The 10 benefits of magnesium
Magnesium is a vital mineral for the human body. Low levels of magnesium can cause health problems that can be avoided with adequate intake. What exactly is magnesium? It is a chemical element found easily in nature, in the earth’s crust and in seawater. It is also found in our own bodies, where it performs important functions:
- It is involved in over 300 vital organic reactions.
- It plays an important role in human metabolism.
- Its presence in the body is so indispensable that deficiency in this micro-nutrient can affect our health1.
What benefits does magnesium offer our body?
Athletes and sports players already know that magnesium is a fundamental element for keeping their bodies in shape. They’re not wrong! Magnesium’s various beneficial actions on the human body have been recognised by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), which has established 10 health claims for this mineral2:
- Helps to reduce tiredness and fatigue
- Contributes to electrolyte balance
- Contributes to normal energy metabolism
- Helps to maintain a healthy nervous system.
- Contributes to healthy muscle function
- Contributes to normal protein synthesis
- Contributes to normal psychological function
- Helps to maintain healthy bones
- Helps to maintain healthy teeth.
- Contributes to the cell division process
Such is its importance that the scientific community continues to investigate its impact in different scenarios, since magnesium is a vital nutrient for the body.
Reduced tiredness and fatigue
Magnesium plays an important role in the human body’s production and storage of energy, and adequate levels of magnesium help to reduce widespread states of tiredness and fatigue in our daily lives.
Because athletes exert additional effort, supplementation with this element seems important for avoiding deficiency, as it is considered an ergogenic aid for athletes3, i.e. it helps to improve performance by reducing tiredness and fatigue.
Besides helping to obtain the amount of energy our bodies need, magnesium contributes to normal muscle function.
Psychological stability
Scientists from the Marseille-Luminy centre for immunology have confirmed that stress can severely debilitate the immune system4. Knowing how to modulate and manage stress better will help to protect the immune system and therefore maintain good health.
Magnesium also plays a vital role in the brain’s biochemistry, because it influences several neurotransmission pathways. Magnesium compounds are said to have the potential to contribute to normal psychological function where emotions such as mood, apathy, feelings of depression, agitation, confusion, anxiety and delirium are triggered, as confirmed by numerous pre-clinical and clinical studies5.
Strong bones and teeth
It is common for people of a certain age to require treatment to strengthen their bones and avoid calcium leak, which can lead to decreased bone mass and eventual bone breakdown. This loss can be caused by low levels of magnesium, which helps our bones to absorb calcium.
Careful control of the balance of magnesium in the bones is therefore crucial, as low and high levels of magnesium both have harmful effects on our skeletal structure.
When bones have less than the right amount of magnesium, they are at risk of osteoporosis – a decrease in bone mass. Less is known about the mineralisation defects observed when magnesium levels are high, but maintaining the balance of magnesium is generally a useful way of maintaining bone integrity6.
In addition, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus are the main structural components of teeth. Deficiency in any of these can lead to increased likelihood of bleeding and loose teeth, and of premature tooth loss.
One of the most frequent problems associated with magnesium deficiency is the formation of caries. This is because, if not combined with magnesium, the calcium we ingest in our regular diets produces a soft enamel on the teeth, which provides less protection for teeth from the acids that cause caries7.
A healthy nervous system
Magnesium is well known for its various actions it exerts on the human body, and it is important to mention its contribution to healthy nervous system function. Neurologically, this chemical component plays a fundamental role in nerve transmission and neuromuscular conduction. It also acts against excessive excitation, which can lead to the death of neural cells and has been linked to various neurological disorders.
The scientific community is currently very interested in the extent to which magnesium can influence all these processes, and acknowledges that there is evidence to suggest its involvement in mechanisms against chronic pain and strokes8.
How to take magnesium
75% of the population – 3 in 4 people – are not currently consuming enough of this essential trace element. Our bodies cannot afford to be deficient in magnesium. A daily intake of 350 milligrams is recommended for adult males, and 300 milligrams for adult women.
But where can magnesium be found in our daily diet? There are foods that are a natural source of this mineral, such as legumes, nuts, almonds, quinoa, wholegrains and leafy green vegetables such as spinach. It is also found in milk, yoghurt and some dairy products.
How to choose the best magnesium supplement
Besides following a varied and balanced diet, increasing your intake of this trace element with nutritional supplements contributes to normal psychological function and to helping reduce mental and physical tiredness and fatigue.
Our Marine Magnesium food supplement contains over 58.8% elemental magnesium; a trace element indicated for our nervous system and mental balance, to reduce tiredness and fatigue and help to maintain healthy bones.
Anastore’s magnesium is of 100% marine origin. The result of lengthy, natural process takes that over five years. This process has been used for thousands of years and guarantees a high purity product. Marine magnesium is the result of combining oxide with magnesium chloride. Pure seawater extract.
Sources
- Gröber U, Schmidt J, Kisters K. Magnesium in Prevention and Therapy. Nutrients. 2015;7(9):8199-8226. Published 2015 Sep 23. doi:10.3390/nu7095388.
- COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 432/2012 of 16 May 2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims made on foods, other than those referring to the reduction of disease risk and to children’s development and health.
- Volpe SL. Magnesium and the Athlete. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2015;14(4):279-283. doi:10.1249/JSR.0000000000000178.
- Arch Intern Med. 2004 Nov 22;164(21):2335-42. The SU.VI.MAX Study: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the health effects of antioxidant vitamins and minerals. Hercberg S, Galan P, Preziosi P, Bertrais S, Mennen L, Malvy D, Roussel AM, Favier A, Briançon S.
- Serefko A, Szopa A, Poleszak E. Magnesium and depression. Magnes Res. 2016;29(3):112-119. doi:10.1684/mrh.2016.0407.
- Castiglioni S, Cazzaniga A, Albisetti W, Maier JA. Magnesium and osteoporosis: current state of knowledge and future research directions. Nutrients. 2013;5(8):3022-3033. Published 2013 Jul 31. doi:10.3390/nu5083022.
- Uwitonze AM, Rahman S, Ojeh N, et al. Oral manifestations of magnesium and vitamin D inadequacy. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2020;200:105636. doi:10.1016/j.jsbmb.2020.105636.
- Kirkland AE, Sarlo GL, Holton KF. The Role of Magnesium in Neurological Disorders. Nutrients. 2018;10(6):730. Published 2018 Jun 6. doi:10.3390/nu10060730.