MAGNESIUM

Magnesium isn't just a run-of-the-mill mineral; it's the powerhouse behind over 300 biochemical reactions in your body! Picture this: it's the conductor of the orchestra of your neurotransmitters, enzymes, and hormones, all playing a symphony that dictates your mood and brain function.

But wait, there's more! As the second most common electrolyte in your body, magnesium is like the unsung hero of your bodily functions, quietly ensuring everything runs smoothly behind the scenes.

In today's fast-paced world, stress is practically a constant companion, and guess what? Stress guzzles up your magnesium levels like a parched traveler in the desert. And if that wasn't enough, certain medications kick your magnesium stores to the curb too!

HERE'S THE KICKER: low magnesium levels aren't just a minor inconvenience. They're the culprits behind a laundry list of neuropsychiatric issues—think depression, anxiety, insomnia— you name it! But fear not, for science rides in like a knight in shining armor! Research reveals that magnesium supplementation is the hero we've been waiting for, swooping in to reduce the symptoms of these conditions and restore balance to your body and mind.

Amount used: 300mg Magnesium Citrate

Why: We make sure to use the most easily absorbed form of magnesium, the kind known for its soothing effects. It's like giving your body a warm hug! Many folks don't get enough magnesium in their diets, so adding a supplement can really make a difference. We've included a generous amount—just what you need to feel the benefits. It's like giving your body a little boost of goodness every day!

 

 

How Magnesium Works

✓ Magnesium is involved in over 300 cellular processes in your body including the creation of many hormones and brain chemicals that have a huge effect on your mood and brain function.

✓ Magnesium contributes to communication between brain cells which is a process important to the nervous system working in a balanced manner.

✓ Magnesium acts as gatekeeper for your nerve cells, and so it regulates the amount of stimulation you feel, so healthy levels of magnesium help to reduce nervous overstimulation.

 

 

Found abundantly in foods like spinach, dark chocolate (cacao), and avocado, magnesium can be obtained through dietary sources, although supplementation may be necessary to meet recommended daily intake levels.Found abundantly in foods like spinach, dark chocolate (cacao), and avocado, magnesium can be obtained through dietary sources, although supplementation may be necessary to meet recommended daily intake levels.

 

Health Benefits of Magnesium

Magnesium plays an important role in regulating neurotransmitters, or brain chemicals, which helps to promote functional relaxation and prevent overstimulation. 

• Lowers stress and anxiety.
• Essential in production of energy by the body.
• Assists with brain chemicals which are responsible for making us feel happy and calm.
• Improves mood.

 

 

Welcome to the world of scientifically-proven benefits of magnesium! Dive into a realm where this essential mineral takes center stage in enhancing your well-being. From reducing anxiety to improving brain function and stress management, join us on a journey where research illuminates the profound impact of magnesium on your mental and physical health.

 

To make it easy to identify all the different studies - we will highlight them for you!  

We really hope you enjoy our many years of research when formulating Savvy...

 

Improves Brain Function by Reducing Anxiety 

 

 

Boyle NB, et. al. (2017). ‘The effects of magnesium supplementation on subjective anxiety and stress – A systematic review.’ in Nutrients. Volume 9, Issue 5, April 2017, Page 429. [Link]

"A recent 2017 review found that magnesium reduced anxiety."

 

Lakhan SE, et al. ‘Nutritional and herbal supplements for anxiety and anxiety-related disorders: systematic review.’ Nutrition Journal. Volume 9, Article number: 42, October 2010. [Link]

"The 2010 review, above, found that magnesium could be a natural treatment for anxiety."

 

Kirkland A, et al. ‘The role of magnesium in neurological disorders.’ in Nutrients. Volume 10, Issue 6, June 2018, Page 730. [Link]

“There is strong data for the role of magnesium in migraine and depression. There is also good potential for magnesium to be having an effect in chronic pain conditions, as well as commonly comorbid psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression.”

 

Sartori SB, et al. ‘Magnesium deficiency induces anxiety and HPA axis dysregulation: Modulation by therapeutic drug treatment’ in Neuropharmacology. Volume 62, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 304-312. [Link]

“In the search for neurobiological mechanisms underlying abnormal anxiety, it may be that Mg2+ is an interesting player as it is one of the essential ions in the brain affecting many intracellular and interneuronal processes.”

 

Don J, et al. (2019). ‘Magnesium’ in An Evidence-based Approach to Vitamins and Minerals: Health Benefits and Intake Recommendations. [Link]

"Magnesium is an essential mineral and a cofactor for hundreds of enzymes. Magnesium is involved in many physiologic pathways, including energy production, nucleic acid and protein synthesis, ion transport, cell signaling, and also has structural functions."

 

 

 

Serefko A, et al. ‘Magnesium in depression’ in Pharmacological Reports. Volume 65, Issue 3, May–June 2013, Pages 547-554. [Link]

“Thus, magnesium preparations seem to be a valuable addition to the pharmacological armamentarium for management of depression.”

 

Schwalfenberg GK, et al. (2017). The importance of magnesium in clinical healthcare. Scientifica (Cairo). Volume 2017, September 2017, Article 4179326.[Link]

“Depression is common in patients with diabetes and often correlates with low Mg. Treatment with Mg chloride has been shown to be as effective for depressed mood in patients with T2DM as 50 mg of imipramine.”

 

Wienecke, E., Nolden, C. ‘[Long-term HRV analysis shows stress reduction by magnesium intake]’ in MMW Fortschritte der Medizin, Volume 158, Supplementary 6, December 2016, pp. 12-16. [Link]

“The results of this study point out that persons with mental and physical stress can benefit from a daily intake of magnesium. This might lead to an improved physiological regulation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic efferents and, furthermore, prevent magnesium deficiency and diseases such as, for example, restlessness, irritability, lack of concentration, sleep disorder or depression.”

 

Decollogne, S. Et al. ‘NMDA Receptor Complex Blockade by Oral Administration of Magnesium: Comparison with MK-801’ in Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behaviour, Volume 58, Issue 1, September 1997, pp. 261-268. [Link]

“In this test, Mg2+ treatment, like MK-801 treatment, was inactive, as reported by Panconi et al. [34], reinforcing the idea that Mg2+, like other NMDA inhibitors, represents a new class of antidepressant agents.”

“These data demonstrate that oral administration of magnesium to normal animals can antagonize NMDA-mediated responses and lead to antidepressant-like effects that are comparable to those of MK-801.”

 

Jorgensen, BP. Et al. ‘Dietary magnesium deficiency affects gut microbiota and anxiety-like behaviour in C57BL/6N mice’ in Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 2015, pp. 307-311. [Link]

“In conclusion, the duration of dietary magnesium deficiency may impact anxiety-like behaviour. This should be addressed through behavioural testing at several time points up till 6 weeks of magnesium deficiency in order to conclude further. Future studies should evaluate whether the induced GM alterations affect other aspects of anxiety.”

 

Henrotte, J.G., Et al. ‘Joumal of the American College of Nutrition 4:165-172  (1985)  Blood and Urinary Magnesium,  Zinc,  Calcium,  Free Fatty Acids, and Catecholamines in Type A and Type Β Subjects’ in Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Volume 4, Issue 2, 1985, pp. 165-172. [Link] 

“The  present  investigation  supports  the  hypotheses  recalled  in  the  introduction,  suggesting  the  role  of  chronic  Mg  deficiency  in  the  susceptibility  of  type  A  personal ities  to  hypertension  and  coronary  vasospasm.  Type  A  subjects  are  shown  to  react  more  to  stress  than  type  Β  as  they  exhibit  a  larger  catecholamine  excretion  and  a  larger  increase  in  serum  FFA.  These  changes  are  most  probably  responsible  for  the  drop  in RBC Mg observed  in  80%   of our type  A and only 44% of our type  Β subjects. In  the  long  run,  repeated  stress  would,  therefore,  provoke  a  state  of  Mg  deficiency  leading  to  an  increase  in  the  basal  tone  of  blood  vessels.  The  possible  role  of  Zn  is  also  brought  forward   in  the  pathogenesis  of  diseases  prevailing  in  type  A  behavior  personalities.”

 

Hashizume, N., Mori, M. ‘An analysis of hypermagnesemia and hypomagnesemia’ in Japanese Journal of Medicine, Volume 29, Issue 4,  July-August 1990, pp. 368-72. [Link]

“Incidence of clinical manifestations of hypomagnesemia (Fig. 5)The most frequent clinical  finding in patients with hypomagnesemia was personality change (32.7%), followed by depression and tachycardia (22.4%), stupor (20.4%), convulsion, nausea and vomiting, hallucina-tion, disorientation, tremor, abdominal pain, sweating, numbness, and malaise (10.2% each), articulation disorders, diarrhea, constipation, and ataxia (8.2% each), muscle weakness and dizziness (6.1%), muscle pain and muscular rigidity (4.1%), and muscle twitch and increased tendon reflex, sensory disturbances, nystagmus, athetosis, and facial flushing (2%).”

 

Hanus, M. ‘Double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a fixed combination containing two plant extracts (Crataegus oxyacantha and Eschscholtzia californica) and magnesium in mild-to-moderate anxiety disorders’ in Current Medical Research and Opinion, Volume 20, Number 1, 2004, pp. 63-71.[Link]

“End of treatment clinical improvement, as measured by the mean difference between final and pre-treatment scores, was, for the study drug and placebo groups respectively: -10.6 and -8.9 on the total anxiety score (p = 0.005); -6.5 and -5.7 on the somatic score (p = 0.054); and -38.5 and -29.2 for subjectively assessed anxiety (p = 0.005).”

“The    present    study    demonstrates    that    regular administration (two tablets twice daily) for 3 months of a preparation  containing  fixed  quantities  of  two  plant extracts   (Crataegus   oxyacantha and Eschscholtzia californica)  and  magnesium  improved  the  clinical  status of  adult  patients  presenting  with  mild-to-moderate anxiety disorder with associated functional disturbance.”

 

Poleszak, E. Et al. ‘Immobility stress induces depression-like behavior in the forced swim test in mice: effect of magnesium and imipramine’ in Pharmacological Reports, Volume 58, Issue 5, September-October 2006, pp. 746-752. [Link]

“Mg and IMI administered at the doses of 10 and 15 mg/kg, respectively, which were ineffective in non-stressed mice (Fig. 1A), normalized the increased immobility time in IS mice (Fig. 1B). The joint administration of Mg and IMI significantly reduced immobility time in both non-stressed and stressed groups of animals (Fig. 1).”

 

Poleszak, E. ‘Modulation of antidepressant-like activity of magnesium by serotonergic system’ in Journal of Neural Transmission, Volume 114, April 2017, pp. 1129-1134. [Link]

“The ability to eliminate the antidepressant-like effect of magnesium by 5-HT depletion provides compelling evidence that the behavioral effects of magnesium in the FST require intact serotonin system. In summary, the results described in the present paper indicate, that antidepressant-like action of Mg in FST involves serotonergic neurotransmission.”

“In our study, in order to confirm a possible contribution of the serotonergic system to the antidepressive effect of magnesium, the animals were pre-treated with pCPA, an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis. The depletion of serotonin by pCPA did not alter baseline activity in the FST, but completely reduced the antidepressant-like action caused by magnesium. The ability to eliminate the antidepressant-like effect of magnesium by 5-HT depletion provides compelling evidence that the behavioral effects of magnesium in the FST require intact serotonin system. In summary, the results described in the present paper indicate that antidepressant-like action of Mg in FST involves serotonergic neurotransmission. Synergistic effect between ‘‘serotonergic’’ antidepressants and Mg may be used as a method to enhance antidepressant effect in drugresistant patients.”

 

Poleszak, E. Et al. ‘NMDA/glutamate mechanism of antidepressant-like action of magnesium in forced swim test in mice’ in Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behaviour, Volume 88, Issue 2, December 2007, pp. 158-164. [Link] 

“The present study indicates the involvement of NMDA/glutamate pathway in the antidepressant-like activity of magnesium in mouse FST and further point to magnesium as potential antidepressant agent.”

 

Singewald, N. Et al. ‘Magnesium-deficient diet alters depression- and anxiety-related behavior in mice—influence of desipramine and Hypericum perforatum extract’ in Neuropharmacology, Volume 47, Issue 8, December 2004, pp. 1189-1197. [Link]

 

“In the light/dark test, enhanced anxiety-related behavior in Mg-depleted mice was expressed by their markedly increased latency to enter the light compartment, as well as the more than 50% reduced time spent there.”

“Our main findings are that partial Mg-depletion, as indicated by hypomagnesaemia, leads to an increase in depression- and anxiety-related behavior as revealed by using various well-established behavioral paradigms (forced swim test, light/dark test and open field test). Furthermore, we validated this model by reversing the enhanced depression-like behavior induced by Mg-depletion with both DMI and Hyp.”

 

Rasmussen, H. Et al. ‘Depression And Magnesium Deficiency’ in International Journal of Psychiatry in medicine, Volume 19, Issue 1, March 1990, pp. 57-63. [Link]

“Treatment was instituted with a fat reduced diet and a mixture of magnesium acetate (80 Meqvlday). Serum magnesium and serum potassium normalized, urinary excretion of magnesium increased, and the depressive symptoms and diarrhea disappeared within a few days….. At subsequent monthly controls no relapse of either depression or diarrhea was found.”

“The patient was definitely depressed, as she had six of the eight criteria which form the diagnostic core of depression as defined by the American Psychatric Association in their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM111, 1980).”

“Recognition of the syndrome of hypomagnesemia and/or hypocalcemia due to the defect in intestinal absorption is important to avoid unnecessary medical treatment.”

 

Tarleton, E. Et al. ‘Magnesium Intake and Depression in Adults’ in Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, Volume 28, Issue 2, pp. 249-256. [Link]

“The univariate regression of low magnesium intake and depression demonstrated a strong, statistically significant association, with an OR of 1.73 (95% CI, 1.48–2.02) and an RR of 1.49 (95% CI, 1.35–1.66) (Table 2).”

“Overall, we found a significant association between low magnesium intake and depression, especially in younger adults. The increased prevalence of depression was confined to the lowest levels of magnesium intake. Nonetheless, the effect is very strong, with a >50% higher rate of depression in the lowest quintile of intake compared with those consuming greater amounts.”

 

Tarleton, E. Et al. ‘Role of magnesium supplementation in the treatment of depression: A randomized clinical trial’ in PLoS One, Volume 12, Issue 6, June 2017. [Link] 

“When asked whether they would take magnesium in the future, 68 (61%) answered yes, 22 (20%) answered maybe and 22 (20%) answered no. The most common reasons for a positive answer were “the magnesium helped my mood” (58%) and “it helped in other ways” (23%), such as by increasing energy, decreasing constipation, and decreasing muscle aches and cramps.”

“Consumption of 248 mg of elemental MgCl2 daily for 6 weeks improved depression scores by a statistically and clinically significant mean of 6 points and anxiety by over 4 points.”

“Daily supplementation with 248 mg of elemental magnesium as four 500 mg tablets of magnesium chloride per day leads to a significant decrease in depression and anxiety symptoms regardless of age, gender, baseline severity of depression, or use of antidepressant medications.”

 

Pyndt, B. Et al. ‘Dietary magnesium deficiency affects gut microbiota and anxiety-like behaviour inC57BL/6N mice’ in Acta Neuropsychiatrica, October 2015, Volume 27, Issue 5, pp. 307-311. [Link]

“It can be speculated that 6 weeks ofdietary magnesium deficiency may impact the brain and behaviour in a different manner than 3 weeks ofdeficiency, further altering the behavioural outcome of the LDB test.”

“Interestingly, the GM composition correlated significantly with anxiety-like behaviour in the control group, and thus it may be speculated that inter-individual GM variation influence anxiety-like behaviour in the dietary unchallenged mice and that magnesium deficiency may disrupt homeostasis microbiota–gut–brain axis. In conclusion, the duration of dietary magnesium deficiency may impact anxiety-like behaviour.”

 

Souza, M. Et al. ‘A Synergistic Effect of a Daily Supplement for 1 Month of 200 mg Magnesium plus 50 mg Vitamin B6 for the Relief of Anxiety-Related  Premenstrual Symptoms: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Crossover Study’ in Journal of Women’s Health & Gender-Based Medicine, Volume 9, Number 2, 2000, [Link] 

“ANOVA showed no overall difference between individual treatments, but predefined    treatment comparisons using factorial contrasts in ANOVA   showed a significant effect of 200 mg/ day Mg 150 mg/  day vitamin B6 on reducing anxiety-related premenstrual symptoms (nervous  tension,  mood swings, irritability, or anxiety) (p=0.040).”

“In conclusion, we have found evidence of a synergistic effect of a daily supplement of 200 mg Mg150 mg vitamin B6 after 1 month of admin-istration for the relief of anxiety-related premen-strual symptoms in women and a nonsignificant reduction trend  (p=0.056) in craving-related symptoms.

 

Lower Fatigue and Irritation Levels, Including PMS

 

Ebrahimi, E. Et al. ‘Effects of Magnesium and Vitamin B6 on the Severity of Premenstrual Syndrome Symptoms’ in Journal of Caring Sciences, Volume 1, Issue 4, December 2012, pp. 183-189. [Link] 

“In accordance with previous research, the findings of this study demonstrated the positive effects of magnesium and vitamin B6 on reduction of all premenstrual syndrome symptoms.”

“....symptoms of craving, water retention, and anxiety were better controlled by magnesium [than Vitamin B6].”

“Overall, compared to chemical medications, magnesium is a beneficial, low cost, and effective treatment for the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.”

 

Facchinetti, F. Et al. Oral Magnesium Successfully Relies Premenstrual Mood Changes, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Volume 78, Issue 2, August 1991, pp. 177. [Link]

“The cluster “pain” score was significantly reduced in the second month of assigned treatment (F = 3.72,, P < .05). In contrast, treatment had a significant effect on both the total Menstrual Distress score (F = 4.29, df 1/27, P = .04) and the cluster “negative affect” (F = 6.45, P < .02).”

“The effects of Mg treatment were confirmed at the fourth month of observation...Significant decreases in the total Menstrual Distress Question-naire score (P < .04), “negative affect” (P < .05)...”

“The present data lead us to conclude that Mg sup-plementation could represent an effective treatment of premenstrual symptoms, mainly those associated to mood change.”

 

Raise Sleep Quality and Ensure a Deeper Sleep (Sleep Regulator)

Chollet, D. Et al. ‘Blood and brain magnesium in inbred mice and their correlation with sleep quality’ in Regulatory, Integrative and comparative physiology, Volume 279, Issue 6, December 2000, R2173-8. [Link]

“Our observation that high levels of basal forebrain Mg are associated with high amounts of sleep during the rest period is of interest because this structure includes the basal nucleus of Meynert, which can modulate the amount of sleep through its W promoting cholinergic and SWS promoting GABAergic projections to cortical areas….”

“The highly significant positive correlation between brain Mg and the duration of long SWS episodes during the first 3 h after SD suggests that Mg may have a role in the modulation of sleep quality.”

“Thus the correlations found in the present study between high levels of brain Mg and long noninterrupted episodes of sleep after SD can be interpreted as part of a mechanism to enhance the efficiency of recovery from SD stress by improving the quality of sleep (i.e., by increasing sleep consolidation).”

 

Eby, G., Ebay, K. ‘Rapid recovery from major depression using magnesium treatment’ in Medical Hypotheses, Volume 67, pp. 362-370. [Link]

“The 59-year old man experienced life-saving bene-fit from magnesium. The first night after starting magnesium, sleep was restored essentially to nor-mal. Within the following 4 days, depression was greatly reduced for 4–6 h after each magnesium dosage. Anxiety steadily disappeared. Tetany and headaches  rapidly  disappeared.”

 “After 1 week of magnesium treatment, the 23-year old woman became free of depression. Unex-pectedly, her short term memory and IQ also returned, benefits only previously shown in rats[9]when immediately treated with magnesium after traumatic brain injury.”

“It is likely that magnesium deficiency causes most major depression and related mental health illnesses, IQ loss and addictions.”

 

Held, K. Et al. ‘Oral Mg2+ Supplementation Reverses Age-Related Neuroendocrine and Sleep EEG Changes in Humans’ in Pharmacopsychiatry, 2002, Volume 35, Issue 4, pp. 135-143. [Link]

“Mg(2+) led to a significant increase in slow wave sleep (16.5 +/- 20.4 min vs. 10.1 +/- 15.4 min, < or =0.05)....Renin increased (3.7 +/- 2.3 ng/ml x min vs. 2.3 +/- 1.0 ng/ml x min, p < 0.05) during the total night and aldosterone (3.6 +/- 4.7 ng/ml x min vs. 1.1 +/- 0.9 ng/ml x min, p < 0.05) in the second half of the night, whereas cortisol (8.3 +/- 2.4 pg/ml x min vs. 11.8 +/- 3.8 pg/ml x min, p < 0.01) decreased significantly and AVP by trend in the first part of the night.”

 “The major effects of oral Mg2+ supplementation in elderly are 1.) an increase of SWS, 2.) an increase in delta power and sigma power during non-REM sleep, 3.) a decrease in the concentration of cortisol during the first part of the night, 4.) an increase of the renin concentration throughout and of the aldosterone concentration in the second part of the night, 5.) a trend to a decrease of AVP in the first part, and 6.) no alteration of ACTH and ATII in any part of the night. “

“For the actions observed in the sleep-EEG, the free intracerebral Mg2+ concentration has been suggested to be relevant.”

 

Homyak, M. Et al. ‘Magnesium Therapy for Periodic Leg Movements-related Insomnia and Restless Legs Syndrome: An Open Pilot Study’ in Pharmacology and Sleep, Volume 221, Issue 5, August 1998, pp. 501-5. [Link]

“Sleep efficiency improved from 75 +/- 12% to 85 +/- 8% (p < 0.01). In the group of patients estimating their sleep and/or symptoms of RLS as improved after therapy (n = 7), the effects of magnesium on PLMS and PLMS-A were even more pronounced. Our study indicates that magnesium treatment may be a useful alternative therapy in patients with mild or moderate RLS-or PLMS-related insomnia.”

“Seven out of 10 patients reported improvement of RLS symptoms and/or insomnia (5 patients with RLS and 2 patients with PLMS-related insomnia). In the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory, 7 patients evaluated their sleep as better after therapy (13±4 vs 8±3; p=0.015); the decrease of the score from all patients was not significant, however (12±5 vs 10±4). Data from the SF-A revealed, in 7 patients, improvement or no change of sleep quality (2.3±0.6 vs 2.7±0.6; p=0.062). These patients felt more refreshed in the morning during therapy (3.0±1.1 vs 3.5±0.8; p=0.020). The mean SF-A scores of the 10 patients did not change markedly (score for quality of sleep 2.5±0.8 vs 2.6±0.5; score for refreshing value of sleep 3.1±1 vs 3.2±0.8).”

 

Anti-inflammatory (Antioxidant)

Chacko, S. Et al. ‘Magnesium supplementation, metabolic and inflammatory markers, and global genomic and proteomic profiling: a randomized, double-blind, controlled, crossover trial in overweight individuals 1,2,3’ in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 93, Issue 2, pp. 463-473. [Link] 

“We observed improvements in several metabolic biomarkers after magnesium treatment including a decrease in C-peptide concentrations (change: −0.4 ng/mL after magnesium treatment compared with 0.05 ng/mL after placebo treatment; P = 0.004) and a nonsignificant decrease in fasting insulin concentrations (change: −2.2 μU/mL after magnesium treatment compared with 0.0 μU/mL after placebo treatment; P = 0.25).”

“Several genes closely linked to metabolic and inflammatory pathways were down-regulated, including C1q and tumor necrosis factor related protein 9 (C1QTNF9), which is a gene that encodes a glycoprotein secreted by the adipose tissue that plays a role in insulin and glucose metabolism, and pro-platelet basic protein [chemokine (C-X-C) motif] ligand (PPBP), which is a platelet-derived growth factor that belongs to the CXC chemokine family involved in the activation of neutrophils.”

“In this randomized crossover trial in overweight individuals, magnesium supplementation for 4 wk significantly decreased fasting concentrations of C-peptide and appeared to decrease fasting insulin concentrations. We also observed the down-regulation of genes related to metabolic and inflammatory pathways including C1QTNF9 and PPBP. Urine proteomic profiling showed a number of peptides and proteins significantly differentially expressed in response to magnesium treatment.

These findings lend support to the hypothesis that dietary magnesium plays a beneficial role in the regulation of insulin and glucose homeostasis.”

 

Malpuech-Brugere, C. Et al. ‘Inflammatory response following acute magnesium deficiency in the rat’ in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease, Volume 1501, Issues 2-3, June 2000, pp. 91-98. [Link]

“When peritoneal cells were isolated by peritoneal washes with saline, the number of cells obtained from Mg-deficient rats was about two-fold greater than in controls.”

“However, the present study indicates that the activated state of immune cells is an early event occurring after a few days of Mg deficiency.”

 

Nielsen, F. Et al. ‘Magnesium supplementation improves indicators of low magnesium status and inflammatory stress in adults older than 51 years with poor quality sleep’ in Magnesium Research, Volume 24, Issue 4, December 2010, pp. 158-68. [Link]

“Based on food diaries, 58% of the participants were consuming less than the US. Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) for magnesium. Consuming less than the EAR was associated with a significantly higher BMI and plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration. Only 40 participants had plasma CRP concentrations higher than 3.0 mg/L (an indication of chronic inflammatory stress). Overall PSQI scores improved (10.4 to 6.6, p < 0.0001) and erythrocyte magnesium increased (4.75 to 5.05 pg/cell, p = 0.01) regardless of magnesium or placebo supplementation.”

“The findings show that many individuals have a low magnesium status associated with increased chronic inflammatory stress that could be alleviated by increased magnesium intake.”

 

Weglicki, WB. Et al. ‘Magnesium-deficiency elevates circulating levels of inflammatory cytokines and endothelin’ in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Volume 110, 1992, pp. 169-173. [Link]

“Dramatic elevations of the macrophage-derived cytokines, IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-a together with significantly elevated levels of the endothelial cell-derived cytokine, endothelin, were detected in the plasma of these animals. We believe that the pathophysiological effects caused by the action of these cytokines may play a role in the promotion of cardiovascular pathology associated with magnesium deficiency.”

“Cardiomyopathic lesions become prominent following two weeks for the hamster and three weeks for the rat on the Mg-deficient diet. The etiology of these lesions is unclear.”

“Recruitment of PMNs to the endothelium may initiate the free radical injury that participates in the development of the cardiomyopathic lesions. Thus, magnesium-deficiency associated macro- phage production of inflammatory cytokines may be a common initiator of pathological events associated with both formation of cardiomyopathic lesions and altered vascular tone.”

 

Zhao, B. Et al. ‘The Effect of Magnesium Intake on Stroke Incidence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis With Trial Sequential Analysis’ in Frontiers in Neurology, Volume 10, Issue 852, 2019. [Link] 

“For each 100 mg/day increase in magnesium, the risk for total stroke was reduced by 2% and the risk for ischemic stroke was reduced by 2%.”

“The summary relative risk (RR) was significantly reduced by 11% for total stroke (RR: 0.89 [95% CI, 0.83–0.94]; P < 0.001) and by 12% for ischemic stroke (RR: 0.88 [95% CI, 0.81–0.95]; P = 0.001), comparing the highest magnesium intake category to the lowest. After adjusting for calcium intake, the inverse association still existed for total stroke (RR: 0.89 ([95% CI, 0.80–0.99]; P = 0.040). There was an inverse but non-significant association for hemorrhagic stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage and intracerebral hemorrhage.”

 

Improving Cognitive Function (Focus, Clear thinking, Attention and Motivation)

Baza, F. Et al. ‘Magnesium supplementation in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder’ in Egyption Journal of Medical Human Genes, Volume 17, Issue 1, January 2016, pp 63-70. [Link]

“Magnesium deficiency was found in 18 (72%) of ADHD children. The magnesium supplemented group improved as regards cognitive functions as measured by the Wisconsin card sorting test and Conners’ rating scale.”

“On follow up; in the magnesium supplemented group, Conners’ parents rating scores sub items improved, with a highly significant improvement in the hyperactivity (p = 0.001) and the impulsivity domain (p = 0.001). Other sub items improved, but the improvement was not statistically significant. The highly significant improvement seen in hyperactivity could be due to the fact that magnesium is needed for relaxation at the neuromuscular junctions [26]. Similarly, follow up of cognitive function using Wisconsin card sorting test, showed significant improvement in the category completion (p = 0.061) in the conceptual level (p = 0.038).”

 

Chen, H. Et al. ‘Magnesium enhances exercise performance via increasing glucose availability in the blood, muscle, and brain during exercise’ in PLoS One, Volume 20, Issue 1. [Link] 

“In the Mg group, brain glucose increased to 110%–125% immediately after Mg administration for 15 min (P<0.05). Brain glucose was increased to approximately160%, and then plateaued during exercise. During recovery periods, glucose gradually returned to the basal level in the Mg group.”

“In the Mg group, brain lactate concentrations rose to approximately 190% of the basal levels and reached a peak of approximately 320% of the basal levels during exercise. In the recovery period, lactate gradually diminished to approximately 200% of the basal levels approximately 60 min after exercise. Brain lactate concentrations of the Mg group were approximately 200% higher than those of the control group (P<0.05).”

“In the Mg group, brain lactate concentrations rose to approximately 190% of the basal levels and reached a peak of approximately 320% of the basal levels during exercise.”

 

Elbaz, F. Et al. ‘Magnesium, zinc and copper estimation in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)’ in Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics, Volume 18, Issue 2, April 2017, pp. 153-163. [Link] 

“Magnesium, zinc and copper deficiencies were found in 13 (65%), 14 (60%) and 12 (70%) of ADHD children respectively. Magnesium and zinc deficiencies were found to be correlated with hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity.”

“Because our study showed that ADHD patients deficient in zinc and magnesium show more hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention than those with normal levels, we may speculate that these deficiencies may be incriminated as a contributing factor leading to this behavioral disorder, or may at least play a role in worsening of the symptoms.”

 

Tommi, M. Et al. ‘Magnesium potentiation of the function of native and recombinant GABAA receptors‘ in NeuroReport, Volume 12, Issue 10, July 2001, pp. 2175-2179. [Link]

“GABA is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the CNS….Mg2+ (1 mM) enhanced the GABA-induced inhibition of [35S]TBPS binding by 44–88%, the effect being significant in the inferior colliculus, caudate-putamen and inner layer of the cerebral cortex (Table 1, Fig. 1).”

“In addition to a well-known antagonising effect of Mg2+ ions on NMDA receptors [21], the agonist-potentiating effect on GABAARs reported here suggests an important role of Mg2+ in regulating excitation/inhibition in the CNS. Removal of Mg2+ causes hyperexcitability [22], which may thus be partly due to reduced GABAergic inhibition. Alteration of the Mg2+ action might be involved in diverse CNS symptoms found, for example, in alcohol withdrawal, premenstrual syndrome and treatment of eclampsia [23].”

 

Help Prevent Headaches 

Koseoglu, E. Et al. ‘The effects of magnesium prophylaxis in migraine without aura’ in Magnesium Research, Volume 21, Issue 2, June 2008, pp. 101-8. [Link]

“The results of 30 patients with migraine without aura (20-55 years old with 2-5 migraine attacks per month) on magnesium treatment were compared with those of 10 patients with similar properties on placebo treatment. Migraine attack frequency, severity and P1 amplitude in visual evoked potential examination decreased after magnesium treatment with respect to pretreatment values (p < 0.001). In a comparison of the effects of magnesium treatment with those of placebo, post/pretreatment ratios of migraine attack frequency, severity and P1 amplitude in Mg treatment group were found to be significantly lower than those in placebo treatment group (attack frequency p = 0.005, attack severity p < 0.001, P1 amplitude p < 0.05). Cortical blood flow in inferolateral frontal (p < 0.001), inferolateral temporal (p = 0.001) and insular regions (p < 0.01) increased significantly after magnesium treatment with respect to the pretreatment; while such significant changes of cortical blood flow were not observed with placebo treatment.”

 

Pfaffenrath, V. Et al. ‘Magnesium in the Prophylaxis of Migraine—a Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study’ in Cephalagia, October 1996, Volume 16, Issue 6, pp. 436-40. [Link]

Note: MAH refers to granules of 5 mmol magnesium (121.5 mg)

“Nevertheless, 33% of the magnesium group and only 11% of the placebo group estimated the study medication to be superior to previously used migraine prophylactics.”

 

Shahrami, A. Et al. ‘Comparison of Therapeutic Effects of Magnesium Sulfate vs. Dexamethasone/Metoclopramide on Alleviating Acute Migraine Headache’ in The Journal of Emergency Medicine, Volume 48, Issue 1, January 2015, pp. 69-76. [Link] 

“Contrary to patients undergoing treatment with dexamethasone/metoclopramide, administration of magnesium sulfate resulted in a significant decrease in pain severity at 20-min interval. As shown in Figure 2, pain severity decreased to 5.2 ± 1.7 at 20-min interval, demonstrating a significant difference from the pain severity at baseline (p < 0.0001). Pain severity decreased almost steadily at 1 h (2.3 ± 1.9) and 2 h (1.3 ± 0.60) intervals after treatment (p < 0.0001).”

“Two-hour follow-up of patients showed the least pain severity 2 h after injection of magnesium sulfate in the present study (1.3 ± 0.66), revealing statistically significant differences at all the time points evaluated (p < 0.0001).”

“Our present study suggests that intravenous infusion of magnesium sulfate provides faster and more effective symptom relief than combined therapy with dexamethasone/metoclopramide.”

 

Wang, F. Et al. ‘Oral Magnesium Oxide Prophylaxis of Frequent Migrainous Headache in Children: A Randomized, Double‐Blind, Placebo‐Controlled Trial’ in American Headache Society, Volume 43, June 2003, pp. 601-610. [Link]

“By intention-to-treat analysis, we found a statistically significant decrease over time in headache frequency in the magnesium oxide group (P =.0037) but not in the placebo group (P =.086), although the slopes of these 2 lines were not statistically significantly different from each other (P =.88). The group treated with magnesium oxide had significantly lower headache severity (P =.0029) relative to the placebo group.”

 

Reduce Muscle Tension

Varghese, A. et al. ‘A Higher Concentration of Dialysate Magnesium to Reduce the Frequency of Muscle Cramps: A Narrative Review’ in Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease. Volume 7, October 2020. [Link]

“Preliminary evidence from observational and interventional studies suggests a higher dialysate magnesium concentration will raise serum magnesium concentrations and may reduce the frequency and severity of muscle cramps.”

 

Cevette, M.J. et al. ‘Phase 2 study examining magnesium-dependent tinnitus’ in The International Tinnitus Journal. Volume 16, Issue 2, 2011, pages 168-173. [Link]

"Recent studies in noise-induced and idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss have suggested that magnesium supplementation may lessen both hearing loss and the severity of tinnitus in patients. Further epidemiological evidence indicates that all age groups of Americans fall short of the recommended daily allowance for magnesium by 100 mg daily."

 

Veronese, N. et al. ‘Effect of oral magnesium supplementation on physical performance in healthy elderly women involved in a weekly exercise program: a randomized controlled trial’ in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Volume 100, Issue 3, September 2014, Pages 974-981. [Link]

“Daily magnesium oxide supplementation for 12 wk seems to improve physical performance in healthy elderly women. These findings suggest a role for magnesium supplementation in preventing or delaying the age-related decline in physical performance.”

 

Sun-Edelstein, C. and Mauskop, A. ‘Role of magnesium in the pathogenesis and treatment of migraine’ in Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics. Volume 9, Issue 3, January 2014, Pages 369-379. [Link]

“Studies have shown that preventive treatment with oral magnesium and acute headache treatment with intravenous magnesium may be effective, particularly in certain subsets of patients.”

 

Akira Takahashi, A. ‘The pathophysiology of leg cramping during dialysis and the use of carnitine in its treatment’ in Physiological Reports. Volume 9, Issue 21, November 2021. [Link]

“magnesium is necessary for proper operation of the TCA cycle, and magnesium ions suppress nerve and muscle excitability and are involved in neurotransmission and cell membrane stability (de Baaij, 2015; Varghese et al., 2020). Therefore, magnesium administration may also help to prevent leg cramping.”

 

Zofková, I. et al. ‘The relationship between magnesium and calciotropic hormones.’ in Magnesium Research. Volume 8, Issue 1, Mar 1995, pages 77-84. [Link]

“Magnesium on the other hand is essential for the normal function of the parathyroid glands, metabolism of vitamin D and adequate sensitivity of target tissues to PTH and active vitamin D metabolites.”

 

Nielsen, F. ‘Magnesium, inflammation, and obesity in chronic disease.’ in Nutrition Reviews, Volume 68, Issue 6, June 2010, Pages 333–340. [Link]

“the findings above reveal there is a basis for marginal-to-moderate dietary magnesium deficiency contributing significantly to the occurrence of diseases with a chronic inflammatory stress component, such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, and cancer; the findings may also explain why epidemiological and correlation studies have shown a low magnesium status is associated with these diseases.”

 

Rosanoff, A, et al. ‘Suboptimal magnesium status in the United States: are the health consequences underestimated?’ in Nutrition Reviews. Volume 70, Issue 3, March 2012, Pages 153–164. [Link]

“Because magnesium deficiency results in smooth muscle spasm, it has also been implicated in asthma, and magnesium therapy has been effective for treating asthma in some studies.”