There are a few ways to get magnesium into your diet. You can choose magnesium supplements or add magnesium-rich foods like leafy greens, nuts, and beans.
You need to take your dose of magnesium carefully, and if you have certain health conditions, then your doctor may prescribe a higher dosage. But for most people, taking 300-400 mg a day is safe and effective.
Dosage
Magnesium is the second most abundant intracellular cation in the body, after potassium. It is essential for a wide range of cellular functions, including nerve impulse conduction, muscle contraction, and normal heart rhythm. It also plays an important role in the transport of calcium and potassium ions across cell membranes, an important process for maintaining normal blood pressure.
The recommended dosage of magnesium for adults is 250-450 milligrams (mg) per day. However, the highest dose that is safe for most people is 350 mg of elemental magnesium taken daily from dietary supplements.
Dietary sources of magnesium include nuts, seeds, dark chocolate, unrefined grains, legumes, and leafy green vegetables. Pregnant women and breast-feeding women are especially at risk for low magnesium intake and should strive to increase their dietary intake of this micronutrient.
As a natural diuretic, magnesium can help lower blood pressure by decreasing the amount of sodium in your body. It also increases gastric motility and helps with the digestion of food.
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a leading cause of stroke and heart disease. Magnesium has been shown to reduce blood pressure and improve arterial function in people with hypertension.
In fact, a 2012 meta-analysis of 22 randomized, placebo-controlled studies found that magnesium supplementation for a period of 8-26 weeks significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive adults. The average daily magnesium dosage of the studies was 410 mg and a higher dose was associated with a greater reduction in systolic and diastolic pressure.
Magnesium can also improve mood, memory, and cognitive function. It promotes the production of neurotransmitters that are critical for healthy cognitive function, and it improves a person's ability to retain information.
Taking a magnesium supplement can also improve sleep quality. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, magnesium may help prevent drowsiness while you're asleep and can improve the quality of your REM sleep.
But, as Haggans, Volpe and Ehsani noted, "more is not always better." In order to ensure that you're getting enough magnesium in your diet, talk to your doctor or a health care provider before beginning any new supplements. In particular, if you have a history of kidney failure or have been treated with chemotherapy, take extra precautions to avoid toxic levels of this micronutrient.
Side Effects
Magnesium is a mineral that's required for many functions throughout the body. It plays a role in heart health, glucose metabolism, muscle function, and more. In addition, it can help regulate your sleep cycle and reduce the severity of migraines.
Despite its wide-ranging benefits, magnesium can cause side effects when taken at high doses or in combination with other medications. Some common side effects of magnesium supplements include diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and gastrointestinal distress.
If you're taking magnesium supplements and are experiencing these side effects, check your dosage. Your healthcare provider can recommend a lower dose that will still benefit your health and may help alleviate these symptoms.
It's also important to remember that not all magnesium supplements are created equal. Some supplements contain high amounts of magnesium, which can increase the risk for toxicity (excessive levels in your blood).
While these side effects are rare, they should be reported to your healthcare provider as soon as possible. They may be a sign of an overdose.
Other potential side effects of magnesium include dizziness, headaches, and nausea. The risk of these symptoms is reduced when you take magnesium with food or take it 1 hour before or 2 hours after taking certain drugs.
If you're taking a medication for high blood pressure, low levels of magnesium in your body can affect how it works. This is especially true for antacids, such as cimetidine (Tagamet), famotidine (Pepcid AC), and ranitidine (Zantac) or proton pump inhibitors, such as esomeprazole magnesium (Nexium) and lansoprazole (Prevacid).
For this reason, it's important to speak with your healthcare provider before starting or stopping any medications. He or she can recommend the right dosage and may suggest that you separate your medication doses by a few hours.
Alternatively, you can talk to your doctor about adding more magnesium-rich foods to your diet. Studies show that people who consume higher amounts of magnesium on a daily basis have lower blood pressure than those who don't.
Regardless of your health goals, it's important to get enough magnesium in your diet. Supplementing with magnesium is an easy and convenient way to improve your health and wellbeing.
Interactions
Taking magnesium supplements may interact with certain medications, reducing their effectiveness. It's important to discuss these potential side effects with your doctor before using a supplement.
In addition, magnesium supplements can interfere with some antibiotics. If you are taking these medications, be sure to take them at least 1 hour before or 2 hours after taking a magnesium supplement.
People who have certain gastrointestinal diseases that affect how the intestines absorb nutrients, such as Crohn's disease, celiac disease and ulcerative colitis, are at increased risk for magnesium deficiency. Surgical removal of the ileum in patients with these conditions further increases the risk of low magnesium levels.
Another group of people at increased risk for low magnesium levels are those who have diabetes or insulin resistance. Insulin resistance can cause the kidneys to produce extra urine to remove high levels of blood sugar, which may flush out magnesium.
If you have type 2 diabetes, your doctor may recommend that you take magnesium with insulin or other blood sugar-regulating medications. This is because magnesium can help prevent blood sugar spikes.
Magnesium also may reduce the sensitivity of cells to insulin and can improve the way insulin works in the body. This can lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
There is some evidence that magnesium supplementation can help reduce the incidence of preterm birth in women at risk of premature delivery, though this benefit hasn't been studied enough to determine if it's effective or not. In addition, studies have found that a magnesium supplement can reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure, but the effect is small.
In people with chronic kidney failure, magnesium supplements can reduce the risk of vascular calcification. This is because magnesium can reduce the amount of calcium that gets deposited in the arteries, which can lead to heart disease.
In addition, magnesium has been shown to improve the sleep quality of those with insomnia. It can also reduce stress, which can have an impact on your ability to fall asleep and stay awake. If you are experiencing difficulty falling or staying asleep, talk to your doctor and a nutritionist about how you can get the rest you need.
Overdose
Magnesium is an essential mineral that's required for more than 300 biochemical processes in the body. It's important for everything from blood sugar control to muscle and nerve function.
But too much of this mineral can be toxic. This condition is called hypermagnesemia, and it can lead to serious problems. It is more common in people with kidney failure, but can also occur with excessive dosage of magnesium supplements or medications.
One of the most common signs of a magnesium overdose is urine retention. This can be especially problematic in people who are physically inactive, bedridden or who have an underlying medical condition that affects the kidneys, like chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetic ketoacidosis, cystic fibrosis, or preeclampsia.
Another sign of a magnesium overdose is lethargy and weakness, according to the NIH. The symptoms may start gradually, but they can get worse quickly if you take large doses of magnesium, per the Linus Pauling Institute.
In addition, you might have trouble breathing or a heart rhythm disturbance. This is a later effect of magnesium overdose and usually occurs after you've already been experiencing other symptoms, per the NIH.
The best way to avoid overdose is to talk with your doctor about the right amount of magnesium to take, and what you should do if you experience an adverse reaction. You should also keep an eye out for any side effects of other medications that you're taking, as magnesium can interfere with some medications' absorption.
Finally, consider getting a test to see your magnesium levels. Your doctor can use a blood test to determine whether or not you have too much magnesium in your blood, and how that may be affecting your health.
For most healthy adults, the recommended dietary intake of magnesium is 420 mg/day. But this amount can vary based on your age, gender and other factors, so you might need to increase the dose if you're older, have a higher body weight or are pregnant.
The recommended daily dose of magnesium is slightly higher for pregnant women and children than it is for other adults, as they need extra magnesium to build and support their skeletons in-utero. In addition, it can help lower the risk of hospitalization in pregnant women with pre-eclampsia or other pregnancy-related conditions.
