Magnesium is one of the vital minerals for the human body, as it is one of the most common ones in the body.
It plays important roles in many physiological processes, including but not limited to neuro-muscular function, blood sugar regulation, cardiovascular regulation and so on.
For the most part, the body’s magnesium content is mainly in the bones, muscles, brain and all vital organs.
The thing is the body does not have storages of this mineral, which is why it is of prime importance to derive sufficient quantities via food.
Benefits of magnesium
1. Physiological benefits
As we already learned, this mineral is involved in an array of physiological processes, but the thing is, its main function is namely related to what trainees would look for – Sustaining homeostasis (balance) of the neuromuscular system.
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What magnesium does is it ensures proper environment for conducting brain to muscle signals
Furthermore, as we learned, magnesium regulates the cardiovascular function and the protein synthesis.
It is good to know that if you are an active trainee, you probably excrete a big part of your magnesium via sweat, which is exactly why for all of you dedicated to the gym, it would be perfect to supplement with it.
2. Migraines
Magnesium might turn out to be one of the best solutions for migraines.
If you are prone to migraines and even get migraine attacks, then magnesium intake will be your go-to choice, as it will help you get over that quicker.
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3. Blood pressure regulator
High blood pressure is probably the most common condition among people and it is a precursor to cardiovascular disease.
The thing is, high blood pressure is not acutely dangerous, but instead, it makes the heart work harder, which is why it’s bad in the long term.
The good thing is that sufficient magnesium intake will probably help you sustain consistent blood pressure and improve overall heart health.
To lower the blood pressure furthermore, you can combine magnesium with omega-3 fatty acids.
4. Mood regulator
Magnesium is involved in many processes that regulate brain function and therefore, the mood.
Generally, a deficit of magnesium may lead to depression or melancholy.
5. Fights inflammation
Sustained long-term inflammations are a leading cause of many, if not most of the diseases.
In many cases, individuals with prominent inflammations also tend to show a deficit of magnesium.
That is to say that sufficient magnesium intake would be anti-inflammatory, while a deficit would lead to worse inflammations.
Needless to say, that would negatively impact our workouts, as we will experience more muscle spasms, worsened recovery & overall function.
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6. For the ladies…
For all you female readers, magnesium might be one of the best choices to fight PMS.
Premenstrual syndrome, also known as PMS is basically a group of symptoms that indicate the upcoming menstruation.
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Usually, women get them anywhere from 7 to 14 days before menstruation.
Boys, if your girlfriends have mood swings, increased appetite, and get annoyed easily, rest assured they are experiencing PMS.
It has been shown that supplementing with magnesium or even consuming foods abundant of it, can severely help ease the symptoms of PMS.
7. For the insomniacs
If you feel like actually falling asleep is tough, then you should check your magnesium intake.
This mineral plays key roles in the pre-sleep relaxation of the musculature and also interacts with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, to shut them down so you can easily fall asleep.
8. Improves workouts
As we already mentioned, more active individuals and trainees, will generally need more magnesium, as opposed to sedentary people.
Magnesium regulates the glucose metabolism inside the muscle cell and also helps the body get lactic acid into the energy pathways and use it as energy.
9. Mental benefits
As we learned, magnesium is a mineral that’s highly involved in the regulation of signals in the central nervous system.
That is to say that it is of prime importance for contractions of muscles and the work of vital organs, including the brain.
Supplementing with magnesium may help you improve cognitive functions, as well as memory and overall mental sharpness.
10. Bone health
When it comes to maintaining a healthy skeleton, magnesium is one of the main minerals that is involved in the processes linked to bone growth and health.
Magnesium helps with the metabolism of calcium and thus, improves bone health.
Individuals that are consistently deprived of magnesium may become more prone to bone damage, as the skeleton gets weaker and less dense.
Daily magnesium intake
People’s tendency to consume pre-packaged, processed foods that are poor in quality nutrients, often leads to deficits of this important mineral.
What’s even worse is that if systematically deprived of it, the body will also have difficulty absorbing other important minerals and nutrients.
Recommendations
Optimal intake varies from person to person, as everyone has different activity levels and nutrition habits.
Generally however, those are the recommended daily intakes:
- Women and men at the age of 30 and above- 300 and 400 mg respectively
- Kids at the age of 1~3 – 35 to 80 mg
- Kids at the age of 4 to 8 – 115-130 mg
- Kids at the age of 9 to 14 – 220-240 mg
- Teenagers at the age of 14-18 – For boys and girls it is 400 and 350 mg respectively
Which foods contain magnesium?
Alright, we now learned that magnesium is a vital mineral for the body, as it is involved in many, if not most physiological processes.
Now the question that comes to mind is – Should you supplement with magnesium, or should you get it from foods?
Well, it is good to know that no supplement will compensate for the lack of a good nutrition plan.
That is simply because isolated magnesium as a supplement CAN help you fight magnesium deficiencies, but by getting it from food, you will also grant the body sufficient amounts of other important vitamins and minerals.
Needless to say, food also contains lesser amounts of it, making it nearly impossible to overdose on magnesium.
Just like anything else of course, in excessive quantities, magnesium can be toxic for the body.
To wrap up the article, we will give you our top 15 picks for foods, rich in magnesium:
- Spinach
- Kale
- Avocados
- Raspberries
- Bananas
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Beans
- Chickpeas
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Artichokes
- Asparagus
- Salmon
- Tuna
