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Learn About Magnesium in 5 Minutes
by Katie Hipwell
Katie Hipwell
Table of contents
What is magnesium?
Magnesium is one of the most important essential minerals. Your body uses magnesium for over 300 different processes, and this natural anti-inflammatory substance fights back against osteoporosis, diabetes, and migraines.
- Improves heart health for optimum circulation
- Increases bone density to prevent osteoporosis
- Natural sleep aid to keep you alert and rested
- Anti-inflammatory substance that fights back against diabetes
- Keeps those nasty migraine headaches away
Why we love magnesium
Magnesium is absolutely vital to your health, but almost everybody suffers from magnesium deficiency. When you don’t have enough magnesium in your body, you might have trouble sleeping at night and have reduced energy levels during the day. If you consume the amount of magnesium you need to stay healthy, however, your body protects itself from heart disease, diabetes, and all sorts of inflammatory conditions.
We include the perfect amount of magnesium in Feel to keep your blood pressure healthy, fight back against depression, and keep your headaches at bay.
Unbelievable Benefits of Magnesium
Over 350 studies have been conducted to get to the bottom of exactly why magnesium is so amazing. Here are some of the most important findings:
Neurological Benefits
A few studies have found that magnesium deficiency is associated with ADHD in children. This mineral also improved sleep patterns in elderly study participants.
Furthermore, a review of the evidence found a correlation between decreased magnesium levels in diet over time with an increase in depression, and this hypothesis is backed up by research. Magnesium may also improve learning and reduce stress, and getting enough magnesium in your diet may even reduce the intensity, frequency, and duration of migraines.
Research has shown magnesium to be an essential mineral for sleep support, which is why we've included 200mg of Magnesium in Feel Sleep.
Cardiovascular Benefits
Magnesium reduces your risk of heart disease and hypertension. It also reduces your risk of other types of heart disease, and it has specifically been shown to reduce your risk of coronary heart disease. This substance also appears to reduce the levels of triglycerides in your blood, which further reduces your risk of heart disease.
Magnesium is an essential mineral during pregnancy, with deficiency increasing the risk of chronic hypertension and premature labour. We've included 36mg of Magnesium in Feel Pregnancy, perfect for supporting the health of you and your baby.
Diabetes Benefits
Increased magnesium levels in your blood improve your pancreatic function and insulin sensitivity. Type I diabetics have higher rates of magnesium deficiency, which means that ingesting plenty of this healing substance every day may reduce your risk of developing diabetes.
One in-depth study found that supplementing with magnesium reduced the effects of diabetic neuropathy, which is the steady destruction of nerve tissue that causes such horrible pain for diabetics. Research has also shown that magnesium may improve blood glucose metabolism in diabetic patients, but there isn’t a clear conclusion on this subject yet.
Bone Density Benefits
Older people commonly suffer from osteoporosis, which is a dramatic reduction in bone density that can leave you more prone to fractures. A comprehensive review of the evidence found that magnesium supplementation improves bone density and reduces your risk of osteoporosis.
Magnesium is a powerhouse mineral for exercise performance, which is why we've included 112.5mg of Magnesium in Feel Meal Replacement.
Is magnesium water-soluble or fat-soluble?
As an element, magnesium is neither water-soluble nor fat-soluble. When combined with oxygen, however, this essential nutrient becomes water-soluble. However, it has a slow dissolution rate, which means it isn’t as bioavailable as some other water-soluble nutrients.
Where can magnesium be found naturally?
Luckily for vegetarians and vegans, magnesium is most concentrated in plant-based foods. For instance, this essential nutrient is plentiful in most nuts, and it is also available in spinach, beans, and other vegetables. Even so, natural sources of magnesium don’t generally contain enough of this mineral to meet your daily intake needs.
5 foods/drinks containing magnesium
1. Almonds 20% DV per 28g
2. Spinach 20% DV per ½ cup or 64g
3. Cashews 19% DV per 28g
4. Peanuts 16% DV per ¼ cup or 32g
5. Black beans 15% DV per ½ cup or 64g
What is the recommended daily intake for magnesium?
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), adult men need to consume 420mg of magnesium per day, and adult women need to consume 320mg. Women need to consume slightly more magnesium during pregnancy and lactation.
What to consume to get a full daily dose of magnesium?
Almonds - approximately 140g
Spinach - approximately 320g
Cashews - approximately 154g
Peanuts - approximately 192g
Black beans - approximately 450g
Can you absorb enough of magnesium from food?
If you have the time to enjoy an ideal diet, it’s certainly possible to get the magnesium your body needs from the food you eat. Doing so, however, requires following a strictly calibrated diet that most modern professionals don’t have the time to observe.
Why is magnesium oxide necessary for your body?
Your body needs magnesium to perform a wide variety of neurological processes; this nutrient prevents psychiatric conditions, and it also improves your cardiovascular health. What’s more, magnesium is a powerful anti-inflammatory substance that may be able to prevent cancer, diabetes, and many other conditions.
Functions of magnesium
Neurological functions: Magnesium is involved in most types of neuronal signalling in your body, and ingesting adequate levels of this substance can prevent various neurological conditions.
Cardiovascular functions: Magnesium reduces triglyceride levels in your blood, and it also reduces the symptoms of hypertension and prevents coronary heart disease.
Anti-carcinogenic functions: Research indicates that magnesium reduces your risk of developing colorectal cancer.
Bone density functions: Magnesium is involved in the process of growing and repairing bone tissue, and consuming plenty of this mineral reduces your risk of developing osteoporosis.
Symptoms of magnesium deficiency
Muscle Twitching and Cramping
Since magnesium is involved in neuronal signalling, deficiency in this mineral can cause your muscles to twitch and cramp as neurological signals sent to your muscles are impaired.
Mental Disturbance
Mild magnesium deficiency can result in relatively mild psychiatric conditions like depression and anxiety, but severe deficiency in this mineral can cause psychosis, catatonia, or even coma.
Osteoporosis
Proper levels of magnesium consumption improve your bone density, but conversely, becoming deficient in this essential mineral can cause you to be more at risk of developing osteoporosis and suffering bone fractures.
How long do you need to take magnesium for before experiencing its benefits?
Since magnesium is water-soluble, it’s generally possible to start experiencing reduction in deficiency symptoms almost immediately upon supplementation. In cases of severe deficiency, magnesium may be administered intravenously to facilitate rapid recovery. Most deficient patients experience full recovery within 30-60 days of magnesium supplementation.
Consistency is key and our research recommends taking your Feel supplements for at least 3 months to allow your body to adjust and provide the desired benefits.
How long does it take for your body to digest/absorb magnesium?
While bonding magnesium with oxygen makes it possible to digest this mineral, research indicates that absorption rates of this supplement are relatively low. One study, for instance, found that absorption rates for magnesium oxide were as low as 43%, which means it’s necessary to consume your RDA of this substance every day to avoid deficiency.
How long does magnesium stay in your body after you take it?
The kidneys generally clear magnesium from your body relatively quickly. While rates vary, around 70% of the magnesium you consume is excreted from your body within 24 hours.
Is magnesium an antioxidant?
Magnesium is not a direct antioxidant, but it does support the action of antioxidants in your body. What’s more, magnesium has potent anti-inflammatory properties, and reducing inflammation also reduces oxidative stress.
Can you overdose on magnesium? What are the effects?
Magnesium overdose is called hypermagnesemia, and blood levels of this mineral above 2.6mg per deciliter are considered toxic. Your body generally flushes excess magnesium out of your system relatively quickly, but temporary symptoms of magnesium overdose might include extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, or facial flushing. You can avoid the dangers of magnesium overdose by only taking the recommended dose of this essential nutrient every day.
Does magnesium dissolve, flush out, or build up in the body?
While magnesium is water-soluble, it does tend to build up in your kidneys if your body can’t excrete it fast enough. Kidney issues can cause this substance to build up to dangerous levels.
Can you take magnesium during a diet?
Consuming magnesium does not interfere with any dietary restrictions.
Are there synthetic forms of magnesium?
As an elemental metal, magnesium itself is incredibly difficult to synthesise. Since it is created in a lab, magnesium oxide, which consists of elemental magnesium and oxygen, is technically synthetic, but this supplement does not contain synthetic magnesium.
Why might synthetic forms of magnesium be better?
The only situation in which synthetic magnesium might be beneficial is if natural sources of this element were unavailable.
Absorption rate of synthetic magnesium
Since magnesium on its own is non-absorbable, any type of this element, whether natural or artificial, paired with oxygen would have the same rate of absorption.
Why might natural forms of magnesium be better?
Natural elemental magnesium is the only type of magnesium currently available. Some sources suggest that the magnesium you find in food may be better-absorbed than magnesium synthesised in a lab.
How to take magnesium
You can consume magnesium in food or in supplement form. Since magnesium is only available in food in small quantities, ingesting this essential nutrient in supplement form may be more effective.
Magnesium trends in medicine
A 2019 study found that consuming enough dietary magnesium improves the activity of vitamin D in your body. This research indicates that these two essential nutrients have a synergistic effect, and it underscores the benefits of consuming multiple nutrients together in the form of a multivitamin.
Why everyone should be taking WeAreFeel supplements
Here at WeAreFeel, we provide the exact amount of magnesium you need every day in our revolutionary multivitamin. While magnesium is one of the most important nutrients for your overall well-being, consuming too much of this supplement can be dangerous, which is why we’ve meticulously tailored Feel to only contain the amount of this substance your body needs to stay healthy. Instead of fretting about eating enough spinach, cashews, or almonds per day to keep up with your recommended magnesium intake, make things easy for yourself with Feel!
Here’s the Proof
- Zinc, ferritin, magnesium and copper in a group of Egyptian children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
- DRI Dietary Reference Intakes: Applications in Dietary Assessment.
- Magnesium for treatment-resistant depression: a review and hypothesis.
- Magnesium: its proven and potential clinical significance.
- Magnesium improves the beta-cell function to compensate variation of insulin sensitivity: double-blind, randomised clinical trial.
- Long term magnesium supplementation influences favourably the natural evolution of neuropathy in Mg-depleted type 1 diabetic patients (T1dm).
- Magnesium intake and colorectal tumour risk: a case-control study and meta-analysis.
- Magnesium and Osteoporosis: Current State of Knowledge and Future Research Directions.
