Balance Your Minerals, Balance Your Mood!
Our mineral levels actually have a big impact on our energy, mood and nervous system health. Since they’re needed in almost every life-giving enzyme reaction that happens in the body, this makes perfect sense! Continue reading to learn about the role of minerals and our mood, and how to rebalance both!
Minerals + Mood
Magnesium
Magnesium is the first responder to ongoing stress, and can get depleted quickly. Around 70% of the population are deficient. It’s an anti-anxiety and heart mineral and helps relax our muscles and regulate our energy production.
Low magnesium levels can contribute to:
feeling irritable
depression
addictions
anxiety
insomnia
🥬 A few foods high in magnesium are:spinach, pumpkin seeds, avocados, hemp seeds, swiss chard, dark chocolate, almonds, cashews, mackerel
Calcium
Calcium is incredibly important for our nervous system because it maintains nervous system impulses. It’s also important for bone and dental health. Our body can raise tissue stores of calcium to help numb our emotions when we’ve experienced trauma of any kind.
Low levels may lead to:
hypersensitivity
nervous, anxious
memory loss/ brain fog
hard to make decisions
🥬 A few high-calcium foods are: nettle infusions, sardines, almonds & almond milk, grapefruit juice, cow & goat milk, cow & goat cheese, yogurt, collard greens, alfalfa tea
Sodium and Potassium
Sodium and Potassiumare both needed to help pump nutrients in and out of every cell. These minerals regulate our blood pressure and energy production. On the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis tests that I run, I always look at the sodium-potassium ratio as a gauge for over-all vitality. When these minerals are very low, we know the adrenal glands are usually very stressed as well.
Low sodium
digestive issues- our body needs sodium to make stomach acid
exhaustion
lack of motivation
lack of ability to handle stress
Low potassium:
heart palpations
imbalanced cortisol levels
panic attacks
feeling tired but wired
🥬 A few high-sodium foods are:celtic sea salt or Redmonds’ Real salt, seaweeds, pickled veggies, sauerkraut, celery juice, artichoke, beets, swiss chard, animal products, eggs.
🥬 A few potassium-rich foods are: acorn squash, nettle infusions, celery juice, coconut water, coconut milk, beet greens, avocados.
One More Mood-Supporting Trace Mineral:
Lithium
Lithium orotate, the natural mineral form, is considered by some holistic practitioners to be one of the MOST important minerals for mental health and mood imbalances. It’s a calming and sedative mineral, found beneficial for anxiety, depression, bipolar symptoms, and memory loss (1). Lithium helps stabilize our moods, is neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory and helps regulate our circadian rhythm. (2) Most tests I run for clients show very low levels of lithium.
Low lithium may contribute to:
Sub-clinical bipolar symptoms
Mood swings/ mood instability
Low mood or depression
Anxiety
Increased irritability
Increased aggression or agitation
Emotional reactivity
Increased risk of addiction/cravings
How to Measure Your Mineral Levels
Bloodwork is very useful for some markers, but not all. That’s why I recommend the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis. With this easy home-test, we can see the tissue levels (not blood levels) of minerals and metals, which is necessary when we want accurate results. It’s the first test that every participant of Mood Alchemy starts with.
This simple screening test is easy to do at home-you’ll just need to snip a tiny hair sample then mail it off to the lab!
With the results, we’ll be able to learn:
which custom blend of minerals your body needs for optimal health (instead of guessing!)
what stage of stress your body is in
which heavy metals are an issue
how burnt-out your thyroid and adrenals actually are (which won’t show up on labs!)
exactly which mineral depletions are causing symptoms
what foods are best for your unique metabolic type
The validation people feel after getting a properly interpreted HTMA test is my favorite part! You can’t hide your stress and fatigue from this mineral test. And you won’t be dismissed with: “You labs look fine!” In fact, I know you’ll feel super relieved to finally get back test results that show the root-causes behind your low energy, brain fog, digestive and mood issues.
In Health + Wholeness,
Annika
(1) ‘Nutritional Essentials for Mental Health’ by Dr. Leslie Korn, pg 234
(2) https://www.organicfacts.net/lithium-orotate.html
I’d also like to thank Lisa Pite-Killah for her teachings on mood and minerals.
This information is being provided to you for educational and informational purposes only. It is being shared to provide general information and as a self-help tool for your own use. It is not to be substituted for the advice of licensed professionals of any kind. This information is to be used at your own risk based on your own judgment.