Magnesium is one major mineral that needs to be talked about more. It plays a crucial role in contributing to your muscles, nerve, bone and blood sugar health. Not forgetting brain function and exercise performance.
It’s a mineral that you need to make your best friend on a daily basis when it comes to your diet. If you don’t consume enough of it, you could significantly face nausea, high blood pressure, irregular heart beats, diabetes, cardiac arrest, and more.
In other words, magnesium must be prioritised in your life.
Learn more about magnesium, how to incorporate it into your diet, and its benefits below.
Overview of magnesium
Magnesium is a highly important mineral found in many foods and also available as a supplement. This mineral plays an essential role in supporting over 300 enzymes performing several chemical reactions, such as building proteins and strong bones, helping regulate blood pressure and blood sugar, and regulating muscle and nerve functions.
On average males need around 400-420 daily, 310-320 mg for women. As an adult, your body stores around 50%-60% of magnesium in your skeletal system; the rest is supplied to your muscles, soft tissues and body fluids. There’s a variety of magnesium you can get in your body, such as:
- Magnesium Citrate
- Magnesium Oxide
- Magnesium L-Threonate
- Magnesium Malate
- Magnesium Glycinate
- Magnesium Orotate
- Magnesium Taurate
What are the benefits of magnesium?
Magnesium provides a lot of benefits to your body, such as:
Bone health
Your bones contain around 60% of the total magnesium your body stores. If your body does not make enough magnesium your bone cartilage starts to break down and you’re at higher risk of bone disorders. Thus, magnesium is essential to help you maintain bone density and strength, it works in synergy with vitamin D and calcium. It also reduces the risk of fractures and osteoporosis.
Cardiovascular health
Magnesium helps regulate your heart rhythm and blood pressure. It’s a major electrolyte and is needed for homeostasis to transport other electrolytes like calcium and potassium into cells. These electrolytes are essential for nerve signals and muscle contractions of your heart. Sufficient levels of magnesium reduce your risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, heart attack and arrhythmia.
Mood regulation
Magnesium also may help anxiety, depression, certain mental health disorders and your mood. This is partly because it can regulate the activity of key neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. As a result, it may significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress.
Digestive Health
Many scientific researchers believe that magnesium may have a powerful influence on the gut-brain axis, an important pathway linking the digestive tract to the central nervous system.
Magnesium can help reduce inflammation of the intestinal tract, relax the intestines, and improve bowel movements, causing regularity and alleviating constipation.
Could help improve sleep
Magnesium also plays a pivotal role in sleep. People with lower magnesium levels tend to have sleep difficulties, such as staying asleep or falling asleep. Research shows that magnesium supplements can help older adults sleep easily and for longer periods of time.
Allow you to feel more energetic
Magnesium is involved in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used for many cellular processes such as muscle contraction, nerve transmission, and biochemical reactions. It also helps you sleep more easily, manage stress, and feel less fatigued.
What are the effects of not getting enough magnesium?
If you don’t have enough magnesium in your body, you could be at risk of the following:
- Increased risk of depression and anxiety
- Muscle cramps and twitches
- Diabetes
- A compromised immune system
- Neurological symptoms
- Osteoporosis
- Fatigue
- High blood pressure
- Asthma
- Irregular heartbeat
Food sources
One of the easiest ways of meeting your daily needs is by consuming magnesium naturally through food. Here are some of the top food sources that contain magnesium:
- Dark chocolate
- Avocados
- Legumes
- Nuts:
- Tofu
- Seeds: Chia seeds, pumpkin and flax
- Whole grains: Barley, oats and wheat.
- Bananas
- Fatty fish: Mackerel, salmon and halibut.
- Leafy greens: Kale and spinach.
- Ground beef
- Chicken
- Peanut butter
Magnesium Glycinate
While you can get magnesium from your food, there are always other ways to maintain your intake, such as supplements. Supplements like Magnesium Glycinate are a fantastic way to increase your consumption, especially if you live an on-the-go lifestyle.
Many nutritionists prefer magnesium glycinate as the most preferred option because it’s highly bioavailable and unlikely to cause digestive discomfort.
It reduces fatigue and tiredness and aids muscle relaxation and sleep. When paired with glycine, magnesium glycinate also helps support symptoms of insomnia, stress, and anxiety due to its calming properties.
Our magnesium glycinate supplements are vegan-friendly, manufactured to the highest standards, and contain no GMOs, artificial flavours, colours, or preservatives.
In summary
Overall, magnesium is a mineral that your body needs daily. The right magnesium levels can help your bones, digestive, cardiovascular, mood, sleep and energy.
You can find magnesium in natural food sources such as legumes, nuts, tofu, dark chocolate, chicken, bananas, avocados, seeds, leafy greens and more. But if you feel you’re not getting enough of it, we suggest taking a supplement like magnesium glycinate, which can have a calming effect and many other benefits.
Interested in your health? Check out our other supplements.
