Magnesium is an essential mineral responsible for healthy metabolism—or the chemical processes that happen within your body that are necessary for you to remain alive. For example, research has shown that magnesium plays an important role in managing prescription drug-induced high blood pressure and improving mental function. According to research from the University of Maryland, if you are deficient in magnesium it could lead to other serious conditions such as asthma, osteoporosis and attention deficit disorders.

How much magnesium is enough? Adults need 400 mg of magnesium daily. It’s best as a gluconate, picolinate, lactate, sulfate or aspartate. But most government dietary surveys indicate that people obtain less than that amount from their diets—sometimes as little as 50 percent of the magnesium they need for good health!

To boost your intake of this beneficial mineral and manage your metabolism, include more magnesium-rich foods in your daily diet such as roasted pumpkin and squash seeds, bran cereal, brazil nuts, almonds, cashews, pine nuts, oil-roasted peanuts, halibut and spinach.