The Magic of Magnesium

Magnesium is a very important mineral that we have been hearing more and more about, and so we thought it would make a good topic for this episode of the podcast/newsletter. It turns out that being deficient in magnesium is not uncommon (half the US population does not consume adequate magnesium). Magnesium is important for basically two reasons. First, many enzymes in the body use magnesium. Second, we need magnesium for proper neuromuscular function. If you remember back to high school biology class, there is this thing called the Sodium/Potassium Pump. This is very important in making cellular processes work. Essentially, in order to keep proper concentrations of Sodium and Potassium across the cellular membrane, we need Magnesium.

If you become too low in magnesium, you can start expressing symptoms. These include: Headaches, constipation, leg cramps, numbness and/or tingling in the legs and hands, tremors, or even heart palpitations.

There are many forms of magnesium that you can supplement with, and they can be confusing. The first two kinds that we discuss are magnesium citrate and magnesium oxide. These two kinds are not absorbed quite as well as other kinds, and for that reason can be helpful for things like constipation and increasing bowel function. These two forms are also widely available commercially (especially citrate). Although it is supposedly not absorbed as well, we did review a study that stated that supplementing with magnesium citrate was effective at decreasing arterial stiffness (increased arterial stiffness is correlated with cardiovascular disease).

The next kind of magnesium we discussed was magnesium chloride. This kind is absorbed much better, therefore will have much less effect on the bowels. This kind is particularly useful when addressing cramping symptoms.

Finally, we discussed magnesium L-threonate. This is a kind that allows the magnesium to get into the central nervous system. Due to this, it can be beneficial in improving sleep, as well as possibly having benefits with cognitive impairment.

Magnesium supplementation benefits and the corresponding research is growing. We ended the podcast discussing a meta-analysis that showed that magnesium supplementation modestly reduced blood pressure.

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Simplified Takeaways…

1. Magnesium is an important mineral with many uses throughout the body.

2. Consider magnesium citrate or magnesium oxide for increased bowel function. Also, magnesium citrate has been shown effective at reducing arterial stiffness.

3. Consider magnesium chloride for cramping symptoms, and for general magnesium supplementation as this kind is absorbed better.

4. Consider magnesium L-threonate for improved sleep.

5. Magnesium supplementation has also been shown effective for modestly reducing blood pressure.

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