Magnesium is an important yet overlooked mineral integral to a healthy heart. The average American diet only provides about half of the recommended daily allowance, which is 400 mg. Magnesium helps keep the heart beating smoothly, aides in maintaining healthy blood pressure, and relaxes arterial muscle tissue.

Deficiency of magnesium in heart and arterial tissues can result in a muscular spasm that causes an oxygen-supplying artery to clamp shut, resulting in sudden death. This incidence is known as ischemic heart disease, or a suffocation of the heart.  Hardened arteries, which lead to heart attacks, can also be caused by a lack of magnesium-- without which the body cannot properly assimilate calcium.

Excellent sources of dietary magnesium include dark chocolate, nuts, avocados, milk, spinach and other leafy green vegetables, lentils, wheat germ, bran, and some meat. Dietary supplements, including combo calcium-magnesium capsules, can be found in most health food stores.