The Benefits of Magnesium

By Britni Vincent, RD, LD
March 1, 2019

Do you bounce out of bed at night because you have a painful leg cramp? Or maybe you feel what people describe as the creepy crawlies in your leg (also known as restless leg syndrome). Do you wake up in the morning more tired than when you went to bed, due to your difficulty staying asleep throughout the night? If you answered yes to one or all of those questions—magnesium might be the solution for you.  

Magnesium is involved in hundreds of different processes in the body and is the most powerful relaxation mineral.

It's estimated at least half of the population is deficient in magnesium.

Less than 1% of magnesium is found in your blood, so it's difficult to test for magnesium levels in the body. Due to this, if you have seen magnesium listed on your lab sheet from your doctor, it's not very accurate.

  

Why we can be deficient in magnesium:

The nutrients in our soil have been depleted a lot over the years and many people aren't eating enough magnesium rich foods to begin with. Sugar, alcohol, and coffee all deplete magnesium from our body. And here's a big one: stress depletes magnesium from our body.

The majority of individuals are deficient in magnesium for that reason. And because it's involved in so many different reactions in the body, there's a huge demand for magnesium in our body and it gets used up very quickly. 

Symptoms of magnesium deficiency:

I want to run through some symptoms of magnesium deficiency so you can identify if you are deficient or not:

• Muscle cramps

• Muscle spasms or twitching

• Insomnia

• Anxiety

• Irritability

• Heart palpitations

• Constipation

• Headaches and/or migraines

• Fatigue

• High blood pressure

• PMS and menstrual cramps.

You know, basically anything that's tight or cramping can be related to a magnesium deficiency. I think the majority of people can identify with at least one of those symptoms.

Benefits of Magnesium:

Relieves Muscle Pain (Cramps, Spasms, Restless Leg Syndrome, etc.) 

One of magnesium's main functions in the body is proper muscle contraction. If you have a magnesium deficiency your muscles will contract involuntarily, causing spasms, cramps and restless leg syndrome.

Imagine a night of rest without waking up with a cramp or spasm! Listen to this podcast about muscle pain and spasms with Dr. Silverman.

Dosage for muscle pain: Start with 300 mg of magnesium and increase our magnesium intake until your spasms or cramps go away. You can safely go up to 1,000 mg per day. Take 100-200 mg in the morning and the rest before bed.

Supports Better Sleep

Supports Better Sleep

Magnesium plays a critical role in the function of your central nervous system. With a magnesium deficiency you may suffer from insomnia. It helps promote deeper sleep and more REM, which is our most restorative sleep cycle.

You may notice you're dreaming more when taking magnesium— that's a good sign you're getting more REM sleep. Not only will it help you stay asleep, but many people so report that magnesium helps them relax and fall asleep quicker.

Dosage for better sleep: Start with 200 mg, but many people need 500-700 mg for insomnia. Increase your magnesium intake up to 1,000 mg per day. Take it before bed for the benefit of better sleep.  

Helps Reduce High blood pressure

Another function of magnesium is relaxing and dilating your blood vessels. If you have magnesium deficiency your blood vessels may constrict, creating high blood pressure. Magnesium also prevents spasms in your heart muscle and blood vessel walls.

Dosage for high blood pressure: Take 200 mg of magnesium in the morning and 400 mg at night.

Sources of Magnesium

Magnesium rich foods are nuts, seeds, beans, seaweed, avocado, fatty fish like salmon and mackerel and halibut. Leafy greens contain magnesium.

Clinically, we find that many people's magnesium is so depleted that taking a magnesium supplement in addition to eating more magnesium rich foods is the best approach.

Which magnesium supplement to choose:

When choosing a supplement, we find that magnesium glycinate is the most absorbable form of magnesium.

Choose Mixed Magnesium if you tend towards constipation. Along with magnesium glycinate, Mixed Magnesium contains magnesium citrate which helps pull fluid to your bowels to loosen stool.

I also want to mention that magnesium is physically a large molecule, so there is only about a hundred milligrams that can fit into a capsule or a tablet of magnesium. So I know it might feel like you're taking a lot. But unfortunately there's no getting around that.

It's important to note that oftentimes there is little to no magnesium in multivitamins for this reason -because it's just physically a large molecule. It's difficult to fit that in along with all the other vitamins and minerals. This why magnesium supplements are important to be sure you are getting adequate magnesium.

The majority of my clients have at least one symptom of magnesium deficiency, and once they start supplementing and getting more magnesium in their diet they get a lot of relief. On more than one occasion I have heard people refer to magnesium as “the miracle supplement” because it helps so many different areas of the body.

Additional Resources:

Read, Listen, or Watch :

• All About Magnesium -Ask A Nutritionist podcast episode

• Choosing A Good Multi-Vitamin - Ask A Nutritionist podcast episode

Read - Signs You May Be Deficient In Minerals