Magnesium is considered an essential mineral for maintaining good health. A nutrient involved in more than 300 metabolic reactions in the body, magnesium is responsible for maintaining and regulating a wide range of internal processes in the body. The nutrient’s applications range from transmitting nerve impulses to detoxifying the body and producing energy, making it an effective health treatment for a variety of conditions.
What is Magnesium?
One of the three most important minerals for good health, magnesium supports a wide range of bodily processes. Every organ in the body uses the mineral magnesium in some form. The heart, muscles, and kidneys are particularly reliant on the nutrient.
Magnesium functions in activating enzymes, producing energy and regulating nutrient levels. This mineral helps maintain constant levels of calcium, zinc, copper, potassium, vitamin D, and other nutrients in the body. It also optimizes the use of these nutrients and prevents irregularities in the body’s processes.
Magnesium is found in a variety of foods including nuts, fruit, whole grains, wheat germ, fish, and leafy green vegetables. Even so, most individuals do not get an adequate amount of the nutrient daily. Magnesium can also be found as an independent dietary supplement and as a component of many multivitamins.
Health Benefits of Magnesium
Even though most individuals do not get an adequate amount of the nutrient daily, magnesium imbalance is more pervasive of a problem than magnesium deficiency. Either way, individuals generally suffer adverse effects when not consuming appropriate amounts of the nutrient. Agitation, anxiety, restless leg syndrome, sleep disorders, irritability, nausea and vomiting, blood pressure problems and even seizures are common effects.
Conversely, getting an adequate amount of magnesium can effectively treat a variety of conditions. Magnesium plays a role in treating such conditions as asthma, depression, diabetes, fibromyalgia, noise related hearing loss, heart failure, and high blood pressure. The nutrient can also be used to treat migraine headaches, osteoporosis, preeclampsia and eclampsia, premenstrual syndrome, and restless leg syndrome.
Considered one of the three most important daily nutrients, magnesium is a vital nutrient in a daily diet. As a regular or added supplement, it can prevent and treat a wide range of health conditions.
I have realized just this weekend that my daily evening magnesium malate or citrate supplementation is likely *paradoxically* at least partially responsible for insomnia issues I've been facing. I went off the supplement for a week because I ran out and was amazed at how well I was sleeping without it. I got a new supply of magnesium malate, took (~200 mg elemental Mg) at 9 pm on a Friday. My brain was "on" at bedtime — could not fall asleep until after 3 am. Weekend ruined! I slept a little better Saturday night w/o supplementation, hopefully will be able to get back to where I was before Friday.
I say paradoxically because Mg has in the past definitely been a HELP for falling asleep, and it has also helped me to overcome migraine pain. A few articles online show I am not the first to notice this issue.
I have been using Magnesium Gluconate for about 3 months and also soaking in epsom salt hot baths. Well, it is has been determined that my doctor said to discontinue doing this because I have had rashes and red spots tingling and pain all over. Itching is the worst of it. You can develop a bad reaction to magnesium if you overdose on it. My intake was capsule form maybe 500 mg plus the salt baths. I thought I had shingles at first the feet, legs, fingers, ankles and other places on my body were in an off and on state of discomfort, pain and sometimes agony.
Magnesium needs to be used properly like any other herb or mineral. If not it can have a reverse reaction. I have since stopped all baths and magnesium intake for the foreseeable future. Hope this helps someone so they do not misdiagnose their condition.
Update:
Regarding my healing. For 2 months I have been in terrible discomfort, tingling, burning and itching on my feet, hands, ankles, legs and different parts of my body. I did not know what this was after 3 trips to the doctor blood tests and further evaluations.
Finally one day I was going over my everyday routine of supplements and actions regarding my health.
I came to realize to my amazement that my problem was not in something I caught but something I myself was doing. MY PROBLEM WAS MAGNESIUM…FOR SURE. Here's why.
I was taking 500mg of mag gluconate sometimes twice a day, then spraying magnesium spray on my body, also soaking in a hot bathtub with epsom salts containing magnesium. When my doctor heard this she said STOP! I stopped 4 days ago after the the second day I'm back to normal no pain, not itching, no burning, no tingling.
I had red spots appear on my skin then disappear in 2 or 3 hours scaring me. Big blotches too in some places. The itching was horrid. The nerves in my hands an feet were under attack I thought it was RA and other issues. I'm 61 but otherwise in good health. All my labs came back near perfect…it was all a mystery until I stopped the magnesium.
I hope I helped someone out there that is going through the same thing.
Bill
I have made some observations about magnesium that I thought I would share.
I have been taking magnesium powder (Natural Calm) at night for a long time. I take about 500 mg this way and it helps me to sleep and keeps my digestion regular. One night recently, I had had a snack and didn't want to drink the amount of water I would need to take my magnesium powder. I have some Nature's Way Magnesium capsules so I took two of those instead, which was a total of 800 mg of magnesium. I wondered if this would cause diarrhea because if I took that much Natural Calm, it surely would have. Well, it did not; in fact, the next day my digestion was noticeably slow. Whether it is because Natural Calm is a more absorbable form of magnesium (magnesium citrate) than the other, which was magnesium oxide, or something else, I do not know. But what that means is that not all magnesium supplements are equal. If one form of magnesium isn't working for you as you might hope, try another.
Secondly, I got lazy this week and skipped a few days of magnesium oil on my back at bedtime. Even with an oral magnesium supplement, if I skip the topical magnesium oil I wake up with stiffness. I made sure to use my magnesium oil last night and can really tell a difference – I was much less stiff when I woke up today. Some people find that topical magnesium affects the bowels, but it doesn't in my case, at least in the amount I use. But what is interesting to note is that internal use of magnesium does not have nearly the same benefit to me to reduce pain and stiffness that topical magnesium does.
What does this mean? If you want to use magnesium for a health problem, you may need to experiment with amounts you use as well as the brand you use, as well as the way you deliver it to your body (orally or through the skin.) And it seems there is no one size fits all. I guess this is where healing takes on its art form. There is a science to healing, but it isn't a once size fits all deal. Each individual is complex and unique in his needs, thus the art aspect of healing.
So, that is my two cents worth of musing on magnesium today…
~Mama to Many~
MtoM,
No internal magnesium that I have ever used, and I have used a few, can provide the muscle relaxing effects of topically applied mag oil, so I am with you on that topic.
Art
Mama to Many, which Mag Oil do you use? Sometimes I wake up with achy joints, especially knees.
Dear Sonia,
At first I bought Life Flo magnesium oil and used that. But I realized making my own is going to be a lot cheaper if I use it a lot.
I bought Ancient Minerals Mangesium flakes. I bring 1/2 cup distilled water to simmer on the stove in a stainless steel or glass pot. I remove it from the heat and add 1/2 cup magnesium flakes. According to some, this will not be as effective as store bought magnesium oil, but that makes no sense to me; I think it is an advertising thing.
I would guess magnesium flakes or oil from any reputable source would do.
I hope the magnesium oil will help your knees! It is great stuff.
~Mama to Many~
M to M,
Some of the store bought mag oil is closer to 70% while a mix of a half cup of flakes to a half cup of water is more likely to be less than 50%. These 70% solutions are closer to a saturated solution and would tend to explain why they might be slightly more effective. Mixing flakes in lotion is another useful way of using mag flakes.
Art
Side effect reported
Two weeks ago I was overdosing with D3 (5000iu) daily. I had all the overdose symptoms. SO I quit taking d3 and start magnesium chloride. First time when I take it I felt sharp kidney pain then everything was ok. But now for about one week of taking MC before bed I feel tightness in the kidneys. I felt this pain only once (the first time).
1-2g of MC in water
Are you taking enough water with it? Be sure to take it with a full glass of water. And maybe take less. Or try using it in a spray on your body. That is a wonderful way to get your magnesium.
I'm drinking a lot of water. Maybe there is pain because of calcification in the kidneys cause by d3 overdose? And magnesium remove this calcification?
Hi Steve,
Try drinking 2 oz of extra virgin olive oil mixed with 2 oz lemon juice, followed by the largest glass of water you can possible hold. If this is a stone it may soften and pass. You may need to do more than once.
You can't overdose on D3. You can overdose on the other forms of D. According to Mayo clinic you can use 80,000 iu of D3 per week for kids under 18 for viruses. 20 minutes out in the sun gives you around 20,000 iu of D3.
You need to take vitamin K2 along with calcium, magnesium, D3. The magnesium helps the calcium to absorb. The k2 helps the magnesium deposit the calcium in the correct tissues.
I started having laryngospasms last May 17th due to a bronchitis and virus I believe… cough wake me up at midnight chooking and searching in different blogs. Read that someone got cured using magnesium, and I started using magnesium and no more spasms. I'd like to spread this information to anyone that suffer with this condition, because is horrible feeling thinking that you are gonna die… so you can take magnesium glycinate… I took around 400 mg and after a week no more spasms….
Liquid Chlorophyll is a much safer way to supplement with magnesium. Too much magnesium in tablet form will deplete essential trace minerals from your body. This happened to my husband he now only uses liquid chlorophyll for a magnesium supplement 1/4 to 1/2 tsp a day and hasnt had any problems since.
Chelated magnesium has changed my life. Since starting the supplement I have slept SO much better, less irritable, numbness in my fingertips gone, red nose and red ears reduced, heartburn reduced, anxiety has been reduced, and my life long allergies that have been unbearable have completely subsided in just one week on the supplement. I'm generally a sharp person and wouldn't have believed my quality of life would change from a supplement!
Just curious what type of magnesium and how much you are taking to get such positive results. Thanks for sharing.
To Carrie (Livonia, MI): What was the specific magnesium chelating agent you used and the daily dosage? Thanks, Larry
Before taking the magnesium bicarbonate water I would get chilled easily. Whenever I would fall asleep my body would get very chilly. Anyway, the magnesium bicarbonate water has worked wonders.
After many hours of reading I bought the Borax and just started using it. I have had osteoarthritis in my thumbs for some time and it is slowly getting worse. Let's see what happens. However, my purpose here is to tell you about Magnesium. I have been using it for a long time but it didn't do me any good until I came upon a different form that has not been mentioned here. It is very hard to assimilate it in pill form. What I am using with success is Ionic magnesium citrate which is a powder that gets dissolved in a bit of hot water. It fizzles and the magnesium disappears into the water. This way it gets completely absorbed. Very effective. I get it in the USA, I don't know about its availability in other countries. I guess I am not supposed to mention brands, but I only know the one I am using. So, its not a tablet or a capsule or an oil, it is a drink. Hope this helps.
I wondered if anyone who is familiar with the Hans Nieper 2-AEP Magnesium would be able to tell me if each capsule contains 500 mg of magnesium? I noticed that people take multi-capsules daily and that seems like a lot of magnesium, but perhaps I don't understand it correctly. Is it taken as a magnesium source, or is more for repair as in the MS remedy? I have read the information online, but have not fully grasped its mechanism or intended use. Could someone with a better understanding give a more specific description? Thank you.