Magnesium is a critical mineral. Magnesium is a cofactor (helper) in making enzymes. It aids in protein metabolism and also helps increase energy, muscle, and heart function. Magnesium is in hard water, mineral water, and leafy greens. It is also present in chlorophyll.
Magnesium is not just essential for humans but for plants too. Chlorophyll is like the blood of a plant, and a magnesium deficiency can inhibit a plant's ability to make chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll is similar in chemistry to our blood. The magnesium in the chlorophyll causes the leaves of a plant to look green, and the iron in our blood makes it look red. There is a condition called chlorosis in plants caused by magnesium deficiency. Chlorosis in humans is anaemia and is caused by an iron deficiency. But a person with anaemia may even look a little green.
Magnesium is the second-most common deficiency. Some experts estimate that over half of us have severe magnesium depletion in our cells. A normal magnesium blood test at your doctor's office tells you nothing. A severe magnesium deficiency can coexist with a normal serum magnesium level.
It's optimal to eat plenty of low-carb foods rich in magnesium; that way, you know you are getting enough. It can take months of healthy eating to completely replace the magnesium your cells need to function properly.
So let's break it down into three parts:
What's the real reason you need magnesium?
How does magnesium help you to feel better?
What are the three signs that you're magnesium deficient?
1. What's the real reason you need magnesium?
These are some of the most commonly known benefits of magnesium:
Improves leg cramps
Promotes relaxation & calmness
Improves sleep
Helps with inflammation
Helps with blood sugar
Good electrolyte
Improves bone health
Provides energy (ATP)
However, the real reason magnesium is essential is that it promotes a healthy heart and arteries.
The FDA allows the following health claims:
“Consuming diets with adequate magnesium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure." However, the FDA has concluded that the evidence is inconsistent and inconclusive.
Magnesium has a significant effect on the cardiovascular system. However, it’s also important that you consume a healthy diet. Taking magnesium won’t make much of a difference if you’re eating an unhealthy, carb-loaded diet.
Magnesium deficiency can have some potentially dangerous side effects, including:
• Apathy
• Depression
• Convulsions
• Cramps
• Weakness
66% of the population does not meet the minimum requirement for magnesium. Magnesium levels have dropped significantly over the last 50 years.
The best sources of magnesium are vegetables. The average person only consumes 1.5 cups of vegetables each day—but you need 7 to 10 cups of vegetables daily for optimal health.
Other sources of magnesium include:
• Grains (avoid!)
• Green vegetables
• Nuts and seeds
• Seafood
• Meats
• Berries
Avoid these forms of magnesium supplements:
• Oxide
• Hydroxide
• Carbonate
• Sulfate
Stick with these forms of magnesium:
• Citrate (may act as a laxative)
• Threonate
• Bisglycinate
• Orotate
• Taurate
• Malate
2. How does magnesium help you to feel better?
Let's understand why you may feel a lot better if you start eating more magnesium-rich foods.
If you go to the doctor and have a magnesium deficiency, it won't show up in a blood test. It is because 99% of that magnesium is inside the cell, not outside the cell in the blood. Just because the test is normal doesn't mean you're not deficient. There is something called a subclinical deficiency, where you might have some magnesium, but not the full amount.
There are over 300 enzymes that are involved in many different biochemical reactions that require magnesium.
Out of all the minerals, magnesium is the second most important, behind potassium. You need both of these in pretty large quantities. 90% of magnesium is found in muscles and bones. If you have low magnesium, you may have bone problems and problems with the muscles like muscle cramps, muscle weakness, or muscle stiffness. Another key function of magnesium is maintaining the electrical charge in the cells.
Another symptom of a subclinical magnesium deficiency is vascular calcification. Calcium and magnesium work together. It's not just about taking too much calcium. It could be a deficiency in magnesium or a deficiency in vitamin K2.
The two primary causes of magnesium deficiency are:
1. Consuming too many refined foods
2. Not consuming enough foods high in magnesium
If you don't feel quite right or don't have enough energy, consider increasing your magnesium intake for one week and seeing what happens.
3. What are the three signs that you're magnesium deficient?
Depleted soil conditions mean that plants (and meat from animals that feed on these plants) are lower in magnesium.
The use of chemicals like fluoride and chlorine in the water supply makes magnesium less available in the water since these chemicals can bind to magnesium.
Both a high sugar intake and elevated insulin levels (which can result from a high intake of refined carbs, including sugar), have been shown to increase the excretion of magnesium. This happens through the kidneys, by inhibiting tubular reabsorption (the same process that leads to calcium excretion), and by guzzling through the body’s magnesium reserves during sugar metabolism.
Tubular reabsorption is the process by which solutes and water are removed from the tubular fluid and transported into the blood. It could be partly why people with diabetes or chronically high insulin tend to have higher magnesium requirements and more rapid magnesium depletion.
The three signs of magnesium deficiency -
1. Cramps/Tight Muscles
Magnesium directly interacts with your muscle tissue through a process called ion transportation.
When magnesium contacts your cell membranes, it bonds with specific receptor sites that open up the cell membrane and allow other mineral ions to enter, such as calcium and potassium. These ions help regulate muscle contractions and might ease muscle tension.
Calcium and magnesium have a partnership in the body - calcium causes muscles to contract and magnesium causes them to relax.
If there is too much calcium in your body, which is common in the typical American diet, there won’t be enough magnesium to balance out the calcium. So your muscles won’t be able to properly relax.
2. Sleeplessness
To fall asleep, your body and brain need to relax.
Magnesium aids this process by activating the parasympathetic nervous system. It is the system responsible for getting you calm and relaxed.
Magnesium regulates neurotransmitters, which send signals throughout the nervous system and brain and regulates melatonin, which guides sleep-wake cycles in your body.
It also binds to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors and activates them. GABA is the neurotransmitter responsible for quieting down nerve activity.
A lack of magnesium can result in low GABA levels, and when GABA levels are low, your brain gets stuck in the “on” position and it becomes impossible to relax.
Magnesium also plays a part in helping you achieve deep and restful sleep as well.
3. Anxiety/Stress
Increasing GABA not only promotes sleep but also reduces anxiety and stress.
Low GABA is associated with numerous stress-related disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks, and irritable bowel syndrome. As mentioned, magnesium is important for binding and activating GABA receptors. Without adequate magnesium, we are unable to effectively activate GABA receptors and utilize GABA effectively.
A 2012 report published in the Journal of Neuropharmacology, reported that magnesium deficiency caused an increase in the production of cortisol in the brains of mice, specifically by activating the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus, a part of the brain that controls responses to stress and anxiety.
It concluded that magnesium calms your nervous system and prevents excessive cortisol by restricting its release and acting as a filter to prevent it from entering the brain.
Data:
Going to the roots of reduced magnesium dietary intake: A tradeoff between climate changes and sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7649274/
Magnesium deficiency in plants: An urgent problem: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221451411500121X
Prostacyclin: an inflammatory paradox: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2011.00024/full
Effects of Magnesium Supplementation on Blood Pressure: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.116.07664
Magnesium — Health Professional Fact Sheet: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
Dietary magnesium and C-reactive protein levels: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15930481/
Magnesium as Muscle Relaxer: https://healthfully.com/magnesium-as-muscle-relaxer-7061177.html
8 Ways Magnesium Relieves Anxiety and Stress: https://bebrainfit.com/magnesium-anxiety-stress/
How Magnesium Can Help You Sleep: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/magnesium-and-sleep
The effect of magnesium supplementation on primary insomnia in elderly: A double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23853635/
Magnesium deficiency induces anxiety and HPA axis dysregulation: Modulation by therapeutic drug treatment: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198864/
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