neurological disease, and also preventing some chronic diseases like hypertension [i.e. high blood pressure] and hyperlipidemia [high cholesterol].”
Eating passionfruit
In addition to scooping out the inside of the passionfruit to eat the pulp raw, it can also be used a topping for yoghurt, or added to juices.
Other sources of magnesium
Passionfruit isn’t the only natural source of magnesium; plenty of other excellent sources of magnesium exist, such as leafy greens including kale and spinach.
Rebecca McManamon, consultant dietitian and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, informed the BBC that if you’re consuming unsalted nuts or wholegrains daily, along with a variety of fruit, green vegetables and legumes, you’re likely hitting the recommended daily amount of magnesium.
She further noted: “If these are not foods you eat regularly, you may be at a higher risk of not getting enough magnesium.”
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