ATP is a chemical energy molecule that your body uses as a sort of "energy currency" to run various cellular processes, including producing muscular contractions. To liberate energy from ATP, cells must use enzymes to break the ATP down. Many of these enzymes incorporate magnesium, but magnesium itself doesn't break down ATP.
ATP
ATP stands for adenosine triphosphate, which is an important form of chemical energy currency in the cell. While it's common to say that cells burn carbohydrates, proteins and fats for energy, in reality, they use these nutrients to produce ATP, and then break down the ATP for energy. Many of the things a cell does as part of its routine function--including building tissues, making communication molecules and moving substances around in the body--require ATP.
Magnesium
The role of magnesium in the breakdown of ATP is indirect, but critical. Magnesium itself has no direct effect upon ATP--ATP mixed with magnesium in a beaker would not react. Instead, magnesium is a cofactor for ATP breakdown enzymes. An enzyme is a protein that helps a chemical reaction take place faster than it otherwise would, explain Drs. Mary Campbell and Shawn Farrell in their book "Biochemistry." Some enzymes need to incorporate magnesium in order to function.
Examples
Many of the enzymes involved in ATP breakdown incorporate magnesium as a cofactor. For instance, when your cells take up glucose from the blood, they have to convert it into a related molecule called glucose-6-phosphate so it can't escape the cell, explain Drs. Reginald Garrett and Charles Grisham in their book "Biochemistry." The enzyme that assists this reaction is called hexokinase. This enzyme incorporates a magnesium particle at the center of the enzyme, which assists in enzyme function.
Supplementation
Because ATP breakdown provides cells with energy and enzymes that break down ATP need magnesium to function, some sources have claimed that supplementing with magnesium will help give you more energy. This is simply not true. As long as you're meeting your dietary magnesium requirements--and almost anyone on a varied diet is--you aren't magnesium deficient. You can't force the body to produce more enzymes, or to break down more ATP, by consuming extra magnesium.
References
- "Biochemistry"; Mary Campbell, Ph.D. and Shawn Farrell, Ph.D.; 2005
- "Biochemistry"; Reginald Garrett, Ph.D. and Charles Grisham, Ph.D.; 2007
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