Does Magnesium play a role in Morning Sickness?

Does Magnesium play a role in Morning Sickness?

Magnesium and Pregnancy–a small mineral with big jobs

Magnesium

Pregnancy asks a remarkable amount of a woman’s body. New tissue is being built, blood volume expands, hormones shift, and a growing baby demands a steady supply of nutrients. Magnesium is quietly involved in many of these internal processes.

Magnesium helps support hundreds of biochemical reactions in the body. It contributes to normal muscle and nerve function, energy production, blood sugar regulation, healthy blood pressure, bone development, and is involved in making DNA and proteins. During pregnancy adequate magnesium is especially important because these same systems are supporting both mother and developing baby.

Morning Sickness

As substantial transformation and creation are occurring during all phases of pregnancy; a woman’s body adapts and accommodates in many very physical ways. Some go on nearly unnoticed, like initial cell divisions. Some tend to make a bigger outward statement, like a preggo belly, and of course morning sickness.

Generally speaking, scientific research increasingly links morning sickness to hormonal changes in pregnancy, with genetics influencing how strongly a woman responds to those hormonal signals.

Magnesium and Morning Sickness

Recently I’ve heard Magnesium promoted as a remedy for morning sickness, and statements floating through social media that morning sickness is caused by magnesium deficiency. Doesn’t seem like the most helpful conversation to me, and scientific research does not support those ideas. Magnesium deficiency has not been established as a cause of pregnancy nausea; significant studies indicate hormones and genetics have more impact. Also magnesium supplementation is not considered a standard treatment for morning sickness.

Let’s talk through some of this from a holistic botanical perspective. What I feel is a more relevant angle is how morning sickness can make it harder for a pregnant woman to meet her recently increased nutritional needs. When nausea reduces appetite, or vomiting makes it so your food doesn’t stay down long enough to go through digestion and absorption, well that certainly can make it difficult to get all your needed nutrients simply from eating food. Instead of thinking of magnesium as a remedy to, or driver of, morning sickness, I’d rather discuss magnesium as an important mineral that deserves attention when morning sickness interferes with normal eating and nutrition.

How Much Magnesium is Recommended Everyday?

Ideally we get our nutrients from our diet. Some good food sources of magnesium include dark leafy greens, spinach, black beans and lentils, nuts, seeds, whole grains, bananas, and avocado… And, National Institutes of Health data indicates that many pregnant women do not consistently obtain enough magnesium from their food, which brings supplementation into the conversation. Supplements and overall nutrition should be a deeper, more personal conversation with your pregnancy healthcare practitioners.

Reference and supplement info:
https://drgreenlifeorganics.com/blogs/health/magnesium-101-benefits-food-sources-daily-needs-and-supplement-types

Where Herbs come in

Some herbs, particularly mineral-rich dark leafy herbs naturally contain magnesium, along with other plant minerals and phytonutrients. Pregnancy nutrition is rarely about one nutrient or one supplement. It is about providing a woman’s body with a broad spectrum of usable nutrients. And magnesium doesn’t work alone in the body. Several beneficial forms of magnesium are water soluble or water extractable from plants (think steeping a pot of tea) which means particular herbal tea infusions can significantly contribute to daily intake of magnesium and other essential nutrients. In this regard, I find it helpful to consider herbs as part of the diet, food and beverage nutrition, or a food and herb approach to pre-natal nourishment.

Scientific studies have identified many plants that release their naturally-occurring magnesium into water, most notably Nettle; also lemon balm, linden, rose hips, and spearmint, as well as many traditional spice herbs like basil and marjoram. Culinary use/dose of herbs is safe during pregnancy and can be a pleasant way to add nutrients to food.

Consumed warm, hot, cool, or room temp, an herbal tea made from specific nutritive herbs can complement prenatal nutrition. This can be especially welcome during periods of morning sickness or other times when appetite is unpredictable. Being able to have a hydrating herbal infusion that provides important fluid along with organically present minerals and other nutritive plant constituents without asking the body to manage a large meal. Well now, that can be a wonderful gift to a pregnant woman and her baby.

Parsley Queen created BECOMING… Pre-Natal Tea as a nourishing herbal companion for pregnancy, blended of red raspberry leaf, nettle, oatstraw, lemon balm, rose hips, orange peel, and marshmallow. Several of these plants contain naturally occurring magnesium and have a long trusted reputation for mineral content in general.

BECOMING… Pre-Natal Tea is intentionally designed to sit within the larger story of pregnancy, offering a gentle daily ritual of hydration, nutrition, nourishment, and botanical support for the changing needs of a pregnant woman.

Perspective for pregnant women wanting to consume the recommended 350-400 mg of magnesium daily:

• One medium sized Banana 37 mg
• ½ Cup of black beans 60 mg
• Whole avocado 45 mg
• ¼ Cup of pumpkin seeds 150 mg
• 16 oz Nettle tea 76 mg
• Cup of arugula Raw 9 mg
• Cup of spinach Raw 24 mg
• Cup of spinach Cooked 78 mg

*amounts were measured in scientific studies, in life practice amounts will vary and are impacted by various factors, importantly plant growing details.

Tips for managing morning sickness:

• keep a banana on your nightstand and eat it before you get out of bed
• Eat in courses, multiple small meals
• Ginger. Ginger candies, ginger and chamomile tea
• Lemon water
• Aromas you enjoy now, maybe very different from those you liked prior to being pregnant

Aromatic Herbs

Aroma and scent can be a powerful tool for coping with morning sickness, and a safe way to experiment with herbs during pregnancy. Morning sickness typically occurs in the earlier phases of pregnancy when more restrictions are suggested for pregnant women. As an herbalist, I recommend exploring herbs through scent, as a remedy for morning sickness, ginger, spearmint, lemon, orange, spruce, rose…

Don’t skip your consumable nutrients like pre-natal vitamins and pre-natal tea, but do find smells that make you smile. Take three full, deep breaths and notice. Does the aroma give ease? cringe? Peaceful sensation in your abdomen? Openness behind your eyes? Do you feel drawn to it or want to move away from it? Allow for changes in your preferences.