Before we discuss these health benefits of magnesium, have you ever wondered why your body is able to do so much every day from running to jumping to thinking to sleeping? There is so much going on in your body every single day and one mineral that helps it do so much all the time, that doesn’t receive as much attention as Vitamin C or D is magnesium.
Magnesium is a major mineral needed by the body for hundreds of processes and reactions thus it’s an important component for healthy living. To provide a metaphor, without magnesium, it’s like driving a car without a spark plug; without enough, the levels won’t get the engine driving and therefore, the wheels will fall off. This means that daily living won’t be as effective. You might find yourself more fatigued than you should or having more cramps than average. These may be signs from your body that something is missing. That’s why getting acquainted with the benefits of magnesium makes it clear that this mineral is often underrated yet needed for the body to have everything it needs to be healthy and function properly. So in this article, we will explain eleven health benefits of magnesium so you can understand how it helps you from head to toe feel great!
1. Magnesium Gives You Energy
Are you constantly fatigued and always on the lookout for energy? Magnesium has a lot to do with your body’s ability to create energy. Energy has to come from your food. Energy is adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and magnesium is part of the reaction to create that. Your body is like a car, and your food is the gasoline for that car. However, you need magnesium to transform that gasoline into energy.
Magnesium helps transform that energy via many enzymes, which are proteins that catalyze reactions within the body. Many of the enzymes used to metabolize carbohydrates and fats for energetic output require magnesium. Therefore, low levels of magnesium reduce energetic output and induce fatigue. Have you ever been wired yet tired after eating? It could be that you’re low in magnesium because it’s exceptional for transforming chemical potential energy into usable energy.
2. Magnesium Helps Muscle Function
Think about all the things that muscles do for you—from walking to picking things up to your heart beating. Therefore, magnesium is essential to muscle function. Magnesium is necessary for muscle contraction and relaxation. Muscles become tighter when they contract and looser when they relax. This process of contraction/relaxation exists via a balancing act of various minerals, with magnesium leading the way.
Magnesium serves as a natural calcium blocker. Calcium is the mineral that facilitates muscle contraction—magnesium allows for relaxation afterward. Therefore, when too much calcium exists without adequate magnesium, muscles can contract too much. We’re led to cramps and spasms or simple muscle tightness and soreness. Ever woken up in the middle of the night with a cramp in your calf? It could be low levels of magnesium. This is also why athletes and people who often work out pay attention to magnesium, as it’s necessary for recovery and helps with performance without that excessive sore feeling.
3. Magnesium Helps Your Nerves Work Right
Your nervous system is essentially the electrical wiring of your body, sending and receiving impulses from your brain to the mechanical parts of your body. Magnesium is required for this signaling system to ensure peak performance between your neurons.
Magnesium is involved with something called nerve receptors. In particular, there’s a receptor of interest—the NMDA receptor. These receptors are essential for proper brain development, memory, and learning; magnesium prevents the excessive excitation of them. Excessively stimulated receptors kill nerve cells and permanently deactivate nerve signaling abilities. Excessive stimulation is what makes us feel antsy or even angry. Thus, when magnesium works to stimulate the stimulation and calm the response, it shows it’s working effectively for nerve communication. Thus, it’s just as effective for the brain.
4. Magnesium Builds Strong Bones
When you think of strong bones, you might think of calcium and vitamin D. Those are two necessary nutrients for bone health; however, magnesium is the third piece of the puzzle. About 60% of the magnesium in the body is found in bones, and it facilitates the efforts of calcium and vitamin D to ensure healthy bones for a lifetime.
Magnesium ensures healthy bones in two primary ways. First, it helps with the incorporation of calcium into bone. If magnesium levels are low, calcium may not be deposited into bone as it should. Second, magnesium helps to activate vitamin D, which is necessary for the absorption of calcium in the intestines and subsequent deposition into the bone. In addition, magnesium is entwined with hormones that contribute to bone formation and resorption—important indicators of bone density when magnesium levels are sufficient to sustain those activities. This is why magnesium should be balanced within the diet.
5. Magnesium Is Good For Your Heart
Your heart is the hardest working muscle in your body; it beats every second of every day—but it requires magnesium to ensure it keeps beating. For one, magnesium helps with a healthy heartbeat. Similar to any muscle, your heart needs magnesium to contract and relax; without sufficient levels of this mineral, you expose yourself to potentially fatal arrhythmias.
Magnesium also serves as a natural vasodilator. When blood vessels exist in a relaxed state, blood flows more easily through the body without additional pressure; thus, magnesium helps maintain healthy blood pressure levels. Excessively high blood pressure can cause the heart to work harder, causing strokes and heart disease. Studies indicate people with good levels of magnesium in their blood are more likely to have stabilized blood pressure readings and lower blood pressure, plus magnesium decreases inflammation and prevents excessive blood clotting, both of which provide positive heart health. You need to keep your cardiovascular system happy.
6. Magnesium Aids Blood Sugar Control
Blood sugar control is vital for all—not just diabetics. Blood sugar affects energy and health. But magnesium helps you metabolize blood sugar (glucose) better and is necessary for insulin function. Insulin is the hormone that helps transport glucose from the bloodstream to body tissue. When magnesium is available in useful amounts, this means that cells can become more insulin-sensitive. Sensitivity means that insulin can more easily help deposit glucose into cells, aiding in maintaining blood sugar levels. However, when someone is deficient in magnesium, it is easier for them to fall into insulin resistance which makes them susceptible to type 2 diabetes. For those who already have it, having proper magnesium levels can allow them to stabilize and avoid other complications. Thus, it’s clear that magnesium assists in processes that keep us stable.
7. Magnesium Might Help You Sleep Better
Do you find yourself tossing and turning at night to fall asleep and stay asleep? You’re not alone; many people have difficulty getting the rest they need. Magnesium might help you get the sleep you deserve. Magnesium can help the body relax and achieve a state of sleep. For example, we’ve noted that magnesium helps regulate nerve receptors throughout the human body. Thus, magnesium can potentially increase GABA levels. GABA is a neurotransmitter that makes your body feel relaxed while promoting sleep.
When GABA levels are low, the brain can become too stimulated at night, preventing someone from being able to fall asleep and remain asleep—and who would want that? In addition, scientists found that magnesium helps regulate melatonin levels in the body. Melatonin is a hormone that promotes sleep/wake cycles. A study shows that those with low magnesium levels who supplement with magnesium found better sleep quality. Therefore, if you’re looking for a natural way to promote better sleep, consider supplementing or inducing proper magnesium levels to see how great it would be to wake up refreshed.
8. Magnesium Might Ease Anxiety and Elevate Your Mood
Everyone gets anxious or down every so often. When it becomes consistent or too much to handle, it’s time to call for help. That said, magnesium might ease the burden of anxiety and elevate mood. As mentioned, magnesium soothes the nervous system via GABA modulation and preventing overstimulation of NMDA receptors. Therefore, feeling calmer and helping the mind ease is a great way to halt incidents of anxiety.
Furthermore, when we are anxious, we might lose even more magnesium, creating a vicious cycle. Therefore, maintaining magnesium levels facilitates the body’s ability to respond to stressors should they happen. Furthermore, studies show that those with lower magnesium levels are more likely to become depressed. However, magnesium isn’t a panacea but a supplement to well-balanced magnesium levels in conjunction with more factors to treat mental health. It creates a more stabilized atmosphere, leading people to feel more stable and optimistic.
9. Magnesium Might Help Headaches
Headaches are annoying—almost as annoying as getting recommendations for headache relief when you suffer from headaches on a regular basis and/or have migraines. Yet some studies show that magnesium might reduce the severity and frequency of these painful episodes. For example, those who do get migraines possess lower levels of magnesium in the system than those who do not. While researchers are unclear why magnesium, in fact, helps, here is what we do know.
First, magnesium helps blood vessels relax. When headaches occur, many people find that blood vessels appear constricted; that is, they’re tightening per se and create pressure and pain. Magnesium also decreases the activation of neurotransmitters that signal pain and can inhibit pain signals sent throughout the body. Furthermore, it decreases inflammation which can be another causative factor for headaches. Therefore, if you have a friend who suffers from chronic headaches, suggest an increase in the magnesium diet (or through supplementation with a physician’s consent). It’s a wonderful route to potential relief of consistent headaches.
10. Magnesium Decreases Inflammation
Inflammation is good—but only sometimes. In the short term, inflammation is your body’s response to injury and infection, healing us over time. However, when it sticks around, it does more harm than good. Chronic inflammation is linked to many ailments—from heart disease to arthritis to diabetes—and magnesium’s anti-inflammatory properties can help, thankfully.
This happens via lowered levels of certain inflammatory markers—namely C-reactive protein (CRP). Research shows that people who tend to consume higher amounts of magnesium also possess lower concentrations of CRP. This is mainly due to magnesium being an antioxidant that protects cells from free radicals (unstable atoms that create cellular damage). When magnesium steps in to protect cells, it can avoid inflammation from sticking around. Magnesium, therefore, is important for quality of life and chronic disease risk reduction as it puts the proper inflammatory response in check. Who doesn’t want a little police officer in their body keeping the peace?
11. Magnesium Can Help Your Exercise
If you work out, from the at-home gym enthusiast to the Olympic trainer, magnesium helps promote better exercising. Exercising causes an increased demand for energy—as previously discussed—magnesium is required for energy production. Thus, a 20% increase in resting levels of magnesium should be experienced while working out. Magnesium helps transport blood sugar to working muscles and aids in clearing lactate from the system, which occurs when we exercise, causing post-exercise soreness and fatigue.
Moreover, beyond the need for energy, magnesium assists with muscle function, promoting contractions and reducing cramps—which was discussed previously—implying that magnesium can help with muscle endurance and performance. Not only does it promote better functioning while working out, but it also helps with recovery from working out as it reduces soreness. Research indicates that magnesium improves exercise performance while working out in athletes and non-athletes alike—the chronically ill and elderly—indicating that magnesium is a safe supplement for anyone attempting to improve exercise functionality and recovery. It makes the body work harder and recover quicker.
Conclusion
Overall, magnesium is a mighty mineral. As detailed, it is involved in a plethora of functions from energy creation to muscle, heart, and brain function. The eleven benefits reveal how much magnesium does everywhere—from bones to nerve conduction to blood sugar and sleep and exercise enhancement. Given all the functions of magnesium, no wonder people require it; however, this is increasingly difficult for people to access from food sources alone. Magnesium-rich foods include green leafy vegetables (spinach per usual), nuts/seeds, whole grains, and beans (and the most delicious source, dark chocolate). If an individual is unsure about their magnesium status, consulting with a physician is the best way to go, as everyone has different needs. Striving for adequate magnesium levels is a minuscule yet great way to assist proper daily functioning and feel the best it can for daily needs. Remind people of this unsung hero of a mineral and appreciate it for all it does!