Why You Need MORE Magnesium When Stressed Out

Stress is a normal part of life. While we cannot avoid it, being prepared and knowing how to recover from stress is key!

How Stress Affects Magnesium Levels in the Body

First of all, what is stress? Stress is basically what happens when body’s homeostasis is OFF or when our inner balance is OFF balance. The body has a way of trying to survive and “escape”–even if it means shutting down repair processes.

One of the most important nutrients or minerals for dealing with stress is magnesium. It’s essential to good health and is one of the most abundant minerals in the body as it is involved with almost every physiological process inside the body.

Being stressed out depletes magnesium by activating the sympathetic nervous system. Exercising, fasting, high blood sugar, insulin resistance, sleep deprivation or even feeling anxious, are considered stressful to the body, thus makes you burn through magnesium at a higher rate. This is why the more stressed out the more magnesium you need. Furthermore, the less magnesium you have and the more of it you diminish.

Although not conclusive, studies on humans as well as animals show that magnesium supplementation can alleviate many of the negative side-effects of stress like anxiety, depression, sleeping problems, etc.

Stress and Magnesium*

Magnesium is responsible for the function of over 350 enzymes in your body. It stabilizes blood pressure, strengthens bones, provides neuroprotection, and allows your nerves to function properly.

Here’s how magnesium affects stress and stress management:

• Magnesium can be helpful in treating anxiety symptoms. Magnesium deficiency induces anxiety and HPA axis dysfunction.
• Mg regulates neurotransmitters and improves neurological health. It protects against neuro-degeneration and neurological disorders.
• Mg affects the stress response by controlling hormones and HPA function. It suppresses the release of stress hormones by the hippocampus, reduces the release of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), which tells the adrenals to pump out cortisol and adrenaline, and decreases adrenocortical sensitivity to ACTH.
• Mg deficiency promotes symptoms of depression and anxiety. Supplementing St John’s Wort was able to protect against that in mice. It also blocks the receptors for glutamate, which is one of the neurotransmitters responsible for alertness and excitement.
• Mg can improve symptoms of chronic fatigue by increasing magnesium levels in red blood cells. RBC are responsible for carrying around hemoglobin and maintaining proper oxygenation.
• Mg supplementation alleviates premenstrual symptoms of fluid retention. During the second month of supplementing 200 mg-s of magnesium a day, women showed less weight gain, swelling, and bloating during PMS.
• Mg can stabilize mood in bipolar disorder and mania. Stress and mental disorders can deplete magnesium and exacerbate their symptoms of anxiety, fear, hallucinations and schizophrenia. Magnesium can alleviate and prevent that[xiii].
• Mg promotes relaxation and stress relief. Magnesium is needed for creating serotonin, which is the hormone of relaxation and well-being. It also supports the function of GABA, which is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter.
• Mg helps muscles to relax by competing with calcium. Calcium promotes muscle contraction and tightness and magnesium counteracts this process. It also promotes sleep efficiency, onset, and total quality.

As you can see, magnesium is CRITICAL in responding to stress as well as recovering from it. A deficiency keep the body in a continuously stressed out state, leading to imbalances and stress-related disorders.

Why You Need More Magnesium

You can get magnesium from some foods like leafy greens, nuts, seeds, dark chocolate, mackerel, beans, legumes, and vegetables. However, the amount of minerals in those foods depends primarily on soil quality and whether or not they get access to magnesium.

Pesticides and fertilizers deplete the soil of vitamins and minerals. They kill off beneficial bacteria, earthworms, and bugs that create nutrients into the soil. A good example is vitamin B-12, which is created by bacterial metabolism. Fertilizers reduce the plant’s ability to absorb minerals.

Processing methods like refining oils and grains remove even more magnesium. Refinement of oils eliminates ALL magnesium. Example: While safflower SEEDS contain 680 mg-s of magnesium per 1000 calories, safflower OIL has zero magnesium. The same applies to sugar. Refining grains and wheat can reduce magnesium by up to 90%.

How Much Magnesium Do You Need?

Many people are already deficient in magnesium. To meet the RDA (recommended daily allowance), one would need 350-500 mg/day.

There are also other things aside from being stressed out that depletes magnesium such as alcohol consumption, drinking coffee, dehydration, environmental pollutants, EMF exposure, insulin resistance, and high amounts of stress. We’re all practically burning through more magnesium than we’re replenishing with just regular food that’s already lower in magnesium.

Here are some of the top magnesium rich foods:

• Dark Leafy Greens like Spinach, Swiss Chard or Kale – 100g = 79mg
• Pumpkin Seeds – 100g = 534mg
• Sesame Seeds – 100g = 351mg
• Brazil Nuts – 100g = 376mg
• Dark Chocolate – 100g = 327mg
• Almonds – 100g = 268mg
• Mackerel – 100g = 97mg
• Black Beans – 100g = 160mg
• White Beans – 100g = 53mg
• Bananas – 100g = 27mg

It’s hard to meet the RDA with just eating food because of the reasons mentioned. So, I’d conclude that one needs needs at least 500 mg/day at minimum and if you are stress out and magnesium deficient, you might need more than that for a while before leveling off at 500 mg/day.

Personally, when I’m stressed out from exercise and extended fasting, I use this Calm supplement daily. It helps me fall asleep at night and also curbs my appetite when I feel hunger coming on.

Please see our Medical Disclaimer

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Article info Source: Siim Land

I’ve been a big fan on Siim for just over 4 years now. Add Siim’s books to your biohacking toolbox. If you’re interested in depth (science-backed) fasting hacks, check out his book Metabolic Autophagy. My fave is his Stronger by Stress book via Audible. It’s the perfect mind-pump while you’re driving, doing household chores, going for a walk, taking a bath, sipping your morning coffee….you get the point. I’ve listened to this audiobook at least 4 full times and I promise you…once you experience the contents, it WILL be in heavy rotation. I give a huge amount of credit to Siim’s teachings as I they equip me with the science-backed knowledge to improve myself and optimize my daily habits, thus embracing biohacking as a lifestyle. HECK YES!

“Stronger by Stress is a manual for stress adaptation and hormesis. It’s going to teach you the principles of stress science and how to leverage different beneficial stressors to become healthier, stronger, less worrisome, more resilient, and confident in your life.”-Siim

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