Supplement Series: Magnesium
Science and Evidence behind Magnesium Supplementation
Intro
Estimated Read Time: 15-20 minutes. This is a WHOPPER!
Skip through to the parts you’re mos t interested in. Each section has key points. Find my supplement recommendations at the bottom. More supplement articles coming soon in this series.
Magnesium (Mg) is the second most abundant electrolyte in the human body and is involved in over 300 (known) chemical reactions. The majority of Americans don’t meet the recommended guidelines for Mg intake. Mg deficiency can elevate the risk for more than just cramps and night time charlie horses.
Deficiencies in Mg are linked to:
Cardiovascular disease
Metabolic disease
Type 2 diabetes
Hypertension
Metabolic syndrome
Osteoporosis
Up to 75% of the US population does not meet the RDA for magnesium.
Even more adults could be at risk if we count those that are taking in the RDA but are still insufficient in mg.
Mg Recommended dietary allowance (RDA)
Note: You may need MORE than just the RDA. Especially if you’re active and experience high stress.
Adult Males = 410–420 mg/day
Adult Females = 320–360 mg/day
Frequent or intense activity, both in the gym or at a work site, can contribute to insufficient mg. A range of 3 to 10 milligrams of mg is lost per liter of sweat. Keep in mind, you’re always perspiring even if you don’t feel it. Whether you work out or not, you are losing mg through urine or sweat throughout the day.
Toxicity from mg is uncommon unless renal failure is present. The kidneys filter mg and either store or remove excess through the urine. Diuretics, including mg citrate, could lead to diarrhea or loose stools if over consumed, but it likely won’t be fatal.
Function of Magnesium
Mg is an electrolyte and cofactor for hundreds of enzymes. Simply put, Mg is a key nutrient with a hand in energy production, electrolyte balance, nerve function, bone health, glucose metabolism, DNA synthesis and more. About 50-60% of magnesium in the human body is stored in bones and the rest can be found in muscle and soft tissue. Magnesium also is stored in the brain and has a role in maintaining brain homeostasis. We’ll be covering some of the most interesting and relevant functions of mg and how you can reap the benefits.
Factors that negatively influence magnesium balance:
Diets high in Sodiun, Calcium, & Protein
Caffeine
Alcohol
Diuretics
Proton Pump Inhibitors
Antibiotics
Stress
Exercise
Glucose Metabolism
Mg can help to improve insulin sensitivity in insulin resistant individuals. There are many conditions associated with depleted Mg and type 2 diabetes is one of them. Others include prolong fasting, surgical stress, acute alcoholism, and excessive gastrointestinal losses (Paolisso et. al 1990). Mg has also shown to reduce oxygen consumption during exercise. Leading to performance benefits like increased aerobic energy production and conservation of glucose.
It’s also hypothesized that hyperinsulinemia (elevated insulin) increases magnesium excretion, in turn leading to mg deficiency that’s prevalent in type 2 diabetics. Insulin resistance itself can also impact mg transport.
“A diet deficient in magnesium, very common in western dietary patterns full of ultra-processed food, has been associated with an impaired cellular insulin-mediated glucose uptake and with a remarkably high risk of developing glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes” Barbagallo et al.m 2007
Magnesium for Glucose Regulation Key Points
Mg intake improves insulin sensitivity
Mg deficiency is associated with type 2 diabetes
Mg can impaired glucose use
Inflammation
Mg deficiency can also lead to inflammation due to increases in calcium levels in cells. Increasing Mg intake however has an anti inflammatory effect. Oxidative stress as a result of Mg deficiency is also attributed to red blood cells breaking down faster than they can be replaced (hemolytic anemia).
More bad news, the oxidative stress and inflammation associated with deficiency has also been linked to increased risk of atherosclerosis (plaque build up within the arteries).
Magnesium for Inflammation Key Points
Mg deficiency is associated with increased oxidative stress
Mg has been shown to decrease inflammation
Inflammation can lead to cardiovascular consequences like plaque build up in the arties
Brain Health
Mg plays a role in synthesizing neurotransmitters so it would only make sense that a deficiency could lead to issues. Mg also helps with reducing inflammation in the brain (neuroinflammation), maintaining the blood brain barrier, and regulating nerve transmission. Inidividuals who consumed more Mg had lower risk of dementia, larger brain volumes, and supplmentation has shown promising evidence of supporting memory and cognition into older age.
Nueroinflammation is consistently elevated in those with neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia and alzheimer’s. Mg can aid in reducing inflammation within the brain to mitigate neurodegeneration, assist in maintaining the integrity of the blood brain barrier, and functioning of neurons.
Magnesium For Brain Health Key Points
Regulates synthesis of neurotransmitters
Decreases neuroinflammation (brain inflammation)
Maintains the blood brain barrier
Hormonal Function
Earlier we discussed Mg’s role in decreasing inflammation. Part of how Mg is able to influence sex hormones, such as testosterone, is by decreasing inflammation and reducing oxidative stress. Hormones influence cellular proliferation and protein synthesis, hence why bodybuilders inject themselves with hormones, but they also have potential influence over our organs and bone.
Another major issue with Mg deficiency is decreased bone density. Without sufficient Mg, osteoblast activity decreases leading to decreased bone formation, brittle bones, and osteoporosis.
Low testosterone is rarely a result of one factor and is typically a combination of lifestyle, diet, and exposure to toxins. We rarely just see low testosterone with healthy levels of other hormones. More often than not, we see low testosterone in conjunction with low levels of other sex & steroid hormones such a as DHEA, estradiol (E2), growth hormone insulin like growth factor (GH-IGF-1), and vitamin D (which acts as a pro-hormone). All of these hormones act synergistically to promote an anabolic state.
Research found greatest level of testosterone in athletes that exercised and received Mg supplementation opposed to those that just exercised. I mentioned previously how stress and sweat can cause depletion in magnesium. If your activity levels are high I strongly recommend Mg supplementation.
“Magnesium levels (b ± SE, 34.9 ± 10.3; p = 0.001) were significantly and positively correlated with total testosterone (Fig. 1 and Table 2).”
Maggio et al. 2011
Mg acts as a cofactor for synthesis in of steroid hormones like DHEA, testosterone, and steroid hormones precursors like cholesterol and pregnenolone. Testosterone has been getting all the press lately, but DHEA doesn’t get nearly as much love. DHEA is essentially a building block for anabolic hormones, it can convert to the hormone your body most needs. Low DHEA can result in low testosterone.
DHEA and testosterone levels are still relevant for women, just like estrogen is still relevant for men. The primary form of estrogen in the body is known as estradiol (E2). E2 improves Mg uptake in tissues, unless E2 is particularly high and Mg intake is low, then that could lead to issues like thrombosis or coagulation.
Mg intake plays a critical role in regulating estrogen and can prevent excess estrogen levels which would yield negative consequences for males and females alike. Estrogen dominance due to insufficient Mg could lead to dysregulation of the menstrual cycle and mood swings.
Estrogen dominance in men and women can cause:
Low Libido\
Fat gain around the waist and hips
Depression
Increased risk of cardiovascular disease
Decreased bone mass
Loss of muscle mass.
Magnesiums for Hormone Health Key Points
Decreases inflammation & oxidative stress
Improves steroid hormones synthesis
Regulates osteoblast activity to keep bones strong
Cardiovascular Health
Mg can regulate calcium concentrations, vascular tone, and vascular resistance. It all leads back to magnesium’s ability to regulate calcium. Mg essentially acts as a natural calcium channel blocker. Mg is able to enhance relaxation of the blood vessels and decrease vasoconstriction through calcium regulation. This leads to reductions in blood pressure and explains why Mg deficiency is common in individuals with hypertension.
Interestingly, although strategies such as decreasing sodium intake are often prescribed to reduce hypertension, Mg intake can have just as signficant impact on managing blood pressure.
Mg is also capable of improving endothelial function by stimulating the release of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a potent vasodilator. In plain English, nitric oxide expands your blood vessels so blood can flow more smoothly. Additionally, magnesium is also able to keep endothelial cells healthy by decreasing vascular inflammation and oxidative stress.
Magnesium for Cardiovascular Health Key Points
Improves vasodilation
Increases nitric oxide production
Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties
Improves blood pressure
Exercise and Magnesium
Mg is one of the most researched minerals when it comes to muscle function. Exercise redistributes magnesium in the body. Since Mg is involved in energy production and metabolism, distribution to tissues that need energy only makes sense.
We also see a shift of Mg from the plasma to the muscle and adipocytes (fat) during exercise to aid in metabolic processes. Just like any other electrolyte, Mg is lost through sweat and a quasi-deficient state of Mg has been noted after intense exercise.
𝑴𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒙𝒚𝒈𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒙𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚.
Adequate Mg levels decrease oxygen demands in muscle allowing you to stay more aerobic and delay tapping into anaerobic energy production (using glucose for fuel). Mg essentially optimizes glucose metabolism. Supplementation can improve glucose availability in muscle while reducing lactate accumulation.
Keep in mind, lactate is another aerobic energy source (not a waste product). However, reducing lactate accumulation means lactate is being efficiently cleared and your body can therefore spare glycogen. This means you can improve your endurance at the same workload.
Endurance athletes were able to run longer before reaching exhaustion when they took magnesium supplements (Gold 1993).
Mg helps to reduce oxidative stress from physical activity. Mg deficiency on the other hand is pro-oxidative and pro-inflammatory. Deficiency depletes endogenous antioxidants (such as glutathione), causing internal defenses against oxidative damage to weaken. The consequences of deficiency are therefore increased free radical activity, oxidative damage, and a weakened immune system.
Magnesium and Exercise Key Points
Exercise causes Mg to shift to active tissues to aid in energy production
Exercise can reduce serum magnesium, replenish your electrolytes!
Mg improves glucose metabolism
Mg improves time to exhaustion (increases endurance at relative intensities)
STRESS
Mg helps regulate catecholamines and glucocorticoids by competing with calcium. This means Mg can block the release of sympathetic (‘fight or flight’) hormones. This is especially important for those dealing with chronic stress. Both long and mid-term exposures to psychological stress can lead to low Mg (hypomagnesemia).
In case you didn’t know how important sleep was, here’s another reason to get your Zzzzz’s. Sleep deprivation can reduce Mg levels. Short term (one day) and long term (one month) sleep deprivation lead to decreased magnesium levels in otherwise healthy men in research presented by Cuciureanu et Al. 2011.
“Noteworthy, magnesium interacts with all these stress mediators [17,110,111,112], overall serving an inhibitory function in the regulation and central neurotransmission of the stress response.”
Boyle et al. 2017
Chronic stressors lead to depletion of Mg. As serum Mg decreases, the body begins to pull magnesium from one of it’s largest storage sources: your bones. As you dip further into lower levels, the HPA becomes overactive and neuronal hyperactivity increases.
Neuronal Hyperactivity
Difficulty focusing or maintaining attention
Impulsivity
Hyperactivity
Emotional instability
Sleep disturbances
The HPA (hypothalamic pituitary adrenal) Axis controls the bodies stress responses. A dysfunctional HPA axis can lead to many adverse hormonal issues.
Mg has also been linked to anxiety. A study on university students found increases in anxiety that were linked to urinary excretion of Mg (Pickering et al. 2020). Meaning, their bodies weren’t absorbing Mg. Similarly, another study found significantly decreased levels of Mg in students 4 weeks after an exam period (Takase et al. 2004).
These studies shown the influence of stress and how it can impact our bodies Mg stores.
Magnesium and Stress Key Points
Stress can deplete Mg
Mg can improve our bodies stress response (regulation of the HPA Axis)
Magnesium Sources
You can find common food sources of Mg listed below. This is not an exhaustive list. I listed foods people are more likely to eat or easily find in a grocery store. I follow a food first approach, meaning you should try and get as much from food sources as possible. However, just due to our environment supplementation to some level may be necessary for many people.
Getting in your daily Mg may not be easy. I wouldn’t recommend buying drug store magnesium since typically it’ll be cheap forms such as Magnesium-citrate or oxide. Mg citrate is a diuretic and oxide has super low bioavailability. If you’re going to get magnesium supplements I suggest going through one of the links below.
Get Magnesium
Magnesium Glycinate (Muscle)
Promotes better sleep and relaxation by increasing GABA
Muscle Relaxation
Magnesium Threonate (Brain)
Improvements to memory and cognition
Neuroplasticity
References
Golf, S. W., et al. "Is magnesium a limiting factor in competitive exercise? A summary of relevant scientific data." Magnesium (1993): 209-20.
Paolisso, G., Scheen, A., d'Onofrio, F., & Lefebvre, P. (1990). Magnesium and glucose homeostasis. Diabetologia, 33, 511-514.
Pickering G, Mazur A, Trousselard M, Bienkowski P, Yaltsewa N, Amessou M, Noah L, Pouteau E. Magnesium Status and Stress: The Vicious Circle Concept Revisited. Nutrients. 2020; 12(12):3672. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123672
Piuri G, Zocchi M, Della Porta M, Ficara V, Manoni M, Zuccotti GV, Pinotti L, Maier JA, Cazzola R. Magnesium in Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, and Type 2 Diabetes. Nutrients. 2021; 13(2):320. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13020320
Rayssiguier Y, Libako P, Nowacki W, Rock E. Magnesium and the inflammatory response: Potential physiopathological implications. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2007;458(1):48-56. doi:10.1016/j.abb.2006.03.031
Patel S, Akimbekov N, Grant S, Dean O, Fang F, Razzaque MS. Neuroprotective effects of magnesium: implications for neuroinflammation and cognitive decline. Front Nutr. 2024;15:1406455. doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1406455
Maggio M, De Vita F, Lauretani F, et al. The Interplay between Magnesium and Testosterone in Modulating Physical Function in Men. Int J Endocrinol. 2014;2014:525249. doi:10.1155/2014/525249
Maggio M, Ceda GP, Lauretani F, et al. Magnesium and anabolic hormones in older men. Int J Androl. 2011;34(6 Pt 2):e594-e600. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2605.2011.01193.x
Dominguez LJ, Barbagallo M. Magnesium and Hypertension in Old Age. Nutrients. 2021;13(1):139. doi:10.3390/nu13010139
Boyle NB, Lawton C, Dye L. The Effects of Magnesium Supplementation on Subjective Anxiety and Stress—A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2017;9(5):429. doi:10.3390/nu9050429
Cuciureanu MD, Vink R. Magnesium and stress. In: Vink R, Nechifor M, eds. Magnesium in the Central Nervous System. Adelaide (AU): University of Adelaide Press; 2011.
Takase, B.; Akima, T.; Uehata, A.; Ohsuzu, F.; Kurita, A. Effect of chronic stress and sleep deprivation on both flow-mediated dilation in the brachial artery and the intracellular magnesium level in humans. Clin. Cardiol. 2004, 27, 223–227.
Barbagallo, M.; Dominguez, L.J. Magnesium metabolism in type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 2007, 458, 40–47.
Started taking magnesium last month and I had no idea it was this beneficial. Good stuff 🤘