What is it?

Magnesium is an essential mineral to the human body. It is needed for bone, protein, and fatty acid formation, making new cells, activating B vitamins, relaxing muscles, clotting blood, and forming adenosine triphosphate (ATP; the energy the body runs on). The secretion and action of insulin also require magnesium.

Magnesium also acts in a way related to calcium channel blocker drugs. This effect may be responsible for the fact that under certain circumstances magnesium has been found to potentially improve vision in people with glaucoma.¹ Similarly, this action might account for magnesium’s ability to lower blood pressure.²

Since magnesium has so many different actions in the body, the exact reasons for some of its clinical effects are difficult to determine. For example, magnesium has reduced hyperactivity in children in preliminary research.³ Other research suggests that some children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have lowered levels of magnesium. In a preliminary but controlled trial, 50 ADHD children with low magnesium (as determined by red blood cell, hair, and serum levels of magnesium) were given 200 mg of magnesium per day for six months.⁴ Compared with 25 other magnesium-deficient ADHD children, those given magnesium supplementation had a significant decrease in hyperactive behaviour.

Magnesium levels have been reported to be low in those with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS),⁵ and magnesium injections have been reported to improve symptoms.⁶ Oral magnesium supplementation has also improved symptoms in those people with CFS who had low magnesium levels in another report, although magnesium injections were sometimes necessary.⁷ However, other research reports no evidence of magnesium deficiency in people with CFS.^{8 9} The reason for this discrepancy remains unclear. People with CFS considering magnesium supplementation should have their magnesium status checked beforehand by a doctor. Only people with magnesium deficiency appear to benefit from this therapy.

People with diabetes tend to have lower magnesium levels compared with those who have normal glucose tolerance.¹⁰ Supplementation with magnesium overcomes this problem¹¹ and may help some diabetics improve glucose tolerance.

Magnesium may be beneficial for bladder problems in women, especially common disturbances in bladder control and the sense of "urgency." A double-blind trial found that women who took 350 mg of magnesium hydroxide (providing 147 mg elemental magnesium) twice daily for four weeks had better bladder control and fewer symptoms than women who took a placebo.¹²

Magnesium supplementation may reduce dehydration of red blood cells in sickle cell anaemia patients. Administration of 540 mg per day of magnesium pidolate to sickle cell anaemia patients was seen after six months, to reverse some of the characteristic red blood cell abnormalities and to dramatically reduce the number of painful days for these patients.¹³ This preliminary trial was not blinded, so placebo effect could not be ruled out. Magnesium pidolate is also an unusual form of magnesium. It is unknown whether other forms of magnesium would produce similar results.