How Can Magnesium Benefit Your Mental Health?
Magnesium is an essential mineral with many benefits for your body.
If you know anything about this one, it might be in relation to osteoporosis.
And it’s true – magnesium, along with calcium and vitamin D, can help you maintain strong bones.
But there’s more to magnesium than just that.
I’m Dr. Antonella Aguilera-Ruiz, a naturopathic doctor in Sacramento running a telehealth practice.
And I’ve heard plenty of claims about magnesium over the years.
But here on this blog, we’re all about the science.
After all, naturopathic medicine is holistic, evidence based medicine.
So, what does the research actually show about magnesium in terms of its mental health benefits?
Let’s take a closer look.
What Is Magnesium?
Magnesium is an essential mineral your body needs to function properly.
It’s an important cofactor in over 300 different enzyme systems.
This biochemistry has an influence all over the body including protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function as well as glucose and blood pressure control.
It’s widely available in foods and especially in leafy greens, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains.
What Are The Mental Health Benefits Of Magnesium?
There are two main questions when it comes to magnesium and mental health.
One, are lower blood levels associated with the diagnosis of a psychiatric illness?
Another aspect of this question is whether or not we can start to see patterns of deficiency connected to severity of symptoms.
The second question is whether or not giving magnesium helps with symptoms?
Let’s take a look.
Magnesium And Depression
In a review of 12 different studies exploring depression and magnesium, the general trend was that those with depression had lower levels of magnesium.
So, when compared to a healthy control (a group without depression), those with deficient magnesium levels were more likely to feel depressed.
Next, when we look at giving magnesium as part of the treatment of depressive symptoms, the majority of the studies show a positive change over about 8 weeks.
Interestingly, the results aren’t positive for postpartum depression and anxiety, so this may be a group for which this nutrient is not top of mind.
Magnesium supplementation also did not perform well in those with treatment resistant depression.
Although there are some mixed results, we do have studies that show improvement.
Magnesium can likely be considered on a case by case basis, always taking into consideration someone’s entire health picture.
As we’ll discuss below there’s an interesting connection to stress, so that detail may sway us to pick magnesium as part of a whole body plan.
Magnesium And Stress & Burnout
There’s an interesting discussion happening in the literature about the connection between stress and magnesium deficiency.
Mainly, they have quite a bit of overlap.
The symptoms of stress often look like:
Fatigue
Irritability or anger
Feeling nervous
Lack of energy
Upset stomach
Muscle tension
Headaches
Sadness and depression
Chest pain and hyperventilation
And the symptoms of a magnesium deficiency can look like:
Tiredness
Irritability
Nervousness
GI spasms
Muscle weakness
Muscle cramps
Headaches
Nausea
Vomiting
Our current understanding of that overlap is that there may be a link between magnesium deficiency and an increased susceptibility to stress disorders.
As well, that stress can lead to a magnesium depletion.
RELATED: Naturopathic Solutions For Burnout
This is why you’ll often hear the explanation that stress will make us go through our magnesium more quickly.
And this is precisely where magnesium supplementation seems to be the most clearly beneficial - in helping with daily psychological stress.
For example, one study looked at a group of male students who were experiencing stress symptoms.
These included sleep issues, poor nutrition and lack of physical exercise.
When these students supplemented with magnesium, it helped decrease their cortisol levels.
Another study looked at a group that supplemented with magnesium.
This group was doing moderate muscle endurance training once a week.
They saw an improvement in their HRV which is a marker of nervous system resilience and ability to turn on the rest and digest arm of the nervous system.
RELATED: 3 Ways To Support A Healthier Gut (Without Going To The Grocery Store)
Finally, another study took people from 18 to 50 years old who were healthy and moderately to extremely stressed.
They were given magnesium for 8 weeks, and at the end of the trial, they had a significant decrease in their stress scale scores.
Some estimates consider that 48% of people who live in the United States eat less than the recommended requirement.
Combine this with increased stress from a variety of factors and it may just create a perfect storm of decreased resilience.
It’s in this environment that magnesium is likely going to be most effective.
Magnesium And Migraines
Finally, it’s worth noting that there can be a role for magnesium with migraines.
Small studies have shown that supplementation can lead to a modest reduction in headache frequency.
Even the American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society
have included magnesium as part of their treatment guidelines and consider them likely effective to prevent migraine headaches.
The doses used in this setting exceed the general upper limits recommended for magnesium intake, however.
So, it’s important to consult with your naturopathic doctor, or to go with this option under some sort of supervision.
Dietary Sources Of Magnesium
You can find magnesium in many different kinds of foods.
Food sources with high amounts of magnesium include:
Peanuts
Soybeans
Almonds
Cashews
Pumpkin seeds
Chia seeds
Spinach
Rolled oats
Whole grains
Kale
Arugula
Collard greens
Turnip greens
Mustard greens
You can also find smaller amounts of magnesium in meat and fish.
Of course, many of these foods are abundant in the Mediterranean diet.
But if you’re following the standard American diet, you’ll have a more difficult time getting enough.
Consider giving one of the following recipes a try – each has at least one ingredient with magnesium in it.
Signs Of Magnesium Deficiency
Our bodies are going to do the best they can to function even under less than ideal circumstances.
This is why frank symptoms from a magnesium deficiency aren’t that common.
If stores are running low, your kidneys will actually stop excreting magnesium as a way to conserve this important mineral.
Early signs of a deficiency can include general symptoms like low appetite, nausea, fatigue or weakness.
Of course, as we discussed above, periods of high stress or feeling overwhelmed might signal low magnesium.
People who may at greater risk of inadequate levels of magnesium include:
Those with GI diseases like Crohn’s or Celiac disease
Those with type 2 diabetes
People with alcohol dependence
Older adults
Can You Overdose On Magnesium?
In healthy people, too much magnesium from food is not an issue.
Your kidneys will get rid of the excess through your urine.
However, as a supplement, too much magnesium can cause diarrhea or other digestive symptoms.
Magnesium is a laxative and sometimes that's the desired effect and other times it's not.
Still, excessive intake of magnesium as a supplement can lead to toxicity.
Symptoms of magnesium toxicity include nausea, vomiting, hypotension, and irregular heartbeat.
This is considered a medical emergency.
However, the doses associated with these severe outcomes are in the range of 5000 mg/day.
That’s WAY beyond what has been studied or used in the studies we discussed.
Special consideration needs to be given if you have impaired kidney function.
This means your kidneys won’t be able to remove excess magnesium as effectively.
That leaves you at greater risk of toxicity.
Book Your Appointment With Wild Lemon Health Today
Magnesium is a powerhouse mineral that helps your body to function.
It can be found in a wide variety of food sources, but you might not be getting enough.
Even still, there’s a lot more to magnesium, and other nutrients for that matter.
How much you need will depend on your age, gender, the presence of any other health conditions, and much more.
That’s where your naturopathic doctor comes into play. If you’re curious to learn more, book a discovery call and we can talk through your goals and how membership can help.
