Your kidneys regulate the nutrient magnesium, which must be kept in balance for good health. Your kidneys are affected when you get too little magnesium, as well as when you get too much. People with impaired kidneys, especially those with diabetes or hypertension, must be especially careful with taking magnesium supplements.
Identification
Magnesium is an essential element that your body needs for many vital functions. It helps release energy, metabolizes fats and carbohydrates, and regulates your body temperature. It helps stabilize bones and helps synthesize proteins. With other nutrients, magnesium contributes to the regulation of your blood pressure as well. Magnesium also plays a role in nerve and muscle function, including your heart, and it is active in the process of building DNA and RNA. You'll find magnesium in abundance in vegetables, beans and peas, and whole grains. People who eat a variety of healthy foods are likely to get enough magnesium. Most healthy men need about 420 mg of magnesium daily, and women about 320 mg.
Magnesium and the Kidneys
Your kidneys are responsible for maintaining an adequate level of magnesium in your body. If you're like most Americans and don't eat enough vegetables, your kidneys respond by ensuring less magnesium is excreted in urine. Along with the rest of your digestive system, the health status of your kidneys plays a great role in how magnesium works in your body. According to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements, magnesium is absorbed into your intestines and gets to your cells and tissues by way of your bloodstream. The office says only between one-third and one-half of the magnesium you get in your diet survives this transit. In addition, when you have certain illnesses, even less could be absorbed.
Magnesium Status and Impaired Kidneys
Diseases, conditions and medications that impair the functioning of your kidneys can damage the organ's ability to balance your magnesium levels. As a consequence, your magnesium levels could get dangerously low, increasing your risk of deficiency, or they can get too high, putting you at risk of toxicity. Diabetes the main cause of kidney failure in the United States, according to the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse, making it one of the primary reasons people have a problem with magnesium levels. During periods of highly elevated blood sugar, your kidneys can lose their ability to hold on to magnesium.
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Magnesium Supplements
Getting too much magnesium from your diet is unusual. Most people who risk their kidney functioning because of too much magnesium do so by taking magnesium supplements. People with kidney issues are at the greatest risk of having an adverse reaction when they get too much magnesium. You may experience a drop in blood pressure, lethargy, confusion, irregular heartbeats -- and continued deterioration of your kidney function. If you have kidney issue, it is crucial to talk to your doctor first before taking magnesium supplements, or using products that contain extra magnesium.
References
- Linus Pauling Institute; Magnesium; Jane Higdon; April 2003
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Magnesium
- NYU Langone Medical Center: Magnesium
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements; Dietary Supplements Fact Sheet: Magnesium
- National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse; Kidney Disease of Diabetes; Sept. 2008
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