Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body. It is important for energy metabolism, muscle and nerve function, maintaining blood sugar balance, and for the regulation of other minerals. The Recommended Daily Allowance is 80mg for toddlers, 130 to 240mg for children, 310 to 360mg for adult females and 400 to 420mg for adult males. Symptoms of mild magnesium deficiency include loss of appetite, fatigue, weakness, and nausea. Worsening deficiency symptoms are largely neurological with numbness, tingling, muscle cramps, heart issues, and seizures. It's fairly easy to supplement your diet with magnesium.
Step 1
Eat nuts because they are easy healthy snacks that have a relatively long shelf life. Keep a bowl of dry roasted almonds or cashews at your desk. They contain 75 to 80mg of magnesium per 1 oz. serving. Mixed dry roasted nuts contain 65mg of magnesium per serving. Just 2 tbsp. of peanut butter or 1 oz. of dry roasted peanuts contain 50mg of magnesium.
Step 2
Increase the amount of whole grains in your diet. Try to add at least one whole grain to every meal to easily increase your magnesium intake. Even commercially prepared whole wheat bread has 25mg of magnesium per slice.
Step 3
Order the fish when dining out. Fish is also easy to cook at home. Just 3 oz. of cooked halibut contains 90 mg of magnesium. Pollock, tuna, and haddock, at 62mg, 54mg and 42mg respectively, are also good fish to choose when you want to increase magnesium.
Step 4
Choose leafy green vegetables as your side dish. Chlorophyll contains magnesium, so leafy greens are especially high in this nutrient. Spinach contains 78mg and beet greens have 49mg per half cup serving.
Step 5
Take a magnesium supplement. Healthy diets that include legumes, fruits, and green leafy vegetables may provide adequate magnesium. However, according to the National Institutes of Health, you are at increased risk of deficiency if you are an alcoholic, have a gastrointestinal malabsorption disease, are taking loop diuretics, are a poorly controlled diabetic, or are elderly. If any of these describes you, then you should consider taking a supplement. In choosing a supplement, magnesium chloride or magnesium lactate tend to be most easily absorbed. The dose should not exceed 350mg per day.
Tips and Warnings
- According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, having adequate magnesium levels may improve the efficacy of treatment in the following conditions: asthma, osteoporosis, blood pressure, diabetes, fibromyalgia, migraines, premenstrual syndrome, restless leg syndrome, and some heart conditions. Vitamin B6 improves the availability of magnesium for cell absorption so you might consider adding a B6 to your regime.
- People with kidney disease should be cautious adding magnesium supplementation because the kidneys may be unable to remove excess. Magnesium can interfere certain medications including some antibiotics, check with your doctor for possible interactions. If you are low in calcium, magnesium may compete with calcium for absorption and worsen the calcium deficiency.
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