Magnesium Health Benefits Revealed

Most doctors, nutritionists and dietitians recommend getting vitamins and minerals from food based sources rather than from supplements. However, when it comes to magnesium, this is one mineral that is definitely best obtained from supplementation, as the levels of magnesium found in modern day foods is generally so low that it is barely enough to prevent a deficiency, and that is only if you are eating the right types of foods.

Why would you want to supplement with magnesium? Well, put quite simply it is one of the most important minerals that you need to promote optimal levels of health and to reduce your risk of disease. Magnesium has for example, been shown to significantly reduce ones risk of sudden cardiac death, be vital for maintaining strong and healthy bones and be necessary for the proper functioning of enzymatic reactions within the body.

In fact, magnesium is so important for the body that some medical professionals, such as Bill Sardi, have gone so far as to say that magnesium is a mineral that could potentially save millions of lives each year.

Why Is Magnesium Important?

Like calcium, magnesium is classed as a macromineral which means that you need to consume milligrams of it in order to prevent a deficiency. This can be contrasted to trace minerals, such as selenium or chromium, which you only need to consume micrograms of to prevent a deficiency.

The significance of this is that, in general, it is a lot easier to become deficient in macrominerals because you need to get them in higher amounts. Add to this the fact that minerals can be lost through your bodily fluids and that most foods nowadays tend to be mineral deficient, and you can start to see why so many people in today’s society are suffering from poor overall general health.

Just like how different vitamins play different roles within the human body, different minerals also play different roles within the body. It is as a result of these biological roles that the beneficial effects to ones health come from. Therefore, in order to fully understand the health benefits of magnesium, one must first understand what it does in the body.

This is what we shall be looking at first, after which, we will provide a summary of the main health benefits that have been associated with magnesium. If you are just interested in learning about the benefits, then please feel free to skip this section and go directly to the list of beneficial effects.

Bone Health

When it comes to bone health, most people tend to think of calcium as being the main mineral needed for bones. This however, is untrue, because the reality is that your bones require many different minerals and vitamins in order to form properly. Along with vitamin D, vitamin K2 and calcium, magnesium is one of the most important, and here’s why.

Magnesium helps your body to absorb the calcium that you consume, whether it be in the form of supplements or from food. This is often why you find calcium supplements combined with magnesium as the two work synergistically together. So without enough magnesium in your diet, you could be consuming a lot of calcium but be getting very little benefit from it.

Once calcium is absorbed into the body, around 99% of it is then sent to your bones where it is combined with phosphorus to form calcium phosphate crystals. These crystals are then deposited on a collagen bone matrix, which is essentially a type of scaffolding that allows bone to be built upon.

It is these crystals which are what make bones hard, but without magnesium, they would also be very brittle. As a result, around 60% of the magnesium that you consume in your diet is sent to your bones, where it is then used to make bones strong so that they do not break or fracture easily.

Bone density

Several studies have shown that dietary magnesium levels are strongly related to bone density levels. One study for example, found that young children who were given magnesium supplements where able to increase their bone density more than the children who were not given supplements. Another study, this time carried out on rats, show that rats which were deficient in magnesium experienced greater bone loss than non deficient rats.

Similar research carried out on elderly adults, has found that those suffering with osteoporosis are almost always deficient in magnesium. So clearly, this mineral has a very important role to play in maintaining bone health and reducing ones risk of suffering from degenerative bone disorders later in life.

However, it is important not to view magnesium, or any other mineral for that matter, in isolation. Equally as important for promoting bone health is vitamin D, as this is also necessary for allowing the body to better absorb calcium.

In addition, vitamin K2 is needed to ensure that the calcium which you do absorb gets sent to your bones rather than to other regions of the body, such as the arteries, which can then increase ones risk of suffering from cardiovascular disorders as a result of calcified arteries.

Nervous System

When calcium enters a nerve cell it can cause that nerve to fire resulting in the contraction of a muscle. This allows the body to carry out activities such as the beating of your heart, the constriction of blood vessels and the voluntary contraction of muscles such as when you are walking or when you reach out to grab something.

However, if too much calcium enters a nerve cell, then it can affect the ability of your muscles to relax. This could then potentially affect your heart rate rhythm, your blood pressure and cause muscular pain as a result of your muscles contracting too tightly. Furthermore, if your nerves are constantly being activated and are unable to relax, then your mood will also be affected as you are likely to feel tense, on edge and experience feelings of anxiety.

When it comes to the nervous system, magnesium plays a complementary role to that of calcium as it is involved in muscle relaxation. Essentially, it does this by blocking the calcium channels that allow calcium to flow into nerve cells. This subsequently results in less nerve activity, thereby allowing both your nerves and your muscles periods of rest and recovery.

Other Roles

Magnesium is similar to zinc in the sense that it is involved in many enzymatic reactions within the body. Enzymes are proteins that speed up the rate of chemical reactions and are essential for human health and functioning.

Whilst most people will be familiar with enzymes relating to the digestion of food, there are in fact many different types of enzymes that carry out a wide variety of roles such as being involved in muscle contraction and the transcription of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) into ribonucleic acid (RNA).

In fact, every cell in the body contains magnesium, and if you don’t have enough, then those cells won’t be able to function optimally which means that you won’t be able to function optimally.

Energy

The carbohydrates that you consume as part of your normal everyday diet are broken down by the body into a sugar known as glucose. Via the hormone insulin, this glucose is then supplied to cells where it is used as a source of fuel to produce energy for the body in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

However, in order for the body to be able to use ATP it must be bound to a magnesium ion, otherwise that ATP will remain biologically inert. This is why low levels of magnesium in the body can often result in fatigue, because essentially, you are not able to benefit, or utilize, the energy that your body produces.

Insulin

Insulin is what your body uses to control your blood sugar levels. When your blood sugar gets too high, insulin lowers your blood sugar levels by sending glucose to cells, to muscles and storing any excess glucose as fat. If insulin does not function properly, you may eventually become obese and develop diabetes as a result of insulin resistance.

Magnesium can help to control your blood sugar levels in two main ways. The first, is that it is required for the secretion of insulin. So without enough magnesium, you may not be producing the amount of insulin that you need to lower your blood sugar levels, which can then result in dangerously high blood sugar levels that can subsequently cause damage to your internal organs.

The second way magnesium can help to control blood sugar levels, is by increasing the sensitivity of your cells to insulin. When insulin resistance occurs, the ability of insulin to deliver glucose to your cells becomes impaired, and this is when you start to suffer from increased weight gain and eventually diabetes.

Insulin resistance is however, a very gradual process that occurs as you age. Although if you eat lots of sugary foods, then this process will occur much more rapidly. The first signs of insulin resistance in men appear as fat accumulation around the abdomen, and in women, as fat accumulation on the buttocks. By helping to make cells more sensitive to insulin, magnesium can therefore indirectly help to reduce excess fat accumulation around the body by slowing down the process of insulin resistance.

What Are The Health Benefits Of Magnesium?

The health benefits of magnesium come as a result of the wide range of effects it has in the body, some of which we have just discussed in the previous section. A summary of the main health benefits of magnesium is listed below.

• Important for maintaining proper bone density and thus reducing ones risk of osteoporosis.

• Needed for muscle relaxation.

• Linked to a reduced risk of heart attacks and sudden cardiac death.

• Present in every cell in the body.

• Involved in the functioning of over 300 enzymatic reactions.

• Can lessen the occurrence of back pain and muscular pain.

• Can be used as a laxative to encourage regular bowel movements and prevent constipation.

• Low levels are linked to mood disorders such as depression and anxiety.

• Can assist in the detoxification of heavy metals from the body.

• May be useful in helping to prevent the occurrence of migraine headaches.

• Important for insulin secretion and slowing the progression of insulin resistance.

• May help to reduce high blood pressure.

• May help to reduce the severity of asthmatic symptoms by opening up the airways.

• May help to relieve the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS)

• Helps the body to absorb calcium.

• Helps to promote sleep at night.

• Required for the body to be able to use ATP as a source of energy, and so helps to prevent fatigue.

• Can be used to relieve the symptoms of stress due to its calming effects on the nervous system.

• May reduce ones risk of developing kidney stones and gallstones.

• Is alkalizing, so can help the body to maintain a proper pH balance.

• Magnesium deficient cells age quicker, so a body wide deficiency can lead to premature aging.

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How Much Do You Need?

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for magnesium is 270–400 mg for adult males and 280–300 mg for adult females.

This amount however, is difficult to get from food alone, so it is generally recommended to meet your RDA by taking supplements that you can purchase at your local health food store. For best results, you should divide your doses and take them throughout the day on an empty stomach.

Where Do You Get It?

Magnesium is present in virtually all foods except spirits, fats, white sugar and heavily processed foods.

Although wholegrain cereals do contain magnesium, they also contain phytic acid which interferes with its absorption. So you would need to eat a lot to get any significant amount from it.

It is also worth bearing in mind that around 60% of the magnesium in vegetables can be leached into water when vegetables are boiled. So unless this water is reused as a soup or for gravy, you will be losing out on a significant amount of this vital mineral.

Finally, it is important to note that the levels of naturally occurring minerals have been steadily decreasing from our soils due to intensive farming practices. This has resulted in many of our foods being far less nutritious in terms of their mineral and vitamin content than they used to be in the past.

Who Needs Magnesium Supplements?

Some studies have shown that around 70% of the entire US population are deficient in magnesium, and this is also likely to apply to many other countries throughout the world. As a result, there is a very good chance that you are already deficient and so would benefit from taking magnesium supplements.

Those most at risk of suffering from a magnesium deficiency are alcoholics or heavy alcohol drinkers, smokers, elderly adults, people with Crohn’s disease, people who eat a heavily refined or processed food diet, athletes, people taking antacids, women taking birth control pills, people taking antibiotics and anyone who drinks caffeine containing beverages on a regular basis.

Magnesium supplements are best taken on an empty stomach such as in the morning or at night before going to bed, as protein and fat may hinder or slow down the absorption of this mineral. Magnesium supplements are generally considered to be very safe to take, as if you take too much magnesium, the body will excrete most of it by giving you diarrhea.

When supplementing with magnesium, a dosage of 250 to 500 mg should be sufficient for most people, taken in divided doses throughout the day. For athletes, or for anyone who has a physically demanding job, an increased dosage of 500 to 1,000 mg may be required as this mineral can be lost from the body through sweat.

Note: It is generally advised to take calcium and magnesium in a 2:1 ratio, so that you are taking twice as much calcium as you are magnesium. Some people however, feel that they get better results by taking these minerals in a 1:1 ratio.

Types of supplements

There are many different types of magnesium supplements that you can buy, some of these include magnesium complexed with:

•    Oxide
•    Gluconate
•    Chloride
•    Citrate
•    Hydroxide
•    Aspartate
•    Orotate
•    Arginate
•    Pidolate

Magnesium citrate or magnesium chloride is considered to be one of the better forms to take as these forms are absorbed quite well by the body. Less expensive supplements, and also multivitamin supplements, tend to contain magnesium oxide which is considered to be the least bioavailable form to take.

When purchasing any type of magnesium supplement however, it is important to base your dosage upon the elemental value that is given on the supplement packaging rather than on the total value, as it is the elemental value which you will be receiving the health benefits from.

For maximum health benefits, magnesium is best taken with vitamin C, calcium, vitamin K2 and vitamin D3.

Signs Of Deficiency

Low levels of magnesium in the body may lead to:

• Appetite Loss
• Insomnia
• Irregular heart beat
• Fatigue
• Weak bones/osteoporosis
• Mood disorders/depression
• Anxiety
• Migraine headaches
• Muscle twitching
• Irritability
• Premature aging
• Hypertension

Best Food Sources

Some of the best foods to obtain magnesium naturally from your diet are:

• Soya mince
• Cashew nuts
• Almonds
• Shrimps
• Muesli
• Rye bread
• Whole Grains
• Spinach
• Green leafy vegetables