Magnesium for Sleep - Sources, Benefits, and How to use it
Last Updated on Aug 18, 2022
Having a good night's sleep impacts different aspects of people's lives. In addition to improving their health, it also affects their mood and energy levels throughout the day. Not getting enough sleep is one of the biggest causes of weight gain and harms a person's beauty and appeal.
Several factors impact how well people sleep at night, but the role of magnesium for sleep is perhaps most overlooked. This article can help you understand the link between magnesium and sleep, informs you about this essential mineral's sources, and educates you about its
What Is Magnesium?
Magnesium is an essential micronutrient required by the body for supporting physical and emotional health. The mineral plays a critical role in more than 300 cellular reactions inside the human body. Every organ and cell requires it in the human body for optimal functioning. It helps boost metabolism, regulates blood sugar, promotes healthy bones, and enhances nerve and muscle function.
Even though the human body needs magnesium in large quantities, it does not produce the mineral on its own.
Magnesium Dosage
The body of an average healthy adult has around 25 mg of magnesium, which is way below the recommended level of 310-320 mg for women and 400-420 mg for men. This deficiency of magnesium can disrupt the efficient performance of several body functions leading to various health issues.
How Does Magnesium Help You Sleep?
Magnesium is known to have a positive impact on sleep. The nutrient helps relax the body and the mind besides improving sleep quality. It provides relief from the symptoms of stress, anxiety, and insomnia. Magnesium also helps regulate melatonin secretion, a hormone responsible for guiding the body's sleep-wake cycles. Some ways the mineral allows people to sleep better include the following. The following pointers help answer the question, is magnesium good for sleep?
Reduces Stress And Anxiety
High levels of stress and anxiety are major causes of sleep disruption among adults. The best time to use magnesium for sleep is taking magnesium before bed, as it helps regulate the neurotransmitters present in the brain. The neurotransmitters are the chemical messengers responsible for sending signals across the brain and the entire nervous system. Magnesium slows down nerve activity by regulating the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric (GABA). Low levels of GABA make it difficult for the body to relax, and magnesium increases the GABA levels helping the body relax and promote sleep.
Reduces Depression And Enhances Mood
Magnesium can help stabilize mood and provide relief from the symptoms of depression. The mineral deficiency increases cortisol secretion, which, in turn, impacts other hormones. This makes people feel low and results in a significant increase in stress and depression among individuals. Magnesium helps maintain hormonal balance within the body, which, in turn, impacts an individual's mood and general well-being. It helps regulate the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the body, which has a calming and relaxing effect on the nervous system, thus improving sleep.
Regulate Sleep Quality
In addition to helping people fall asleep, magnesium also enhances the quality of their sleep. It does so by calming the nervous system to promote deeper and more restful sleep. The mineral also helps reduce insomnia and sleep latency symptoms, thus improving the overall quality of sleep. In addition, magnesium prevents the more excitable molecules from binding to the neurons, lowering brain activity for better sleep. It also helps increase the production of melatonin or sleep hormone, making it easier for people to fall and stay asleep for longer.
Other Benefits of Magnesium
Having answered the question of does magnesium help you sleep, it is time to look at its other uses. Magnesium offers a wide range of health benefits. The most important of these include the following.
Improves Digestion and Gut Health
Magnesium helps relax the stomach and the intestine muscles and neutralizes the stomach acid. It thus helps to promote a healthy digestive tract and even provides relief from constipation and heartburn.
Reduces Muscle Aches And Pain
Magnesium helps to provide relief from muscle cramps, pains, and aches. It combines with other essential minerals such as calcium and potassium to improve muscle function.
Enhances Bone Health
Magnesium is an essential nutrient in bone formation and helps maintain bone density. People with higher magnesium levels in their bodies enjoy a greater bone density, and it also improves the bone mass in postmenopausal females.
Promotes Cardiovascular Health
Magnesium plays an essential role in helping maintain a healthy heart rhythm. It also helps to regulate blood pressure and reduces cholesterol production. This helps to promote cardiovascular health and maintain a healthy heart.
Improves Athletic Performance
Magnesium helps to promote muscle health and boost energy production. This helps to improve athletic performance and exercise tolerance among individuals.
Sources of Magnesium
Awareness of what magnesium is good for has made people take this nutrient seriously. Most people get the recommended dose of magnesium from their food. Getting enough magnesium from food requires people to eat foods rich in this mineral. These may include natural foods or magnesium supplements offered by healthcare brands.
5 Foods Rich In Magnesium
Some natural foods that offer the best benefits of magnesium include the following.
Green Vegetables
Dark, leafy green vegetables like kale, spinach, and watercress are a rich source of magnesium and other essential vitamins and minerals that offer a wide range of health benefits.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds such as cashews, almonds, sunflower, and sesame seeds provide high amounts of magnesium and help keep the energy level up while reducing any hunger pangs.
Seafood
Seafood like mackerel, tuna, and salmon not only offer the best magnesium for sleep but also provide Vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids in large quantities to help promote heart health.
Soy Foods
Soy foods such as soybean, tofu, and soy milk contain large quantities of magnesium and reasonable amounts of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that help maintain great health and vitality.
Whole Grains
Whole grains such as oats, quinoa, and brown rice are a rich source of magnesium, fiber, good carbohydrates, and vitamins and help to promote gut health.
Some other foods rich in magnesium include banana, avocado, peanut butter, dry fruits, dairy products, and dark chocolate.
Magnesium Supplements
The magnesium obtained from food is often insufficient to meet the recommended daily magnesium dosage. In such cases, people often rely on the magnesium supplement to make up for the deficiency. These supplements are available in powder form or the form of capsules and tablets. The powdered supplements can be added to water or other drinkable liquids, while the capsules are taken orally. The important thing to remember is that each supplement is different and has different side effects. Hence it is advisable to seek professional help and guidance to find the best one.
The most popular magnesium supplements include the following.
- Magnesium Glycinate
- Magnesium Oxide
- Magnesium Citrate
- Magnesium L-threonate
Magnesium Oil
This magnesium supplement is available in the form of a topical remedy that gets absorbed directly into the skin. It is generally made by mixing magnesium chloride with water. People wondering how to use magnesium oil for sleep can rub it gently around their temples before going to bed. People can massage their body with the oil or use it in baths or spray form. The oil has a relaxing effect on the muscles, and it also helps to enhance skin health. When used in baths or as a magnesium spray for sleep, the oil helps calm the mind and boost the users' mood.
What Happens When You Don't Have Sufficient Magnesium?
When the body lacks enough magnesium, it leads to many health issues. The most common problems resulting from the deficiency of magnesium include the following.
Cardiovascular Issues
Lower levels of magnesium increase the risk of cardiovascular issues and heart ailments due to the weak functioning of the heart muscle.
High Blood Pressure
Magnesium helps regulate blood pressure, and when it is not present in the body in ample quantities, it can result in higher blood pressure levels.
Risk of Stroke
Lower magnesium levels in the body increase the risk of stroke quite significantly.
Type 2 Diabetes
Magnesium helps balance blood glucose levels, and hence a deficiency of the mineral increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Poor Bone Health
Magnesium is one of the essential nutrients responsible for maintaining good bone health and its deficiency in the body increases the risk of osteoporosis.
Side Effects of Magnesium
Even though magnesium is a vital nutrient, it should be consumed only in moderate quantities. Knowing how much magnesium to take for sleep is essential to avoid harmful side effects. Excessive intake of this mineral can lead to potential side effects, including the following.
- It can lead to cramping in the stomach when taken in excessive quantities of more than 600 mg per day.
- A high intake of magnesium can also cause diarrhea and result in weakness and dehydration.
- One of the most common magnesium side effects is that it causes magnesium toxicity, which occurs when people consume more than 5000 mg of the mineral in a day.
Magnesium Vs Melatonin
Magnesium and melatonin are both known to impact the sleep of the users. However, both these components address sleep issues in different ways. Understanding how they work is essential to grasp when to take magnesium for sleep and when to take melatonin.
Magnesium helps induce sleep by relaxing and calming the body and the mind. Melatonin works deeper and causes hormonal changes to help people sleep. This makes magnesium sleep aid a better option to address such problems with minimal side effects.
Conclusion
Magnesium is essential for living a healthy and fulfilling life. Using magnesium for sleep has become quite common. However, users should be well aware of how much magnesium for sleep they need to take. The best type of magnesium for sleep should be taken only in moderate quantities and under the guidance of a qualified healthcare professional.
