The Importance of Magnesium
People diagnosed with a magnesium deficiency may need a supplement to avoid potentially serious effects, such as muscle spasms, irregular heartbeat, and seizures.
You probably know you need calcium for your bones. You may also know you need potassium for your muscles but did you know that magnesium is important for your heart health?
Magnesium, a mineral, is essential for hundreds of biochemical reactions in your body. It helps keep bones strong, nerves and muscles working properly, and blood sugar under control.
Magnesium is also necessary for maintaining a steady heartbeat and maintaining normal blood pressure.
Magnesium Helps Your Heart Health
Magnesium is crucial to a healthy heart rhythm because it’s involved in transporting other electrolytes, such as calcium and potassium, into cells. Electrolytes are all-important for nerve signals and the muscle contractions of a normal heartbeat.
Research shows that magnesium deficiency — or restricted magnesium intake — increases irregular heartbeats known as arrhythmias.
Am I getting enough Magnesium?
Healthy adults have about 25 grams (g) of magnesium in their body, mostly in the bones.
The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for magnesium — meaning the amount you should take in each day — varies depending on your age and sex.
On average, the RDA is 400 milligrams (mg) for men ages 19 to 30, and lower (310 mg) for women of the same age. For those 31 and older, men should get 420 mg of magnesium daily, and women should get 320 mg daily.
Normal blood levels of magnesium range from 1.7 to 2.3 mg/dL. Magnesium deficiency symptoms occur when your levels drop below 1 mg/dL.
It is best to get your nutrients primarily from food. Magnesium is added to some foods, like breakfast cereal. Good natural sources of this mineral include almonds, soy products like tofu, and green leafy vegetables, such as spinach.
Some common foods are rich sources of magnesium.
Just 1 ounce of dry roasted almonds provides 80 mg of magnesium, and a half-cup of boiled spinach provides 78 mg. Other great sources of magnesium include legumes, cashews, soy milk, black beans, avocado, and whole grains. One medium banana provides 32 mg of magnesium.
Diagnosing Magnesium deficiency can be tricky
Less than 1 percent of the body’s magnesium is found in the blood. Most magnesium (up to 60 percent) is found in the bones and the rest is inside cells. This makes diagnosing magnesium deficiency difficult.
In healthy individuals, a magnesium deficiency is uncommon because the kidneys regulates how much magnesium is in the body. For example, when magnesium levels are low, less is excreted in the urine.
Over time, low magnesium intake or excessive loss of this mineral can lead to a deficiency. Also certain health conditions deplete magnesium, including alcoholism, gastrointestinal diseases, and type 2 diabetes.
Prolonged use of certain medications can also cause too much magnesium excretion. For example diuretics, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).
Since older people are more likely to take these medications, they’re at greater risk for a magnesium deficiency. With age, magnesium absorption in the body also decreases while the mineral’s excretion in the urine increases.
People diagnosed with a magnesium deficiency may need a supplement to avoid potentially serious effects, such as muscle spasms, irregular heartbeat, and seizures. But in most cases, magnesium supplements aren’t necessary.
Too much magnesium from food isn’t a danger because the kidneys excrete what the body doesn’t need. However high doses of magnesium from supplements can cause diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramping. Extreme doses of magnesium, over 5,000 mg daily, can be fatal.
