We are not sleeping here at BeautyEQ - humidity is not our friend right now. So for a helping hand we share the simplest of solutions - cram your diet and skin with the wonder mineral -magnesium.
Muggy weather, combined with stress and maybe one too many wines at night is a recipe for restless sleep. After a discussion over morning coffee, we discovered we have all been waking up at 3am - sound familiar?
While it's nice and quiet at that time of the night and a good time to add to the to-do list (try not to look at your phone screen) by 7am you feel shattered. Enter our new BFF magnesium, the essential mineral for the body, and according to Carolyn Dean, a nutritionist and the author of The Magnesium Miracle, it's also great for your skin. "It helps you to digest food, eases migraines, and promotes a healthy heart. There is evidence that shows that up to 80 percent of the population is deficient in magnesium and for most of us sadly, it's lacking in our daily diets. In her book, Dean links the common deficiency to a shortage of minerals in our soil. "Magnesium has been farmed out of the soil, so it's not in vegetables, so we don't get it from the plants that they eat." The upside of cramming your diet with magnesium is that it helps with better sleeping patterns. It helps the body absorb protein, assisting with digestion, it helps regulate nerve and muscle function, bone formation, and helps to maintain a normal heart rhythm. Another bonus - it benefits the skin. "Magnesium helps improve your skin's overall appearance, reducing acne and other skin disorders by lowering cortisol levels, stabilising hormonal imbalances, and improving cell turnover," says Dean.
Foods packed with magnesium.
Almonds
Full of the healthy fats that are great for skin, this little nut is packed with magnesium, a handful before bed gives your body an instant hit of this mineral.
Bananas and oats
Forget eating this dream combo for breakfast, try a few tablespoons of banana and oats as a late night snack. While this combo is energy-boosting, it's also rich in magnesium, which helps to relax and soothe tired muscles. Banana's also come packed with sleep-promoting hormones including serotonin and melatonin - it's worth a try.
Dark chocolate
The good news is, dark chocolate helps lower blood pressure and calm anxiety, thanks to high levels of magnesium. A few squares eaten with a cup of herbal tea or melted into hot milk is a delicious healthy treat before bed.
Whole grain toast and avocado
Another light and tasty snack before bed, avocado slathered on grainy toast with a dash of lemon oil. Tasty, low fat and packed with the much-needed magnesium - our favourite.
Magnesium supplements taken with food are a great way to lift the levels of this mineral in your blood stream quickly, here's our favourites.
To firm and add radiance to skin slather on a magnesium-rich skin cream or serum before bed. Here's our top picks.
Go Healthy Magnesium Sleep, $34. Swisse Ultraboost Magnesium, $22. Both offer two months supply.
Skin Physics Advance Superlift Face Lifting & Toning Cream, $80. Arcona Youth Serum, $129.
Sephora Revitalizing Booster, $22. JUNE JACOBS Age Defying Copper Complex, $292.