Magnesium is the most used nutrient in the body. When you are stressed, your magnesium levels may be depleted. Magnesium is crucial to calming the nervous system, helping your body combat stress, and helping alleviate mental health symptoms.
Magnesium is a cofactor in over 300 enzyme systems that regulate diverse biochemical and enzymatic reactions within the body. Magnesium is required for its assistance with many chemical functions that support the central nervous system in managing stress.
Unfortunately, most Americans consume less magnesium than the recommended amount. You might want to consider supplementation.
There are seven different types of magnesium and each has a different effect on the body.
- magnesium oxide
- magnesium glycinate
- magnesium orotate
- magnesium L-threonate
- magnesium chloride
- magnesium sulfate
- magnesium citrate
You can take a magnesium supplement, you can take a magnesium salt bath, or do both. With so much stress in our modern lives, we can use all the help we can get.
Magnesium calms the brain
Magnesium combats a stress-activated nervous system. When the nervous system is hyper-stress activated and the brain reaches maximum capacity, the brain can only respond in three ways, fight, flight, or freeze. There are a variety of techniques that when consistently applied, help to lower the activation response.
It begins by reconnecting to your body to recognize the signals before your brain goes into a fight, flight, or freeze response. When you are in a fight, flight, or freeze state, you are in survival mode and your brain is unable to fully process language, pay attention, or take action outside of survival. In other words, the primary objective in this state is to reduce stress and ignore most other stimuli to focus on survival.
Magnesium is required for many chemical functions that support the central nervous system in managing stress. With a calmer brain, you can make the most of therapies like cognitive behavior therapy and other methods that teach you to change your thoughts and actions.
Magnesium improves brain chemicals that help anxiety, OCD, depression, and ADHD
Magnesium plays an essential role in neurologic function, including involvement in neurotransmitter synthesis, nerve transmission, and neuromuscular conduction. The body needs magnesium to create neurotransmitters and for those neurotransmitters to work properly, which is a crucial element to restoring better mental health.
Magnesium is an important regulator of neurotransmitter signaling, especially for the neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA through modulating the activation of NMDA glutamate and GABA receptors.
Magnesium is necessary for energy production, also called mitochondrial function and glucose breakdown for energy (glycolysis). Brain energy metabolism is often associated with anxiety and social behavior.
Magnesium is required for the synthesis of DNA, RNA, and the antioxidant glutathione, which is a powerful antioxidant that supports detoxification and a healthy immune system. Oxidative stress and issues with poor detoxification are associated with increased levels of anxiety, as well as numerous mental health conditions.
There is an abundance of research that shows magnesium supplementation can improve symptoms across many neurological and clinical conditions.
Magnesium improves ADHD behaviors
Research shows that people with ADHD may have reduced magnesium levels and other nutrients such as Vitamin D, ferritin, and zinc. In one study, after eight weeks of Vitamin D and magnesium supplementation, the blood levels of these nutrients increased significantly, which resulted in a significant decrease in conduct problems, social problems, and anxiety scores.
Magnesium helps reduce anxiety
Stress or anxiety can produce runaway thoughts and physical symptoms like body tension, pain, difficulty sleeping, etc. Feelings of anxiety can be overwhelming, affect brain function, and lead to depressive symptoms and even mood disorders.
Studies suggest that magnesium helps different types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder and selective mutism, panic disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and specific phobias, and helps to reduce physical and cognitive symptoms of anxiety.
Magnesium plays an important role in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis to help manage the body’s stress response system, as well as support healthy neurotransmitter functioning. People with anxiety disorder need relief that doesn’t have side effects and magnesium should be a part of everyone’s toolkit.
How do I know if I need magnesium?
With our stress-filled modern world, it is so easy for your magnesium levels to become depleted. There is a lot of research that shows the connection between low magnesium levels and clinical mental health conditions such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, and OCD.
Symptoms of magnesium deficiency
- Fatigue and muscle weakness
- Poor appetite
- Nausea
- Muscle twitches and cramps
- High blood pressure
- Feeling stressed or anxious
- Poor sleep quality
- Difficulty getting to sleep
- Have a diagnosed clinical mental health condition
- Asthma
- Irregular heartbeat
- Osteoporosis
- Poor blood sugar control
If you have any of these clinical issues, getting your magnesium levels tested is always a good idea.
Just about anyone can benefit from magnesium supplementation through dietary supplements, creams and sprays, and bath salts, as well as eating magnesium-rich foods. Ingested magnesium is absorbed through the gut and absorption levels vary depending on a number of factors, including the health of the gut. Magnesium can be combined with other supplements such as vitamin B6 for sleep and vitamin D for mental health for issues such as ADHD and anxiety. The most common side effects of beginning magnesium supplements are loose stools. Check with your healthcare provider before adding a magnesium supplement to your daily routine.