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Magnesium is an important mineral for your body used in over 300 day-to-day functions like muscle function, protein synthesis (building muscle), energy production, and metabolism.
Unfortunately half of all Americans are deficient in magnesium. Even worse, if you exercise or sweat during the day, you're pretty much guaranteed to be deficient in magnesium.
So what's the deal with magnesium?
A Deficiency
Some recent research suggests that at least half of all Americans are deficient in magnesium.
A lot of this has to do with the poor food choices most of us make eating processed foods, but even those who follow a strict whole-foods / healthy diet will have a difficult time consuming enough magnesium. It's possible this is because of a decrease in soil quality, a lackadaisical food testing standard, gradual changes in the overall food growth quality, or just overall decrease in your food selection choices.
In addition, those of us who sweat regularly will lose about 20% more magnesium. Other habits that may indicate a magnesium deficiency include drinking carbonated drinks (phosphate binds with magnesium), consuming sugar, and drinking caffeine. Those last two cause more urination, meaning you lose more magnesium.
The recommended daily allowance of magnesium is ~400mg for men, and ~300mg for women. That's the size of a small pill, about half a gram. Not too much, right? However in order to get that daily recommended value of magnesium you would likely need to eat handfuls of pumpkin seeds, mounds of spinach, lots of nuts, leafy greens and animal organs at every meal. Or eat at least 9 organic bananas every day. This is just to hit the minimum requirements.
I'll be honest, I don't do that. Chances are you don't either.
Magnesium deficiency has been DIRECTLY linked to all types of health problems including:
Difficulty sleeping
Heart arrhythmia
Constipation
Suboptimal hormone levels
Insulin resistance (diabetes)
Atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries)
Bone metabolism disruption
Increased LDL levels (bad cholesterol)
Increased overall inflammation
Increased anxiety
Muscle cramping
Eye twitches
Fat gain / stubborn fat loss
I put that last bullet point in bold because it's the one most people will latch on to.
"Take magnesium to prevent diabetes? Meh..."
"Take magnesium to improve my fat loss efforts?? Sign me up!"
The Cure
So you're likely deficient in magnesium and there are a ton of health issues associated with that. What to do? That's the easy part. Supplement with magnesium.
Look for a version of magnesium glycinate, but any form of magnesium will work just fine.
Take about 400mg every day (probably 1 pill), or double up if you sweat a lot.
MORE Information
References:
American Osteopathic Association. “Low magnesium levels make vitamin D ineffective: Up to 50 percent of US population is magnesium deficient.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26 February 2018
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.org/10.3390/nu9050429
Kia, Afsaneh Saeedian, et al. “The Association between the Risk of Premenstrual Syndrome and Vitamin D, Calcium, and Magnesium Status among University Students: A Case Control Study.” Health Promotion Perspectives, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26634201/
Durlach , Jean, et al. “Biorhythms and Possible Central Regulation of Magnesium Status, Phototherapy, Darkness Therapy and Chronopathological Forms of Magnesium Depletion.” Magnesium Research, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12030424/
José Laires, Maria, and Cristina Monteiro. “Exercise, Magnesium and Immune Function.” Magnesium Research, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18705536/