Magnesium Citrate & Muscles

Magnesium, an essential mineral, supports more than 300 chemical reactions within your body. To maintain good health, the Institute of Medicine recommends adult men over the age of 30 consume 420 milligrams of magnesium per day, while women in the same age group need 320 milligrams per day. Failing to consume enough magnesium in a healthy diet can lead to a magnesium deficiency, causing symptoms that affect the muscles. Magnesium supplements, like magnesium citrate, can treat a magnesium deficiency.

Role of Magnesium

Your body uses the majority of magnesium to build strong bones and teeth. The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements reports that your bones contain more than 50 percent of the magnesium in your body. Your body uses the remaining magnesium to regulate chemical reactions important for regulating blood sugar, regulating blood pressure, maintaining a healthy immune system and promoting the conversion of food into energy. Magnesium acts as an electrolyte, which means that is transmits electrical impulses between nerves and muscles. The interaction between magnesium ions and calcium ions plays a vital role in muscle contraction and relaxation.

Deficiency

Although many people in the United States fail to consume the daily recommended amount of magnesium, few experience symptoms of a magnesium deficiency. Medical conditions that affect the ability of your digestive tract to absorb magnesium, like Crohn’s disease, and diseases that affect the kidneys' ability to regulate magnesium excretion can deplete your body’s magnesium stores and cause a deficiency. Symptoms of a magnesium deficiency include a loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. A magnesium deficiency affects the ability of your nerves to transmit signals and your muscles to contract, which causes numbness and tingling, muscle cramps, seizures and abnormal heart rhythms.

Supplements

You can increase your magnesium intake by increasing the amount of magnesium in your diet. Leafy green vegetables, such as spinach, legumes, like peanuts and lentils, nuts, like cashews, and whole grains, such as oats and rice, serve as good sources of magnesium. For those with magnesium deficiency symptoms, your doctor may recommend adding a magnesium supplement. Oral magnesium supplements combine magnesium with a salt, such as magnesium chloride, magnesium oxide or magnesium citrate. Each magnesium supplement contains a different amount of elemental magnesium. Magnesium citrate contains 16 percent elemental magnesium.

Uses

In addition to helping restore magnesium levels, oral magnesium citrate is used as a laxative. The magnesium citrate works as a laxative because once in your intestines, the salt attracts water to soften the stool and increase motility. Your doctor may prescribe liquid magnesium citrate prior to a colonoscopy to completely empty your bowels. Magnesium citrate pills are available over-the-counter as a mild laxative to relieve constipation. Taking too much magnesium citrate can not only cause diarrhea, but also interfere with normal muscle function, causing irregular heartbeat and difficulty breathing.