7-signs of magnesium deficiency

Posted on Sun, 27 Jul 14

Magnesium is a vitally important mineral but most people are not getting enough in their diet. Several signs may indicate you are deficient, and increasing your intake can help improve these symptoms.

1. Blood sugar problems

Get energy slumps and sugar cravings? This can be a sign of poor blood sugar balance and not enough magnesium could be part of the problem. Low dietary magnesium strongly increases your risk of type-2 diabetes and supplementation has been consistently shown to improve blood sugar (1,2).

2. Depression

Low mood… or low magnesium? Magnesium plays an important role in regulating your mood and in people with depression preliminary evidence suggests magnesium may be as or more effective than anti-depressant medication (3,4).

3. Muscle pain and fatigue

A severe type of muscle pain and fatigue known as fibromyalgia syndrome can be life crippling. People with these symptoms are often magnesium deficient and can sometimes respond very well to a magnesium supplement (5). Magnesium has also been shown to relieve chronic lower back pain (6).

4. Poor physical fitness

Magnesium deficiency can impair physical performance and your tolerance to exercise. A number of studies have found that increased magnesium intake can improve fitness and exercise or sports performance in people ranging from the relatively unfit to athletes (7,8).

5. Headaches

At least half of people who suffer from migraine headaches are chronically magnesium deficient and because low magnesium may play a role in actually causing headaches magnesium supplementation can sometimes help (9).

6. High blood pressure

People with high blood pressure are frequently magnesium deficient, and increasing your magnesium intake has been shown to result in a small but important blood pressure reduction (10).

7. Insomnia

In people with insomnia, a magnesium supplement taken daily over a few months significantly reduced the time it took to fall asleep, improved quality of sleep and even improved hormones that affect sleep such as cortisol and melatonin (11).

More magnesium

The best way to enrich your diet with magnesium is to enjoy magnesium rich foods; nuts, seeds, nut and seed butters, whole grains, and dark green leafy vegetables as well as drinking magnesium rich water (25–50 mg/L magnesium). Also, it's a good idea to initially top up with about 300 mg of supplemental magnesium once daily for around 3-months.

References:

Dong JY, Xun P, He K, Qin LQ. Magnesium intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Diabetes Care. 2011 Sep;34(9):2116-22.
Song Y, He K, Levitan EB, Manson JE, Liu S. Effects of oral magnesium supplementation on glycaemic control in Type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of randomized double-blind controlled trials. Diabet Med. 2006 Oct;23(10):1050-6.
Eby GA, Eby KL. Rapid recovery from major depression using magnesium treatment. Med Hypotheses 2006;67:362–70.
Barragán-Rodríguez L, Rodríguez-Morán M, Guerrero-Romero F. Efficacy and safety of oral magnesium supplementation in the treatment of depression in the elderly with type 2 diabetes: a randomized, equivalent trial. Magnes Res 2008;21:218–23
Bagis S, Karabiber M, As I, Tamer L, Erdogan C, Atalay A. Is magnesium citrate treatment effective on pain, clinical parameters and functional status in patients with fibromyalgia? Rheumatol Int. 2013 Jan;33(1):167-72
Yousef AA, Al-deeb AE. A double-blinded randomised controlled study of the value of sequential intravenous and oral magnesium therapy in patients with chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component. Anaesthesia. 2013 Mar;68(3):260-6.
Veronese N, Berton L, Carraro S, Bolzetta F, De Rui M, Perissinotto E, Toffanello ED, Bano G, Pizzato S, Miotto F, Coin A, Manzato E, Sergi G. Effect of oral magnesium supplementation on physical performance in healthy elderly women involved in a weekly exercise program: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Jul 9. pii: ajcn.080168. [Epub ahead of print]
Nielsen FH, Lukaski HC. Update on the relationship between magnesium and exercise. Magnes Res. 2006 Sep;19(3):180-9.
Mauskop A, Varughese J. Why all migraine patients should be treated with magnesium. J Neural Transm. 2012 May;119(5):575-9.
Kass L, Weekes J, Carpenter L. Effect of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure: a meta-analysis. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2012 Apr;66(4):411-8.
Abbasi B, Kimiagar M, Sadeghniiat K, Shirazi MM, Hedayati M, Rashidkhani B. The effect of magnesium supplementation on primary insomnia in elderly: A double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. J Res Med Sci. 2012 Dec;17(12):1161-9.