Magnesium Supplements

What is Magnesium?

Magnesium is found on the periodic table at number 12 with the symbol Mg. Web MD states ‘Magnesium is a mineral that is important for normal bone structure in the body’. You tend to get your daily magnesium from:

• Leafy greens: spinach, chard and broccoli.
• Nuts and seeds: almonds, cashews, chia seeds and pine nuts.
• Legumes: black beans, navy beans and mung beans.
• And other sources.

However research suggests that we are not getting enough magnesium day to day with up to a third of the population being estimated to be magnesium deficient (Hruby & McKeown, 2016). Magnesium deficiency can cause cardiovascular lesions which could lead to disease later on in life (Seelig, 1989). Magnesium deficiency is also linked to numerous types of cardiovascular disease (DiNicolantonio et al., 2018).

Clearly, magnesium deficiency is a serious health problem. With people struggling to get their magnesium requirement from their diet, people have turned to magnesium supplements.

Do magnesium supplements work?

Magnesium supplements have been studied a lot. Researchers have looked at different forms of magnesium supplementation, doses and outcomes.

Physical performance 

The effects of magnesium supplementation in boosting physical performance have been researched. One study investigated magnesium supplementation and strength development during a 7-week strength development programme. There were two groups. One ingested magnesium supplements alongside the programme and the other did not (control group). The study found that after the 7-week programme, both groups gained strength however the group who also had the magnesium supplement gained significantly more strength compared to the control group (Brilla & Haley, 1992).

Another study looked at exercise performance in women when taking a magnesium supplement. After four weeks of magnesium oxide supplementation, participants had more magnesium in their system during resting however, their recovery or exercise performance did not improve (Finstad et al., 2001).

Bone density

Magnesium regulates the transportation of calcium in your body. Calcium is essential for bone development. Sojka (1995) looked at magnesium supplementation (magnesium hydroxide) in a group of menopausal women to see its effects on bone density. Sojka found that at the end of the two-year study, the women’s bone density had significantly increased.

Blood pressure

One of the main selling points of magnesium supplements is their ability to lower blood pressure. A meta-analysis containing 23 sets of data (an average dose of 410mg) looked at magnesium supplementation’s effect on systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The meta-analysis concluded that not all trials individually showed a significant reduction in blood pressure, however when all the trials were combined, SBP decreased 3-4 mm hg and DBP decreased 2-3mm hg (Kass et al., 2012). This led the researchers to conclude that magnesium supplementation achieves a small but clinically significant reduction in blood pressure.

Mental health

Magnesium supplementation also seems to help mental health. One study looked at magnesium supplementation with 126 adults who had mild to moderate symptoms of depression. Adults took 248mg of magnesium every day for six weeks and then filled out the mental health questionnaires again. Results showed that there was a clinically significant improvement in depression scores (-6.0 points) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder scores. Effects were seen within two weeks of starting the magnesium supplement and 61% of the participants said that they would use magnesium supplements in the future (Tarleton et al., 2017).

Bioavailability of Magnesium

The research seems to suggest that magnesium supplementation has positive health benefits, increasing strength and bone density, decreasing blood pressure and positively impacting mental health.

In terms of getting your magnesium supplement right, research suggests that organic forms of magnesium are more bioavailable than inorganic forms. Absorption of magnesium is also dose dependent, and its distribution relies on the form of magnesium administered, so check with your GP for what may be most beneficial to you. In conclusion though, all magnesium supplements can maintain physiological levels in healthy people (Pardo et al., 2021).

 

 

References

Brilla, L. R., & Haley, T. F. (1992). Effect of magnesium supplementation on strength training in humans. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 11(3), 326–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.1992.10718233

DiNicolantonio, J. J., O’Keefe, J. H., & Wilson, W. (2018). Subclinical magnesium deficiency: A principal driver of cardiovascular disease and a public health crisis. Open Heart, 5(1), e000668. https://doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2017-000668

Finstad, E., Newhouse, I., Lukaski, H., Mcauliffe, J., & Stewart, C. (2001). The Effects of Magnesium Supplementation on Exercise Performance. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 33, 493–498. https://doi.org/10.1097/00042752-200007000-00008

Hruby, A., & McKeown, N. M. (2016). Magnesium Deficiency: What Is Our Status? Nutrition Today, 51(3), 121. https://doi.org/10.1097/NT.0000000000000158

Kass, L., Weekes, J., & Carpenter, L. (2012). Effect of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure: A meta-analysis. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 66(4), 411–418. https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2012.4

Pardo, M. R., Garicano Vilar, E., San Mauro Martín, I., & Camina Martín, M. A. (2021). Bioavailability of magnesium food supplements: A systematic review. Nutrition, 89, 111294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2021.111294

Seelig, M. (1989). Cardiovascular consequences of magnesium deficiency and loss: Pathogenesis, prevalence and manifestations—Magnesium and chloride loss in refractory potassium repletion. The American Journal of Cardiology, 63(14), G4–G21. https://doi.org/10.1016/0002-9149(89)90213-0

Sojka, J. E. (1995). Magnesium Supplementation and Osteoporosis. Nutrition Reviews, 53(3), 71–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-4887.1995.tb01505.x

Tarleton, E. K., Littenberg, B., MacLean, C. D., Kennedy, A. G., & Daley, C. (2017). Role of magnesium supplementation in the treatment of depression: A randomized clinical trial. PLOS ONE, 12(6), e0180067. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180067