10 Urgent Signs Your Body Needs Magnesium

Magnesium is critical in the production  of energy in the body. Everything that  

your body does requires energy most modern  degenerative disease which kills more people  

than anything else all heart disease and  strokes and a lot of dementia if we don't  

have enough magnesium now it's difficult for  the body to balance these responses. Hello,  

Health Champions. What if your most stubborn  health problem came down to something as simple  

as a magnesium deficiency? And that's very  possible because magnesium functions as a  

co-factor in over 300 enzymatic reactions. That  covers virtually every function in your body,  

and today, we're going to talk about the top 10  signs that you may be deficient in magnesium.

Sign number one is muscle cramps. A lot of  people associate muscle cramps with minerals  

or with magnesium, and there are several  minerals involved, but magnesium is the  

critical one in balancing all the others,  such as sodium, potassium, and calcium. So,  

calcium is involved with contracting the  muscle in one step of contracting muscles,  

and then magnesium counteracts  calcium. So, magnesium competes  

with calcium for these binding sites, and  then magnesium allows that muscle to relax.

Sign number two is fatigue and weakness.  Magnesium is critical in the production  

of energy in the body, and energy is called ATP.  That's the energy currency that your body uses:  

adenosine triphosphate. So, what is that? Well,  you have a little sugar complex called adenosine,  

and then this adenosine is bound to phosphate  groups. If we have one phosphate group,  

it's called adenosine monophosphate, and that's  a low-energy state. It's relatively stable;  

this is not often going to break apart. But then  we have a high-energy bond that I like to think  

of as a spring. It's kind of spring-loaded; you  load it up with energy, and then when it releases,  

then that spring discharges its energy. So,  we have two of these; that's called adenosine  

diphosphate, and that's a higher energy state  but it's still a low-energy state compared to  

adenosine triphosphate. So, this is the energy  currency that your body uses. Everything that your  

body does requires energy, and the way it gets  this energy is that we break down food, and we  

move around electrons, and these electrons cause  phosphate groups to bind on to this adenosine, and  

when we have three of these phosphates, we have a  spring-loaded system that's just waiting to spring  

loose, like a bow and arrow, basically. And then  as soon as this phosphate group is bounced off,  

now we use more energy to put it back on,  and then we do this over and over and over,  

and we do this trillions and trillions  of times every second because everything  

in the body requires this energy currency.  And there are three different primary ways  

that magnesium participates in this. First of  all, this molecule is stabilized by magnesium;  

most of the ATP is circulating inside the cell  as a magnesium-ATP complex. But then there's  

also several steps where magnesium is critical for  the function, for the biological activity of ATP,  

for expressing this, for binding it, and unbinding  different complexes. And the third way is in an  

enzyme called ATPase. So, in order for this  spring to come undone and release its energy,  

we need an enzyme called ATPase. "ase" is just an  ending they put on words to indicate that it's an  

enzyme, but this ATPase is magnesium-dependent.  So, out of these 300 ways that magnesium acts as  

a co-factor to enzymes, here are just a few  that are involved with energy production.

So, one reason magnesium deficiencies are  so incredibly common is that magnesium is  

notoriously difficult to absorb. But not only  that, we make it even harder because there are  

some modern lifestyle factors, and I'll mention a  few of these. The first one is that we eat a lot  

of high-phosphate foods, and even though phosphate  is necessary, and it's the same phosphate that  

we just talked about with the ATP, adenosine  triphosphate, when we eat too much, then this  

phosphate binds to the magnesium and keeps us from  absorbing it. So, inside the cell, magnesium helps  

stabilize this ATP complex, but in the digestive  tract, it's a bad thing because it keeps us from  

utilizing it. And some of the places where we  get excess phosphate are things like soft drinks,  

fast food, processed meats, and baked goods. So,  you don't really have to worry about the natural  

phosphate content in good whole food, but it's  with the processed foods that we can get too much.

Sign number three is metabolic disease. And now,  of course, we're talking about insulin resistance,  

which is at the core of most modern degenerative  disease, which kills more people than anything  

else. So, all heart disease and strokes and a  lot of dementia are caused by insulin resistance,  

and magnesium may not be the primary cause of  this, but it is still critically involved with  

this because magnesium increases the activity of  the insulin receptor. So, in order for insulin  

to work, it has to bind to this insulin receptor,  which acts like a key, and with magnesium present,  

we get more of this activity, letting glucose into  the cell. So, magnesium deficiency is one factor  

that keeps people insulin resistant, that keeps  insulin from working properly. Another aspect of  

this is number four, which is high blood pressure  and irregular heartbeat, or heart arrhythmia. So,  

in order for muscles to contract and relax  appropriately, we need a balance of different  

minerals, and the key to contracting is  called calcium, and then we need magnesium  

to relax this. And this, to me, is one of the most  fascinating aspects of human physiology. So, there  

are two proteins in a muscle, and one is called  actin, and another one is called myosin. So,  

we have these two proteins, and because of calcium  and magnesium and ATP, we have this little protein  

called myosin that has kind of like a hinge on  it, and then with calcium, it binds the myosin to  

the actin, and then because of ATP, it performs  what's called a power stroke. So, this protein  

changes shape and kind of cranks forward, so it  ratchets the protein, the actin, over, and we get  

movement. And when we have millions and millions,  hundreds of millions of these little proteins,  

that's what creates muscle contraction. That's how  we can shorten a muscle. A muscle can never push;  

it can never exert energy to become longer. It  can only pull, and then magnesium is critical for  

causing this muscle to unlatch, so to disconnect,  so it can do this movement over again. So,  

it's a balance between calcium and magnesium, and  if we don't have enough magnesium, that's what  

causes muscle cramps, but also, of course, the  poor timing of muscles when that is necessary.  

So now, we can get high blood pressure because the  muscles in the blood vessels don't relax, and we  

can get heart arrhythmias because they don't time  things right. And besides decreased absorption,  

like we talked about, our modern lifestyle can  also cause excess excretion, that we get rid of  

too much. And now, we have some things that if we  use them in excess, such as coffee and alcohol,  

now that can make the kidneys flush out excess  amounts of magnesium. And then we have something  

called stress, which increases our levels of  cortisol, and high levels of cortisol can also  

flush out excess magnesium. And then, of course,  there's dozens and hundreds of medications that  

also interfere with the body's ability to balance  these minerals and cause excess loss of magnesium.

Sign number five is insomnia and sleep problems.  And just like magnesium can have a calming effect  

on muscles, it can also have a calming effect on  brain cells. So, brain cells signal by electric  

potentials, and when they get over-excited, then  magnesium can calm down, can stabilize that nerve  

cell, that neuronal membrane. And again, it does  this just like the muscle because magnesium is  

a calcium blocker. So again, calcium is  not a bad thing; it helps send signals,  

it helps activate things, but we need to find that  balance, so it doesn't get out of control. And if  

we have a magnesium deficiency, now there may be  more excitation than relaxation. And furthermore,  

magnesium also helps regulate melatonin, which, of  course, is the hormone that helps us fall asleep,  

that regulates our sleep cycles. But there are  even more ways that our modern lifestyle keeps  

us from getting enough magnesium because of modern  mass farming practices. We have caused widespread  

soil depletion. So, what happens is when the  plant grows, it binds minerals inside the plant,  

and it absorbs these from the soils and fixes them  in the plant. And then we move the plant away to  

some distant location to consume it, and then we  immediately go back to sowing the field again for  

next year's harvest. But now, we took lots and  lots, we took dozens of minerals out of the soil,  

but we only typically put three back. And  the three are the ones critical to make  

a new plant big and juicy. It may not have  any flavor; it may not have any nutrients,  

but at least it looks good. I talked in another  video about the epidemic deficiencies, and about  

how important vitamin D is, and it's probably the  only nutrient that can match magnesium in terms of  

how important it is, and how common a deficiency  is. And now we also learned that a high or a low,  

like a very excessive or a very deficient level  of vitamin D, contributes to magnesium deficiency.  

Aging is another big factor because as we age,  certain things like nutrient absorption and  

digestion work less efficiently. And then, of  course, medication again, like we mentioned,  

may cause less absorption and more excretion.  And as we age, typically, people consume more  

and more medication. Another factor that is  often overlooked is the health of our gut. So,  

if we have GI disorders, gastrointestinal problems  such as IBS, which is irritable bowel syndrome,  

where we often alternate between constipation and  diarrhea, it's very easy to get an upset stomach;  

that's just a general term for irritation. But  then there's also IBD, which is inflammatory  

bowel disease, and these are more serious.  These will cause destruction often of the  

intestinal membranes, and these are things  like Crohn's and celiac disease. And if we  

have either one of these two, then there's going  to be irritation and inflammation in the gut,  

which is going to dramatically reduce our  ability to absorb and utilize nutrients,  

even if we eat the best food. It may not be  utilized properly. And even if we don't have  

anything as severe as IBS or IBD, a lot of  people have an imbalance in their gut flora,  

and that alone can prevent us  from absorbing nutrients properly.

Sign number six is anxiety and depression.  And magnesium will help regulate our  

neurotransmitters, the chemicals that the  brain uses to send signals. And it also  

affects what's called the HPA axis. The HPA stands  for hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, and the  

hypothalamus is our master regulator. It senses  pH and oxygen and all these different things,  

the hormone levels in the body, and then it  tells the pituitary, which is our pharmacy,  

which sends out hormones to tell the different  body parts what to do. And of course,  

we have the adrenals that respond to stress. So,  it responds to the messages from the hypothalamus  

and the pituitary, and this is how we can have a  stress response at an appropriate level. But then,  

of course, we need the body to be able to  balance this and turn it off appropriately,  

and a lot of this has to do with the health  of the frontal lobe, like I've talked about  

in many videos. But if we don't have enough  magnesium, now it's difficult for the body to  

balance these responses. Magnesium also supports  neuroplasticity, which is the brain's ability to  

change things. The brain is always adapting and  changing and switching things around, by making  

new connections and breaking down old connections.  That's how we learn things; that's how we can  

stabilize the brain and help the brain adapt. And  again, magnesium supports this neuroplasticity.

Sign number seven is osteoporosis. And  magnesium is critical in so many ways for  

this. First of all, magnesium is a component  of the bone matrix, of the bone tissue. But  

magnesium also acts as a signaling molecule and  regulates multiple functions. So, there are two  

types of bone cells that build and break down  bone, and both are equally important because,  

in order to have flexible and elastic and strong  bone built in the right way, we have to build bone  

and constantly break it down and remodel. That's  how we get healthy bone, and magnesium influences  

the osteoblasts that build up the bone. But  magnesium also affects calcium and vitamin D  

metabolism, and of course, calcium is critical to  bone because it's the prime component, and vitamin  

D is also necessary to build bone and to absorb  calcium. And magnesium influences and regulates  

both of these. But it doesn't stop there because  magnesium also helps regulate the hormones that  

signal for building or breaking down bone. And  the two hormones are calcitonin, which is putting  

calcium and minerals into the bone that increases  the density and the tone of the bone, and then we  

have parathyroid hormone or parathormone, made  by the parathyroid gland, that breaks down bone.  

And again, both of these are critically important.  It's not just that building bone is a good thing,  

and breaking down is a bad thing, not at all.  We need the balance to get healthy bone, and we  

probably underestimate just how common a magnesium  deficiency is. And the couple of reasons, first,  

like we said, it is very poorly absorbed, and then  there are all these different factors that keep  

us from absorbing it even further. But on top of  that, it is almost never measured on blood work,  

and then different people use different ranges.  So, typically, the lab range, the general range  

that you get on a blood test is going to be 1.6  to 2.3 milligrams per deciliter. But most of  

the doctors in functional medicine, who actually  work with this kind of stuff, they will probably  

say the optimal level is 2.2 to 2.5. But let me  give you a few examples. So, in one study, they  

defined a deficiency as less than 1.46 milligrams,  which is the same as 0.6 millimoles. So, if you  

get your results in millimoles, then the way to  convert it is just to multiply the millimoles by  

2.43. This is millimoles per liter times 2.43  is milligrams per deciliter. And in one study,  

they found that out of all the people who were  hospitalized, 12% of them had less than 1.46,  

which is a huge, huge step down from the optimal  range of 2.2. And when they checked the people who  

were really, really sick in the Intensive Care  Unit, now, over 60% of those people had levels  

that were extremely deficient. In another  study, they defined deficiency as less than  

1.9 milligrams per deciliter, and now they found  that 30% of the entire population was under that  

level. And that's typically what I find when we do  blood work because we test magnesium on everybody,  

that it is extremely common for people to be  under two, or even under 1.9. But here's where  

it gets really interesting because when they  checked with the same criteria, less than 1.9,  

and they checked post-menopausal women with  brittle bones or osteoporosis, now, over 80% of  

these women were below that level of magnesium.  And when they checked in the same study,  

people with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, 75%  of those people had less than 1.9. So, it doesn't  

necessarily say that magnesium is causing these  conditions; it could be the other way around,  

that people who have a disease or a problem like  this are really poor at utilizing. But either way,  

what it tells us is there's a very, very strong  association, and it would be extremely important  

for people in these categories to supplement  and make sure that they get enough, that they  

counter as many as possible of these modern  lifestyle factors that deprive us of magnesium,  

and also supplements, they can start building up  those levels. And I don't have an exact number,  

but my guess, and based on what I see in my  clinic, is if we use the optimal level of 2.2,  

it is probably more than 60% of the population  that is below that optimal level. But there's  

one more thing we really need to understand to  see how far-reaching this problem is, and that  

is when we compare the serum level, which is what  we measure in the blood, versus what's inside the  

cell because that's where magnesium performs  these 300-plus co-factor functions. The total  

amount of magnesium in the body is about 25 grams,  and out of that, the muscle and bone will contain  

22 to 24, for about 90%. All the other cells  in the body combined will hold about 2.4 grams,  

which leaves us with what's floating around  in the blood, in the serum, is about 2.2 mg  

per deciliter, so a total of about 100 mg, or 0.1  g. So, what does this mean now? Well, it is very  

important for the body to maintain certain levels  of calcium and magnesium in the blood. So, we have  

these hormones that will pull minerals, including  magnesium, from the bone and from the muscles,  

and then we can maintain certain blood levels. It  may look on the surface because the blood serum  

level of magnesium is normal, but that's only 0.1  gram out of the whole body. So, it's very possible  

to have a normal serum level but be deficient  intracellularly, that the cells don't have enough  

where all this work is performed. So, this means  that deficiencies are probably even more common  

than we ever thought. And again, I don't have a  number, but I would suspect that it's at least  

80% of people that are deficient, meaning that  they could benefit from eating more magnesium,  

whether it's a supplement or food. Now, here  was a really interesting paper that I found.  

The title was "Subclinical Magnesium Deficiency:  A Principal Driver of Cardiovascular Disease and  

a Public Health Crisis." And this was published in  a journal called "Open Heart," which is associated  

with the British Medical Journal, which is  one of the most prestigious medical journals  

in the world. And there are a couple of words  we want to pay particular attention to here,  

to see just how profound this is. And that is  "subclinical," that means that the level of  

magnesium deficiency is so slight that we're not  having any effect; we're not having any noticeable  

symptoms from this yet. And the other word is  "principal," which means that even at these slight  

levels of magnesium deficiency, it is a leading  or prominent cause of cardiovascular disease in a  

public health crisis. Those are very, very strong  statements. The recommended daily amount is about  

300 to 400 milligrams of magnesium per day. The  first few are magnesium oxide, magnesium chloride,  

and magnesium sulfate, also known as Epsom salt,  which typically you're not going to ingest,  

but it's used for baths and for enemas because  it's a very powerful laxative. Now, what these  

three have in common is that they are inorganic,  meaning that they don't have any carbon. So,  

things that are alive, like plants, they are  typically going to bind magnesium in some form  

of carbon molecule, and then it's called organic.  But these are nonorganic, and that means that we  

can't really utilize them much; they're usually  very poorly absorbed, and because of that,  

they are very powerful as laxatives, meaning  they speed up the gut. And if you're constipated,  

a lot of people use these to flush things out.  And then there are several that are very common as  

supplements. The most common is magnesium citrate  because it's inexpensive and it works pretty well.  

But then there's also magnesium glycinate and  magnesium malate. And what these have in common  

is they are organic, meaning they're binding to a  carbon, to something that was alive. And these, of  

course, will be doing the opposite; they're better  absorbed. That's why we use them as supplements,  

and they have less of a laxative effect. But out  of these three, the magnesium citrate probably has  

the strongest laxative effect, but not nearly as  strong as the inorganic, whereas magnesium malate  

is known for not having much of a laxative effect.  And then there's a new one called magnesium  

L-threonate, and this is promoted as a brain  nutrient because it is known to be able to cross  

the blood-brain barrier. Now, what we're going to  keep in mind is that the ones on the bottom of the  

list, the bottom four, they're more natural than  the top three. But all of these are still created  

in a lab, which means that they're going to be  varying degrees of absorbability and tolerance  

between people. So, sometimes you just have to try  different ones and see what seems to work. What I  

have found in the clinic is that there's a product  that is 100% plant-derived that we use with really  

good results; it's called Standard Process EZ  Mag. And if you read the labels, you're going to  

notice that it's a little bit lower dosage than  a lot of these others because they're isolated  

and sort of manufactured, whereas EZ Mag is  a pure plant product. And because of that,  

it's going to be a lower dose, but it's going to  be much better tolerated and probably much better  

absorbed. So, a smaller dose is probably  going to go a long way, and in the clinic,  

it seems to work for most people. So, I'll put a  link down below if you want to try that one out.

Sign number eight of a magnesium deficiency  could be headaches and/or migraines. And  

we talked about these mechanisms before.  Magnesium supports neurotransmitter function,  

which is the overall signaling, but  also it controls muscle relaxation,  

which has to do with vasodilation  and vasoconstriction, how much the  

blood vessels tighten up and release because  that is the central mechanism in a headache.

Sign number nine is constipation. And this is  the same mechanism again, and it really helps  

us appreciate how important muscles are, not just  the skeletal muscle that we use to move body parts  

on purpose, but all the other muscles that are not  under voluntary control, like your heart and your  

blood vessels and your GI tract, your intestines.  They operate by something called smooth muscle.  

And in the GI tract, that smooth muscle, the  constriction of the muscles in the intestinal  

wall, is what moves the food through, that churns  the food and mixes the food, and then keeps moving  

it through. And that's called peristalsis. If we  don't have enough magnesium, then we can't really  

regulate these muscle contractions and relaxations  appropriately and could lead to constipation.

Sign number ten is numbness and tingling, which  is an abnormal sensation. It's a form of distorted  

sensation when the brain either gets the wrong  signals or interprets it wrong. And this has to  

do with electrolyte balance. And like we said  before, magnesium is critically involved with  

regulating the other electrolytes. And the  primary electrolytes involved in signaling  

are sodium and potassium. Numbness and tingling  is also dependent on neurotransmitter function,  

which we talked about before, but also on blood  circulation. Poor circulation can create numbness  

and tingling, and this has to do with magnesium's  ability to regulate muscles, muscle relaxation,  

muscle contraction, and therefore also in  setting vascular tone, meaning the tightness  

and relaxation of blood vessels to determine how  much blood is flowing through a blood vessel.

But I had to throw in number 11, which is  chocolate cravings. And here, you're all going,  

"I knew it. I knew there was a reason. I  knew there was a legitimate reason for me  

to crave and eat that chocolate." And  chocolate may not be a terrible thing,  

but if you have severe cravings, it could  be magnesium, but it is much more likely  

that you're eating milk chocolate, which is  extremely addictive. So, let's just compare  

milk chocolate and dark chocolate and talk  about which one you really want to crave.

So, milk chocolate, first of all, is over  50% sugar on average, and that's probably  

the number one thing that you're addicted  to. Then, of course, it has milk in it,  

and then it has some emulsifiers and fillers  and flavoring agents, which is maybe around 5%,  

and then the cocoa portion, which is where  the vast majority of the magnesium would be,  

is only about 15% in milk chocolate. In  Hershey's, I think it was like 11%. So,  

you're not getting a lot of magnesium, a lot of  cocoa, in that type of chocolate. So, if you're  

going to eat chocolate, if you want to justify it,  then I would suggest you eat the dark chocolate,  

at least 70%, but even better, 85%. And most of  that is a matter of habit. If you stop eating  

sugar and processed foods, then the dark chocolate  is going to start tasting better and better. And  

the way you want to understand dark chocolate  is that it really only has two main ingredients,  

and that's cocoa and sugar. So, if the package  says 85% cocoa, that means it has 15% sugar. Now,  

not only is that much, much less than milk  chocolate, but it's also much less addictive,  

and it will satisfy you much, much quicker. So,  while it is very difficult to have a piece of milk  

chocolate and stop, it is very possible with dark  chocolate. Now, the lecithins, the emulsifiers,  

the flavoring agents in dark chocolate are going  to be minuscule. It's going to barely be there  

compared to milk chocolate. So, the rest is going  to be cocoa, which is where anything that you've  

ever heard would be beneficial about chocolate,  whether it's magnesium or some other thing in  

there, it's going to be in the cocoa and not  in the other components. So, if we compare the  

magnesium content in 85% dark chocolate, we see  that it's about 225 milligrams per 100 grams. Now,  

you probably don't want to eat 100 grams, but if  you have about 1 ounce, again, 28 grams or so,  

you're still getting a substantial amount, 63  milligrams, which is more than a serving of most  

other foods. So, it's not a bad thing, whereas  if you eat the milk chocolate, now you're only  

getting 60 milligrams in an entire bar. So, if you  manage to keep yourself to just eating 1 ounce,  

you're getting a measly 17 mg of magnesium, hardly  worth it for all that sugar you just consumed.

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