Don't forget about magnesium

If I were to ask you to list five essential minerals, I'd put money on the fact that you wouldn't mention magnesium. This is because you, just like me and almost everyone else, seem to only remember this mineral from the periodic table, not from the label on our vitamins. Iron, Zinc -- those we remember. But, magnesium, not so much. That being said, it may not be a bad idea for us to keep this unpopular mineral fresh on our minds, as its consumption may be linked to our cardiovascular health.

In an 18-year study, French researchers found that men who had the highest levels of magnesium in their blood were 40 percent less likely to die young than those men with the lowest levels. The researchers suspect that this could be due to the fact that low magnesium levels are related to greater inflammation -- which is known to cause heart disease and cancer.

The bigger problem is that an estimated 56 percent of the population doesn't consume a sufficient amount of magnesium -- probably because they forget about it in the first place. To make sure that you're not part of that population, be sure to get around 300mg of the mineral per day. Fortunately, you can get half of that by just eating a small portion of pumpkin seeds.