Alkaline Recipe #194 Magnesium-Rich Super Smoothie
Magnesium deficiency can lead to hundreds of incredibly debilitating conditions and it is estimated that around 80% of the Western world is chronically deficient and most don’t even realise.
We hear all about vitamin d deficiency, calcium deficiency, the importance of getting enough fibre and protein…but magnesium is perhaps even more important.
Why Magnesium Is So Important
Magnesium is critical to almost every function in our body – yet our modern diet is absolutely devoid of this highly alkaline mineral.
Research published in the journal BMC Bioinformatics found that this one essential mineral activates over 350 biochemical processes in the body – and a deficiency can have far-reaching consequences.
What starts as twitches, little spasms and restless legs can quickly escalate, developing slowly and un-noticed beneath the surface before suddenly erupting as a serious condition.
Diabetes, fibromyalgia, several cancers, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, osteoporosis, IBS, inflammation, hormone disruption, depression and more are all associated with chronically low magnesium levels.
And because less than 1% of total body magnesium is in the blood – low magnesium is not picked up by regular routine blood tests.
Make Sure You Are Not One of the 80% Seriously At Risk of Low Magnesium
This smoothie is my anti-dote to magnesium deficiency.
This deliciously alkaline, anti-oxidant, magnesium-rich smoothie not only leaves you feeling satisfied, energised and thriving – but it contains 140% of your RDI of magnesium per serve!
(plus 32g of protein, 87% of your potassium needs, 96% of your daily fibre, 65% of your daily calcium and so on…)
Imagine getting all of this goodness in before you even leave the house in the morning!
Plus because of the nature of these ingredients, you can make twice as much as you need and either freeze the rest or store it in the fridge for up to 36-48 hours so you can get all the magnesium you need the next day too!
(I like to freeze in individual serves and then take a frozen serve to work with me – allowing it to defrost naturally during the day and then enjoying as a mid-morning snack).
The Live Energized Magnesium Super Smoothie
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 1 avocado
- 3 handfuls kale
- 1 small cucumber
- 4 handfuls spinach
- 3 handfuls swiss chard
- Small handful almonds (approx 25 nuts)
- Handful pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup navy beans
- 200ml almond milk (or water)
Method
Simply blend all of the ingredients together!
You can use filtered water instead of almond milk to keep costs down (or use another nut milk), and feel free to vary the quantities of the milk/water to the thickness you like.
This smoothie is substantial and will keep you full for a long time – with the combination of protein, fat and fibre (the satiation equation!) – you will be kept going for hours on a glass of this!
Are You Magnesium Deficient?
Nine of the most common ways in which magnesium deficiency shows up are:
- Leg cramps
- Insomnia
- Muscle pain/Fibromyalgia
- Anxiety
- High blood pressure
- Type 2 Diabetes
- High Blood Pressure
- Fatigue
- Migranes
- Weak bones
If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms – it’s worth adding more magnesium into your diet as it will undoubtedly help!
Remember – An Alkaline Diet is Magnesium Rich!
If you are eating a varied, alkaline-based diet you will be getting plenty of magnesium. My daily diet is rich in these magnesium-rich green foods, nuts like almonds and cashews and other foods that are full of mag such as quinoa, chia, avocado, beans, nuts, seeds, pulses and so on.
A typical day eating from my one of my Alkaline Meal Plans in my Alkaline Base Camp mentoring group including these recipes:
Breakfast: Live Energized Power Smoothie
Lunch: Alkaline Lunchtime Wrap
Dinner: Alkaline Thai Curry
And snacking on Almonds & Seeds
Leads to a magnesium intake of 273% the RDI (and 93g protein as an aside).
The biggest influence on whether a food is alkaline is it’s concentration of alkaline minerals – and magnesium (alongside potassium, calcium and sodium) is one of the most alkaline minerals.
So an alkaline diet is also a magnesium-rich diet.
…and antioxidant rich, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-aging…
Enjoy
Ross
[yumprint-recipe id=’81’]
Alkaline Recipe #194 Magneiusm Super Smoothie Scientific References & Sources:
Arayne MS, Sultana N, Hussain F. Interactions between ciprofloxacin and antacids–dissolution and adsorption studies. Drug Metabol Drug Interact 2005;21:117-29. 16355977
Adebamowo SN, Spiegelman D, Willett WC, Rexrode KM; Association between intakes of magnesium, potassium, and calcium and risk of stroke: 2 cohorts of US women and updated meta-analyses. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015 May 6. Epub 2015 May 6. PMID: 25948665
Adebamowo SN, Spiegelman D, Flint AJ, Willett WC, Rexrode KM; Intakes of magnesium, potassium, and calcium and the risk of stroke among men. Int J Stroke. 2015 Oct ;10(7):1093-100. Epub 2015 Jun 4. PMID: 26044278
Aydin H, Deyneli O, Yavuz D, Gözü H, Mutlu N, Kaygusuz I, Akalin S. Short-term oral magnesium supplementation suppresses bone turnover in postmenopausal osteoporotic women. Biol Trace Elem Res 2010;133:136-43. PMID 19488681
Chiu HY, Tu-Hsueh Yeh, Yin-Cheng Huang, Pin-Yuan Chen; Effects of Intravenous and Oral Magnesium on Reducing Migraine: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial; Pain Physician. 2016 Jan ;19(1):E97-E112. PMID: 26752497
De Oliveira GS, Castro-Alves LJ, Jamil H Khan, Robert J McCarthy; Perioperative systemic magnesium to minimize postoperative pain: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Anesthesiology. 2013 Jul ;119(1):178-90. PMID: 23669270
Del Gobbo LC, Imamura F, Wu JHY, de Oliveira Otto MC; Circulating and dietary magnesium and risk of cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Jul ;98(1):160-73. Epub 2013 May 29. PMID: 23719551
Eisinger J, A Plantamura, P A Marie, T Ayavou. Selenium and magnesium status in fibromyalgia. Magnes Res. 1994 Dec;7(3-4):285-8. PMID 7786692
G-C Chen, Z Pang, Q-F Liu; Magnesium intake and risk of colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2012 Nov ;66(11):1182-6. Epub 2012 Oct 3. PMID: 23031849
Hurry A. et al; Higher magnesium intake is associated with lower fasting glucose and insulin, with no evidence of interaction with select genetic loci, in a meta-analysis of 15 CHARGE Consortium Studies. J Nutr. 2013 Mar ;143(3):345-53. Epub 2013 Jan 23. PMID: 23343670
Huss M, Völp A, Stauss-Grabo M; Supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, magnesium and zinc in children seeking medical advice for attention-deficit/hyperactivity problems – an observational cohort study. Lipids Health Dis. 2010;9:105. Epub 2010 Sep 24. PMID: 20868469
Jin Ko H, Chang Ho Youn, Hyo Min Kim, Yoon Jeong Cho, Geon Ho Lee, Won Kee Lee; Dietary magnesium intake and risk of cancer: a meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies. Nutr Cancer. 2014 ;66(6):915-23. Epub 2014 Jun 9. PMID: 24910891
Larsson SC, Orsini N, Wolk A. Dietary magnesium intake and risk of stroke: a meta-analysis of prospective studies. Am J Clin Nutr 2012;95:362-6. PMID 22205313
Larsson SC, Wolk A. Magnesium intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis. J Intern Med 2007;262:208-14. PMID 17645588
Sarafidis PA, Georgianos PI, Lasaridis AN. Diuretics in clinical practice. Part II: electrolyte and acid-base disorders complicating diuretic therapy. Expert Opin Drug Saf 2010;9:259-73. PMID 20095916
Sun-Edelstein C, Mauskop A. Role of magnesium in the pathogenesis and treatment of migraine. Expert Rev Neurother 2009;9:369–79 PMID 19271946
Tao Xu X. et al; Safety and efficacy of calcium and magnesium infusions in the chemoprevention of oxaliplatin-induced sensory neuropathy in gastrointestinal cancers. J Dig Dis. 2013 Jun ;14(6):288-98. PMID: 23432969
Wark PA, Lau R, Norat T, Kampman E; Magnesium intake and colorectal tumor risk: a case-control study and meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Sep ;96(3):622-31. Epub 2012 Aug 1. PMID: 22854408
Yamori Y, Takashi T, Hideki M, Mari M; Low cardiovascular risks in the middle aged males and females excreting greater 24-hour urinary taurine and magnesium in 41 WHO-CARDIAC study populations in the world. J Biomed Sci. 2010;17 Suppl 1:S21. Epub 2010 Aug 24. PMID: 20804596
Zheng J, Xueli Mao, Junqi Ling, Qun He, Jingjing Quan, Hongbo Jiang; Association between serum level of magnesium and postmenopausal osteoporosis: a meta-analysis. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2014 Jun ;159(1-3):8-14. Epub 2014 Apr 12. PMID: 24728877
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of LiveEnergized, Energise International or its staff.
in this high magnesium can you put some fru it to make it more palatable can I still takeyou magnesium supplements
Hello Ross,
Thank you for this smoothie recipe. 🙂
I have two questions. First, are the beans cooked? And does one drink the 2 servings right away? I have heard that juices/smoothies lose their nutrients if not taken deank right away.
Hey Alex
The beans are either prepared and cooked by you, or are from a tin – whatever time permits.
Juices and smoothies, like all fresh foods, will begin to lose nutrients once they’ve been tampered with (sliced, diced, juiced, cooked, steamed) – once they are out of their natural form the nutrients will start to diminish. BUT this is a pretty slow process. It’s speeded up by light, heat and air – so once you’ve made the drink get it into an airtight container and into the fridge.
It will keep for 24-36 hours, but if you have serve number 2 a few hours later you’ll have lost almost nothing.
Ross
Hi Ross, Karl here from Sydney. Trust you are well. Well of course you’re well!!!!
The magnesium drink is a mighty big snack!!! Goodness, that thing will sustain you for breakfast lunch & dinner!!
But seriously, it’s a great drink together with the added advantage of copious amounts of magnesium. Thanks again for the great recipes mate. Cheers
Thanks Karl – long time! Hope you’re going great! And yep – super filling 🙂
What are Navy beans? I have not heard of them
They are also known as haricot beans, but you can also use kidney beans or white kidney beans (canellini beans).
Cheers
Hi, Ross ~ thank you for your continued inspiration and guidance. I’m on a strict AIP (autoimmune protocol*) diet which means no legumes, nuts, or seeds 🙁 Any suggestions for substitutes in this magnesium-rich drink?
Many thanks for all you do!
Cynthia Manchester
503-475-3865
*Psoriatic arthritis, post bilateral mastectomy (breast cancer x 2), neuropathy in feet, hypertension, heart arrhythmias (no diabetes), glaucoma…enough, already!
Hi Ross, I’ve loved all your recipes! Can you tell me about the navy beans? Are they raw, soaked, cooked? Thanks!
Either prepared yourself (soaked) or from a tin – self-prepared is obviously better, but a lot more labour intensive 🙂
Sadly I produce oxilate stones and many of the foods you recommend are classed as high in oxilates and therefore not great for my situatiin. I have heard that magnesium can help to balance the system and assist in peeventing the fornation of stones.
It certainly can. There is, in my opinion, a general over-estimation of how much oxalates in foods play a role in these conditions. However, what everyone agrees on is that lightly steaming the foods reduces the oxalate content significantly.
Hi Ross
I have very low vitamin d levels, high calcium and high PTH., suggesting hyperparathyroidism. I experience severe cramps (in the oddest places), joint pain and severe fatigue. Could magnesium play a part in alleviating my symptoms and is there a connection between hyperparathyroidism and magnesium deficiency?
Hi Nia
There is definitely a preferential ratio of calcium to magnesium of 1:1 at most and preferably 1:2 in favour of mg. Most people on a standard western diet are more like 5:1 in favour of calcium. I would definitely try increasing your magnesium intake through a quality supplement (I like Thorne Research’s supplements: https://www.thorne.com/products/products/dp/magnesium-citramate )
And also looking to specifically increase the amount of magnesium in your diet by purposefully including more of the mg-rich foods.
Hyperparathyroidism is not a simple condition but the solution is simple conceptually – you really do need to just remove gluten, processed foods, sugar and keep things as fresh and as close to natural as possible.
R