Magnesium is a multi-tasker nutrient. It is tapped for hundreds of different processes in your body, including regulating your heart rhythm and keeping your bones strong. It also functions in nerve health, and that job links it with mental health and depression. A handful of investigations have demonstrated that having too little magnesium can manifest as depression, and depression may be treated with magnesium. The Institute of Medicine states that adult men need between 400 and 420 mg of magnesium daily. Women need between 310 and 320 mg. Pregnant and nursing mothers need more.
About Magnesium
Magnesium is abundant in your body. About 25 grams is contained within the average adult, making it the fourth most plentiful mineral in your body. More than half of your magnesium in stored in your skeleton, and the remainder in your muscles and cells. It is a dynamic nutrient, playing a part in more than 300 biological processes, such as energy production and signaling between cells. Magnesium is required in several steps in the process of building DNA and RNA and proteins. It's also implicated in nerve function, which makes it a possible player in mental health treatment.
Magnesium Deficiency and Mental Health
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 names magnesium as an underconsumed nutrient, mainly because Americans don't eat enough vegetables and fruits. Two researchers publishing in the journal "Medical Hypotheses" said several factors play into a crisis of sorts in magnesium intake. Little of the nutrient is left when flour is refined and magnesium has been removed from the water supply. A magnesium deficiency, however, is known to cause disorders of the nervous system. They theorized that a magnesium deficiency presents as depression.
Magnesium as Depression Treatment
The "Medical Hypotheses" authors reported case studies showing people who recovered from major depression in less than seven days after being treated with magnesium. The dosage ranged from 125 to 300 mg taken with each meal and right before bed. Magnesium also helped with suicidal ideation, anxiety, postpartum depression and substance abuse. A group of University of Memphis researchers also tied magnesium levels to depressive symptoms in a group of premenopausal women. A 2009 study of 5,708 Norwegians demonstrated that intake of magnesium had an inverse relationship to depression. That magnesium could be behind major depression, and possibly mediates several other conditions, warrants additional study, wrote the "Medical Hypotheses" researchers. They think refined grain products should be magnesium fortified and magnesium should be restored in the drinking water supply.
Depression Help
Depression is a serious illness that requires the attention of a health care provider. The research on magnesium and depression is in its infancy, and your doctor may not be aware of the link. You should still talk to your doctor and ask for counsel on using magnesium for therapeutic reasons. If you face a mental health crisis, help is available from trained counselors on various hotlines. Trained counselors can connect you with mental health resources in your community by dialing 2-1-1 or visiting 211.org. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is reachable at 1-800-273-TALK. Helplines also exist for mothers suffering postpartum depression, 1-800-PPD-MOMS and veterans 1-877-VET2VET.
References
- "Medical Hypotheses"; Rapid Recovery from Major Depression Using Magnesium Treatment; George A. Eby and Karen L. Eby; epub Mar. 16, 2006
- Linus Pauling Institute; Magnesium; Jane Higdon; April 2003
- University of Memphis; Dietary Magnesium Intake and the Relationship to Depression; H.B.Schneider et al.
- Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs): Recommended Dietary Allowances and Adequate Intakes, Elements
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Magnesium
- "The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry"; Association between Magnesium Intake And Depression and Anxiety in Community-Dwelling Adults: The Hordaland Health Study; Jan. 2009
