What Is Magnesium Deficiency?

Magnesium is a mineral your body needs to work properly. It helps with hundreds of important body processes, including controlling how your muscles and nerves work. It helps keep your bones strong, your heart healthy, and your blood sugar normal. It also plays a role in your energy levels. You can get magnesium from many foods and drinks. But if your doctor thinks you need more, they may recommend adding supplements.

What Is Magnesium Deficiency?

Magnesium deficiency is a condition in which the amount of magnesium in the blood is lower than normal. The medical name for this condition is hypomagnesemia. Every organ in the body, especially the heart, muscles, and kidneys, needs the mineral magnesium. It also contributes to the structure of teeth and bones. Magnesium is necessary for many functions in the body.

When the magnesium level in the body drops below normal, symptoms related to low magnesium may appear.

Common causes of low magnesium include:

• Alcohol use
• Burns that affect a large area of the body
• Chronic diarrhea
• Excessive urination (polyuria) in uncontrolled diabetes and during recovery from acute kidney injury
• Hyperaldosteronism (a disorder in which the adrenal gland releases too much of the hormone aldosterone into the blood)
• Kidney tubule disorders
• Malabsorption syndromes, such as celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease
• Malnutrition
• Medications, including amphotericin, antibodies that target the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor, cisplatin, cyclosporine, diuretics, proton pump inhibitors, tacrolimus, and aminoglycoside antibiotics
• Pancreatitis (swelling and inflammation of the pancreas)
• Excessive sweating

What Are the Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency?

Common symptoms include:

• Abnormal eye movements (nystagmus)
• Convulsions
• Fatigue
• Muscle spasms or cramps
• Muscle weakness
• Numbness

How Much Magnesium Should You Get Each Day?

An adult woman needs about 310 milligrams of magnesium a day, and after age 30 she needs 320 milligrams. Pregnant women need an extra 40 milligrams. Adult men under 31 need 400 milligrams, and 420 milligrams if they are older. Children need 30 to 410 milligrams, depending on their age and sex. You can talk to your pediatrician about how much magnesium your child needs. In Türkiye, most people do not get enough magnesium in their diet, and over time, low levels of the mineral can set the stage for various health problems such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and migraines. Older adults, people who drink a lot of alcohol, and people with type 2 diabetes or digestive problems are more likely to have magnesium deficiency, either because their bodies get rid of too much magnesium or because they do not get enough in the first place.

Is Too Much Magnesium Harmful?

If you are healthy, your kidneys flush out the extra magnesium you get from food. Still, too much can cause cramps or nausea. The same is true if you use laxatives or antacids that contain magnesium. In really high doses, the mineral can make you very sick. Talk to your doctor about magnesium pills, because some conditions, such as myasthenia gravis, can get worse when you take them.

Talk to your doctor about magnesium pills, because some conditions, such as myasthenia gravis, can get worse when you take them.

What Are the Benefits of Magnesium?

Strengthens bones

Your body uses magnesium to build new bone cells. Research shows that it may also protect against bone loss, broken bones, and the bone disease osteoporosis. Studies show that women with osteoporosis tend to have lower magnesium levels than women without it.

Strengthens your body against inflammation

Inflammation is your immune system's response to possible harm. In the short term, it helps your body fight viruses and heal wounds. But if you have ongoing inflammation, it can lead to health problems such as heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes. Magnesium may help prevent this from happening.

Improves heart health

Magnesium helps your heart pump blood. The right levels of the mineral may lower your chances of an irregular heartbeat, heart disease, or a heart attack. Magnesium relaxes the walls of your blood vessels, which can help keep your blood pressure low. It may also help raise your HDL, or “good” cholesterol, level.

May prevent migraines

Experts think magnesium helps block or reduce pain chemicals in your brain and keeps your blood vessels from tightening. If you do not get enough, you are more likely to get migraines. A supplement may help keep these headaches away.

Lowers the risk of diabetes

Magnesium helps a hormone called insulin work properly. Insulin helps keep your blood sugar levels steady. In one study, people who got the most magnesium in their diet were less likely to develop the disease than those who got the least.