Magnesium Depletion Score and Metabolic Syndrome in US Adults
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I have seen many doctors, including sleep specialists, regarding insomnia. They all pointed to one source as the reason for the sleep issues: stress. And they all wanted to put me on prescription sleeping pills. I said no to that. Sleeping pills are addictive and you have to take them for the rest of your life. As a software developer, I am used to finding and fixing the underlying problem as opposed to the quickfixes these doctors were offering me.
After much research I figured out the underlying problem, and the fix for it. The underlying problem is magnesium deficiency. As a software developer I am using my brain more intensely than most people. This is the stress the doctors are talking about. Stress depletes magnesium. The cells in our body depend on two essential minerals for normal function: Calcium and magnesium. Cells go into ON state when calcium goes in, and OFF state when calcium goes out. Calcium doesn't go out on its own: magnesium has to go in and displace the calcium. When you are low on magnesium, cells can't go into OFF state. When that happens your muscles become stiff and you need massages, and your brain can't turn off and you can't sleep. The solution is magnesium supplements. This fixed my muscle stiffness issues and my sleep issues. A special compound of magnesium called magnesium l-threonate is especially helpful for sleep because it can penetrate what is known as the "blood brain barrier".
> your muscles become stiff and you need massages, and your brain can't turn off and you can't sleep.
Magnesium plays a crucial role in the relaxation of muscles at a cellular level. Magnesium ions are necessary for the proper functioning of the muscle cell's contractile machinery. The muscle contraction and relaxation process is regulated by the movement of calcium ions into and out of the muscle cell. When a nerve impulse reaches a muscle cell, it triggers the release of calcium ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (a type of intracellular membrane) into the cytosol (the fluid inside the cell). This causes the muscle filaments (actin and myosin) to bind together, resulting in muscle contraction.
To relax the muscle, the calcium ions need to be pumped back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum. This process is facilitated by the protein called Calcium-ATPase. Magnesium ions are necessary to activate this protein and pump the calcium ions back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Additionally, magnesium ions also inhibit the release of calcium ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum into the cytosol, helping to prevent muscle contraction.
Therefore, adequate levels of magnesium are required to maintain normal muscle function and prevent muscle cramping and spasms. If magnesium levels are too low, muscles can become overactive, leading to cramps and spasms.
I never had insomnia, but sometimes I had nocturnal leg cramps, when sleeping after intense physical exercises.
For unrelated reasons, I have begun taking a magnesium supplement. Since then, I have never had again any cramp.
How did you come to that conclusion? Blood work? Something else?
My back felt like I was having a constant tension headache. I'd wake up uncomfortable.
I just went and got some magnesium glysinate and after taking 66% daily amount I fell asleep taking a nap and woke up without a headache! All my upper back, shoulder, and neck stiffness just melted away! Thanks for writing this!
For the magnesium bound to other things like glycine for better absorbability, this is usually less of an issue. Usually.
Personally I just got a 4 pound bag of food grade magnesium chloride for $25 several years ago. I’ll throw a dash of lite-salt (half sodium, half potassium) and a teensy scoop (something like 1/16th-1/32rd of a teaspoon) of mag-chloride into my water bottle for electrolytes, or when I add salt to soups or something. I could very well die of old age before going through the entire bag.
For the fancy kinds of mag (orotate, glycinate, etc) different people will sometimes ascribe different effects to them, ranging from stimulating in some way or sedating. Changes in dreams can also be reported.
I’ll also add that a typical magnesium level reported in a blood plasma test is worthless. What actually needs to be measured is intra-cellular mag levels, because it’s possible to have plenty of magnesium hanging out in the blood, but something is preventing the cells from properly uptaking what’s available. The tests for this are hard to find and expensive last I checked years ago. At this point you are looking at levels of magnesium research I am not able or willing to commit to digging into further, so I couldn’t tell you why (may possibly be related to diabetes) or how to ultimately resolve that condition.
Magnesium is one of the safest things you can supplement (unlike potassium or calcium supplementation), typically just giving you the shits long before you can reach or maintain a harmful level of intake. That said, people with kidney complications should always discuss with their doctor about adding any electrolyte, since even sodium is no longer safe to take as desired.
This is true, and the reason is more interesting and illuminating than what you stated here. Blood magnesium levels are a significant part of how your body regulates the speed of the heartbeat... so in a normally functioning body they need to be kept pretty constant. So if you don't get enough Mg in your diet, your body will start extracting Mg from tissues and bones keep the levels in your blood high enough. But it will be missed there, because Mg plays important roles there, too, it's just that regulating your heart-beat takes precedence.
This is why, if you have any doubts at all that you're getting enough Mg in your diet, it's a good idea to supplement Mg. A bit too much doesn't do any harm, but too little can cause all sorts of problems (especially neurological) but it won't show up on any simple tests as being the cause of those problems. Mg supplements, even the "fancy ones", are relatively cheap... just know that Magnesium Oxide (the most common from in cheap multi-vitamins) is very poorly absorbed and probably useless, but pretty much any other form is fine as a supplement.
I read the opposite, the others you absorb so fast and get peed out (resulting in high magnesium in urine) while magnesium oxide gets absorbed the most since it is so much slower.
But I can see everyone saying the oxide one is bad due to it not increasing magnesium in urine as much, but you don't really want to increase magnesium in urine you want to increase magnesium in your body and that is done better when absorption is slow since you don't want it all to go to your urine.
> However, the difference in urinary Mg2+ levels between Mg2+ citrate (7.2±1.48 mmol) and Mg2+ oxide (6.7±1.43 mmol)-although statistically significant-is marginal
> Siener et al. administered 404 mg/day of magnesium oxide to healthy volunteers and analyzed the magnesium concentration in blood and urine. There was no significant change in blood concentration of magnesium, but urinary magnesium excretion increased by 40% after administration of magnesium oxide. Yoshimura et al. performed a pharmacokinetic study of orally administered magnesium oxide in rats. They showed that 85% of magnesium is excreted in feces, while 15% of magnesium is absorbed from the intestinal tract and excreted in urine. [2]
> A 2017 rat study demonstrated its low absorption rate, concluding that only 15% of orally administered magnesium oxide was absorbed, while 85% was excreted in the feces. Older research suggests the absorption rate is even lower in humans [1,2]
This study puts the absorption at 4%. [5]
It's normally used as an antacid or laxative.
> Magnesium oxide is an inorganic salt of magnesium. Even though it contains high amounts of magnesium, it has low absorbability in the body. Still, it has been shown to offer health benefits like constipation relief. [3]
Oxide is among the least bioavailable form of magnesium, right down at the none-to-almost-none tier with magnesium stearate. Which is what this study comparing various supplements shows, too. [4]
What I meant was that it's a waste of time due to its ultra-low bioavailability. If you're trying to supplement, pick one of the many options that your body can actually use. Unless you're constipated I guess.
Yes, I know it's sold as a supplement, and included in many multivitamins. You should know that doesn't mean much, vitamins and supplements in the US are not FDA regulated and there's no real guarantee they (a) do anything or (b) are in a form that does anything.
Never hurts to be polite ;)
[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28123145/
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911806/
[3] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/magnesium-oxide
Is that true, there is more magnesium in the husk?
The food industry is evil.
Edit: Processed food definitely lacks magnesium to be clear, but it's interesting to think about how it might even be more costly than it appears.
Perhaps a high calorie diet (soft drinks, potato chips, etc…) would lead someone to eat less “real food” (meat, vegetables, and grains), and thus overall magnesium would be less.
But still, I don’t know what one would have to focus on eating to avoid magnesium.
In 1 week I've yet to experience any of the positive effects often listed (maybe slightly better sleep?) bar one surprise: I don't wake up for bathroom visit anymore.
Used to wake up once a night for toilet visit, but that disappeared. Anyone have had similar experience? My (old) father have been complaining about 2-4 toilet visit per night and was wondering if I should suggest magnesium supplement to him, or if this is just placebo.
I've read that too much magnesium hinder Zinc uptake, so I assume blindly suggesting it to others might have adverse effects depending on lifestyle
I would think (?) I would notice if I mouth breathe excessively, sine I hurt my throat while sleeping when I catched covid, and then I could only mouth breathe for several days due tapped nose. Noticeable difference
But recording / asking SO to check could be a good thing. Thanks for the suggestion!
When they try to control for alcohol use, they find another MetS correlation: non-drinkers. But people with diagnosed MetS/(pre-)diabetes/obesity often quit drinking, so they should have checked for heteroscedasticity wrt alcohol use.
I'd wait for a randomized study before stocking up on Magnesium tablets. But a multivitamin supplement is usually a good idea anyways.
You did not prescribe anything.
You told them to get it.
Prescribe is a word freighted with technical and legal weight, and should not be used lightly.
I noticed that if I take it in the evening, I would be okay if I took it at least 4 hours before sleeping.
I do use Lithium Orotate because there are not that many choices: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8413749/
Then see how I fair over time.
Obviously not a high standard, but reduces bouncing around between different regimens chasing coincidences and placebo effects.
After several extended periods of taking multi-minerals and not taking them, I am convinced I get better sleep when I take them. I could add less anxiety and more, but better sleep alone could account for other benefits.
I've tried magnesium in the past for a couple weeks but didn't notice a change in that period that was likely attributable to it.
Another chance is you are using a form of magnesium which is not the best choice for you. It generally is recommended to try different. There are many.
Both of these components will bind to magnesium (and other minerals in the case of phytic acid) preventing your body from metabolizing them.
Phytic acid: https://www.webmd.com/diet/foods-high-in-phytic-acid
Oxalate: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15035687/ , https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15035687/
But yeah it's an essential mineral and these days they don't feed the plants that grow food minerals as often as they used to. They feed them nitrogen but not necessarily minerals!
https://www.consumerlab.com/reviews/magnesium-supplement-rev...
I have tried a few magnesium supplements and my opinion is that you must use pure powder instead of pastiles or capsules.
The pastiles or capsules contain various excipients that are at best useless and at worst harmful. Moreover, using powder allows the choice of any fractional dose and mixing it uniformly with food, like you would do with table salt, which guarantees a more complete absorption.
Among the available powders, I have settled on magnesium bisglycinate. The cheaper alternatives, like magnesium citrate, carbonate or oxide are not soluble in water and even after they become soluble in the stomach the magnesium ions can be precipitated by various food components, which prevents their absorption in the intestine.
Magnesium bisglycinate is soluble in water and it remains soluble until it is absorbed. It is very easy to mix it in food, exactly like table salt.
The slightly higher price of bisglycinate does not matter much, because at normal doses a box of a few hundred grams should last for many months or even over a year, adding only a few cents to the daily cost of food.
When computing the daily dose of magnesium bisglycinate powder, you must pay attention that its magnesium content is 24/172 by weight, so you must multiply the desired dose with 172/24, i.e. about 0.72 g for 100 mg of Mg.
To add it to food, I use the smallest measuring spoon of a set of measuring spoons, which has a capacity of 0.625 mL. I have determined the density of the powder by weighing the box after taking a measuring spoon from it for the first few days and averaging the results. The density of such powders is usually a little over 1, e.g. 1.1, so in my case one measuring spoon provides about 100 mg of Mg.