Quick Low Down on Magnesium

This week we are giving you a quick low down on Magnesium. Magnesium is a cofactor needed for over 300 enzymes in the body. So, not only do we need a lot of it, we also aren't getting a ton of it through our diet.
In this episode we breakdown the different forms of magnesium and what the benefits of each.

If you have questions, or topics that you want to hear about, head over to our Instagrams https://www.instagram.com/nucrewnutrition/ or https://www.instagram.com/brianna.dietitian/ and send us a DM!

If you are interested in working with us in Metabolism Makeover you can sign up here! https://metabolismmakeover.co/programs/metabolism-makeover/earlybird/?affiliate=mocktailminutes

Featured Mocktails:
ROAR https://www.instagram.com/roarorganic/
Olipop - https://www.instagram.com/drinkolipop/

If you are interested in trying a magnesium supplement you can order and save on brands that we trust here! https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/breller/store-start?source=shareable_protocol&source_record=TXVsdGlQYXRpZW50UGxhbi05MTY1MQ%3D%3D


**Disclaimer: this podcast is for educational purposes only. Please talk with your healthcare provider before incorporating any changes into your daily routine**

Click play, sip back, and be empowered.

Transcript

Baylee: 0:22

Hello everyone, welcome back to this week's episode of Mocktail Minutes. This is Bailey.

Brianna: 0:28

this is Brianna.

Baylee: 0:29

Today, I am drinking Roar. I haven't seen these but it was at Fresh Time. I've been going to Fresh Time to Like spark joy, I could just walk down the aisles all day long for like an hour, all day long for an hour. That's not all day long, but you know what I mean? And so especially the drink section, like, Oh, we're just going to try all the different ones for mocktail minutes. So we're trying out roar. It said it got me because it says complete hydration. So I was thinking it was like an electrolyte drink. Not really. I mean, the sodium is only 50 milligrams. So I wouldn't really classify it as an electrolyte drink, but it tastes good, it's sweetened with stevia, no added sugars. There are three grams of sugar alcohols, but it doesn't bother my stomach at all. So, I don't know, another option.

Brianna: 1:19

Does it taste good?

Baylee: 1:20

Yeah, I like it. I did the Georgia Peach flavor. It's very peachy, so if you like peach things, then I would say you'd like it.

Brianna: 1:28

Yeah. I'm just doing Olipop. I got the strawberry vanilla. It's, the only ones I have in the Costco right now are the strawberry vanilla and the root beer. And I am not a big root beer fan.

Baylee: 1:39

It's like hair mist, like sometimes a bit. Oh, yeah, ruby or like a ruby or float is what I want to try it with

Brianna: 1:45

Yeah.

Baylee: 1:45

That strawberry vanilla one's really good though.

Brianna: 1:49

I will say when I did my fiber episode, I was drinking an Ollipop. I was like, Oh, it's fitting. And I did the strawberry line or the watermelon line, which is my favorite. So many people messaged me. It was like, can we even trust you anymore? Like the watermelon line was a horrible. And I was like, okay, disclaimer. It has a really intense watermelon flavor, which I like, apparently not a lot of people do, but I feel like this one is everybody appreciates strawberry. So.

Baylee: 2:17

The safe one.

Brianna: 2:19

Yeah, they're like, can we even trust you? I was like, it's so good. They're like, it's not. I'm like, no.

Baylee: 2:26

That's the best of our people.

Brianna: 2:28

Yeah. Right. Like, sorry guys.

Baylee: 2:31

Speaking of that, I was trying to think of merch, because we've talked about it a little bit. We're trying to keep this episode short and sweet. We're, we're doing, we're on a time crunch today, but we're getting it in, but this just came to my brain. So, merch, I was thinking, I was, we're trying to think like little tag lines that we use a lot to like put on a t shirt or a hat or, I don't know, a cup. Oh, maybe a cup would be good, yeah, I don't know. So I was thinking about one. I was like, we could do like, it depends, and just put that on a shirt.

Brianna: 3:00

I think that's cute. I guess it depends.

Baylee: 3:04

Yeah. Let us know what you think about that, and if you would wear a shirt that says, it depends.

Brianna: 3:12

because we both, but that doesn't matter.

Baylee: 3:15

Anyways, today we are talking about magnesium. It is super, super popular right now. And I mean, I have a lot of my clients that do take it. I actually use magnesium myself. So it's definitely becoming part of routine in a lot of people's lives. So we thought it'd be good to cover.

Brianna: 3:38

Yeah. And I feel like it's one of those supplements. Like I don't really recommend a lot of supplements, like for everyone, but magnesium is almost one where I'm like, you know, pretty much everyone could benefit from it. So I feel like I'm recommending it a lot.

Baylee: 3:53

Yeah. And I think it, I feel like it's one of those that's like a safe supplement type of thing. There are certain ones I think that are good foundational safe type supplement that we can implement. I would say magnesium is becoming kind of a foundational one. So I mean, just getting into it, magnesium, it is a mineral. It's actually one of our electrolytes. So with that electrolytes part of their role, which is why we talk about them all the time around sports and like hydration is fluid balance. So magnesium, along with like your sodium, potassium and calcium helps to maintain your balance of fluids inside and outside of your cells. And then it's also going to be important for electrical conductivity. So again, as an electrolyte, it's going to help conduct electrical signals between your cells, especially like nerve and muscle tissues, which is why we hear about a lot where it's like relaxing your muscles. It's a type of thing and super important for athletes as well.

Brianna: 4:55

Mm hmm. Yeah. And it's also, so it's a cofactor for like over 300 enzymes in the body. And what that means in layman's terms is you need magnesium to kind of like help these enzymes do their function, like get them going, get them working. So it's useful for energy production for your gut and digestive function, that muscle relaxation that we talked about detoxification, insulin sensitivity. So it's critical for releasing insulin, helping you clear insulin from the blood. It helps to reduce insulin resistance. It's also needed for that stress response. So there's a bunch of things like, we know the more stress we are, The more we deplete this mineral, but the more depleted we are in this mineral, the more intense and longer our stress responses. So there's like a whole cycle with magnesium. And then it also helps improve PMS. I think that s all of it, which is a lot though. It s like a lot.

Baylee: 5:52

It does a lot of things. And I think it's a good time to like, start bringing more attention to these micronutrients because we get so focused on the macros that we forget about the actual nutrients in it. And we've talked about this before. Why calorie counting? Is it always helpful because we don't focus on all the nutrients. It's estimated that like 75 percent of us aren't getting enough magnesium. There are lots of things in our environment that is kind of depleting magnesium. So, I mean, just our soil in general, how our food is being grown, the quality of that soil, processed foods. They're often stripped of many nutrients like magnesium, malabsorption issues like IBS or celiac disease. Diarrhea is something diuretics kind of along the same lines. Same way that magnesium is get depleted. Alcohol also increases your urinary excretion, magnesium, and it's going to impair absorption. I sugar intake. So if you eat like a lot of sugar, it can cause your kidneys to get rid of more magnesium, essentially. That chronic stress that Brianna mentioned. So if we're having all this stress all the time, this is going to deplete your magnesium levels because your body is using more magnesium in response to stress. And then along with that, like cortisol, cortisol is released during stress. So those two kind of work together with increasing excretion and magnesium. Some medications can affect the depletion of magnesium just with reducing how it is absorbed. So like proton pump, proton pump inhibitors are one. Antibiotics can also infer with the magnesium absorption or it can also increase the excretion of it. Insulin, so high doses of insulin are going to drive magnesium into your cells and then reduce blood magnesium levels. And with that, like people who have diabetes or especially like poorly controlled diabetes may lose more magnesium through their urine just because of having those high blood sugar levels. So kind of going back to where I mentioned, if your diet is high in sugar and it's physical activity. With, well, number one stress, if you're having a stress response, because you're overdoing it with exercise, that's also going to cause more magnesium to be lost. But also you may be losing more through sweat. So excessive sweating, whether it's through exercise or just being like really hot summer is going to cause you to lose more. And then aging is another one. So as we age, magnesium absorption is going to decrease like so many other things. With aging fun part and then your kidneys essentially become less efficient at Conserving that magnesium too. So those are kind of ways where magnesium can just get depleted I would say the biggest things I like to focus on with people is the stress part and just knowing that our soil is depleted and that's where it's coming from.

Brianna: 9:00

ll kind of get into some like food sources of magnesium, but if you are to like, you know, use Google, look up these food sources, like for example, spinach is one of them. Spinach is high in magnesium. Like how much magnesium is in spinach? One cup is not very much. Especially when you think about how much you need for the overall day. And then that's also assuming like there's that much magnesium in that spinach. If the soil is really good quality. And so we don't, it's probably a little bit less just to be honest. So that kind of leads us into like the dosage or the, you know, how much you need daily. So most adults are going to need 310 to 420 milligrams per day. All right. Of magnesium through food or supplementation. And like I said, when we get into the food part of it, you'll kind of see like, wow, if I'm not really being intentional, it might kind of be hard to meet how much magnesium I need. I will say there is some, you know, side effects of too much magnesium. So this can kind of just cause diarrhea, I think is mostly the big one, nausea, abdominal cramping, that sort of thing. But most people need about three to five times their body weight. To really optimize their magnesium three to five times their body weight in that in milligrams to optimize their magnesium. But as always check with your doctor before implementing any of these, I like to say like tests don't guess the thing with magnesium is it's mostly intracellular. So a blood test is only testing about like 1 percent of your body's magnesium. So It's not a great test to like really see, am I deficient in magnesium? If your blood serum magnesium is low, that's like probably a sign that you're, you're low in general. I'd say you probably need more of like an HTMA or something to test for like your magnet magnesium status.

Baylee: 10:54

Things to kind of consider if you are thinking about supplementing with magnesium. So, the type is going to be important because they all have different absorption rates. So, glycinate and citrate are better absorbed than an oxide and they also have different purposes. Glycinate is going to be used for anxiety and sleep, whereas citrate, I more recommend like if you're having lots of constipation. So, that's important because if you're like, I'm trying to sleep, so I'm taking magnesium, and you start taking magnesium citrate, and now you're having diarrhea, like, that's not what we were going for. So, knowing the types is important as well, and then timing can be important. I would say, A lot of times with supplements, I just say like when you can actually remember them, that's when they're going to be beneficial. But sometimes like they do cause stomach upset if you do it on an empty stomach. So magnesium oxide can cause some of that stomach upset if you're doing it before you eat. And then if you are taking it for sleep or like that muscle relaxation, you can take it in the evening. That's when I would recommend it because that's kind of when you're needing it type of thing. And interactions with it so it can interfere with some of the antibiotics and also thyroid medications and thinking about like magnesium and other nutrients like your other micronutrients. Calcium is one to consider. So magnesium works closely with calcium. If there is an imbalance between the two, like let's say we have too much calcium, not enough magnesium. This can lead to issues such as muscle cramping or even cardiovascular problems. So let's say you start having like, if you're taking like calcium supplements, for example, this can interfere with magnesium absorption and utilization if we are taking too high of amount. So now our magnesium is depleted. Now that mineral is off. Now it's going to throw off all these other things. So, number one, think about your calcium. Number two, vitamin D. Vitamin D enhances magnesium absorption, so we want to have enough vitamin D when supplementing with magnesium. Because, I mean, let's say vitamin D is low now. If that's low and we need it to absorb that magnesium when we start just supplementing with all this magnesium, well, maybe we just need more vitamin D as well to make it effective.

Brianna: 13:23

To actually get it to where it needs to be little like caveat and calcium. That's a major reason why I don't love supplementing with a calcium supplement. That's a episode for a different day, but I feel like we can get into a little bit of trouble when we use a calcium supplement, just because then other things are kind of off balance. Of course, there's a time and a place for it, but I don't think anyone should be long term supplementing with calcium

Baylee: 13:46

Mm hmm.

Brianna: 13:47

side note. I won't digress, but okay. So this is a question we get a lot. What type of magnesium should I be taking? There's different kinds. And so hopefully after this, you can kind of like figure out like, okay, when like timing amount, when should I be taking what? So magnesium citrate is super, It's very bioavailable, meaning your body absorbs a good amount of it, which is great. It's going to be used to alleviate constipation because it does have a mild laxative effect. So we talked about this, I think in our poop episode about like how it could be like a gentle laxative. So if you are having trouble getting things going, it's kind of a safe thing to use. I still use it. I don't think you should be using it daily, but small amounts are great. Again, if you have trouble pooping, go to our last episode, cause that's an issue, but this one is going to be mostly for laxatives. So if you're taking it and you're like, Oh, I want help with muscle cramps. Sorry. I want energy. Not the best source.

Baylee: 14:45

So magnesium glycinate, that's our other one that we've mentioned, so it's going to have a high absorption rate and it's going to not really affect the digestive system a lot, it's mainly for thinking about improving that sleep, reducing anxiety, reducing stress, kind of like that muscle cramping type of thing. So this is one that I do recommend a lot. Is that glycinate.

Brianna: 15:08

Yeah. That's the one for, cause I know a lot of our listeners do like a lot of jigsaw. That's the one in the mag suit, the powder for sleep.

Baylee: 15:15

I also do Magnesium. I think it's Bisglycinate from Thorne. That's another one I have a lot of people use. We're going to put a link together with some of our Magnesium supplements that we recommend. That way you can check them out if you want to. If not, that's cool too.

Brianna: 15:32

the next one is going to be your magnesium oxide. So this contains high amounts of elemental magnesium, but it's less bioavailable than other forms. So it just means your body doesn't do a great job at absorbing it. But it's used to relieve digestion, indigestion and heartburn. It can be effective for increasing overall magnesium levels. And when we're talking about low absorption, high absorption

Baylee: 15:55

it's just like how well your body absorbs it and then uses it. And the Oxide, it is one that I don't recommend really because it's It doesn't absorb super well. It's not super usable by the body and it's often actually a lot cheaper than the other ones, but it's kind of one of those things, yeah, it's cheaper, but it's also not working as great.

Brianna: 16:15

it's kind of throwing money away sometimes I feel like, but yeah, it's a really cheap form to make too. So most cheaper supplements will have this.

Baylee: 16:25

Magnesium chloride is the next one. This is also highly absorbable one. It can be used as like a quick replenishment for magnesium and it's often found in like your like topical uses. So like a magnesium oil. Or lotions. So this one really helps the soreness and cramps. I actually use the lotion from Trace Minerals for magnesium. I wasn't necessarily having muscle soreness or cramps. I actually didn't realize I was low on magnesium until I did the HTMA test. But this is the one that I use and I just put it on my arms every night.

Brianna: 17:03

Yeah, it's helpful to like for kids, like kind of help them sleep, but also like when they're doing, like they're having growing pains, it's like, you know, rub it on there and it's really helpful whether it's placebo or not, I feel like it works with my kids. So I know I felt like, yeah,

Baylee: 17:20

Yeah.

Brianna: 17:22

yeah, it's lotion, put it on

Baylee: 17:23

You're on pins and like here take a pill type of thing.

Brianna: 17:27

exactly. And then we have a magnesium malate. So this one is often. used to help energy production and muscle function. So it can be helpful for people with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue due to its role in the Krebs cycle. So this is one where you'll hear like, Oh, I started taking more magnesium. I felt like I had more energy. This is the one that would help with that energy production. And this one is highly absorbable. We'll definitely have a link to some sort of magnesium malate in our, in our thing. Cause that's, that's Probably the most popular. I feel like this one, glycinate, and citric.

Baylee: 18:11

Magnesium Torate. Is that how you say it? Torate? I

Brianna: 18:14

it.

Baylee: 18:16

don't know. this is supposed to be helpful for cardiovascular health again and help regulate your blood pressure. And it also plays a part in kind of calming that nervous system. So, that's another option. And then you have like Magnesium Threonate. Words are hard. Yes. Yes. This one has cognitive benefits, so it can help enhance memory and learning abilities. And basically it is designed to be able to cross the blood brain barrier and be able to support that brain health. So it has good absorption into the brain.

Brianna: 18:55

Mm hmm. Yeah, so more of that like cognitive function. The last one is magnesium sulfate. And this is the one that's often used in like epsom salt baths, used for soaking to relieve sore muscles, helps you to reduce stress. This is the one where sometimes this is the form that's recommended during pregnancy. Again, always check with your doctor to see if this is the same form for you because obviously there's different medical conditions that you need to be mindful of. But it's also one that helps with detoxification. So a lot of people, like a lot of functional practitioners will have people take Epsom salt baths, you know, once or twice a week. Kind of helping with those, that detoxification pathway.

Baylee: 19:34

I use this more postpartum. I don't think I ever did it during pregnancy, but postpartum And I thought it was super helpful. So that was just kind of your quick and dirty of different types of magnesium What they're beneficial for kind of their absorption rate just to Give you a little bit information this Oh, well pretty much every episode is for educational purposes This is not to tell you like oh go do this because we said so because we don't know anything about you So So use this as educational information, and then you use a professional to help you decide what kind of works for you. We always do recommend food sources as well. I don't feel like, Oh, I'm just taking a supplement. I don't really need to worry about food, still get nutrients from food. So magnesium is going to be found in your leafy greens, nuts and seeds, especially pumpkin seeds. I use those a lot in my smoothies. Whole grains, legumes, dark chocolate, everyone loves that one, dried apricots, coconut water, and actually coffee as well.

Brianna: 20:41

Yeah. So yeah, we're always going to recommend foods first. And I always say like, you can't, you can't out supplement like a bad diet. Like you can't just not be eating great foods and then think, well, I'm covering my bases of the supplement. Will that help a little bit? Sure. But that's not the point of supplementation. So like we said, most people are not getting enough magnesium. There's multiple reasons why, but if you can kind of use the foods that we mentioned and really prioritize those throughout your day, try to increase your dietary intake of magnesium. And then to fill in the gaps, you can always invest in a good quality supplement.

Baylee: 21:19

We made it to our time.

Brianna: 21:21

Yeah. I'm so proud of us.

Baylee: 21:23

We were like, we're keeping this episode under 30 minutes. We have to focus.

Brianna: 21:28

Yeah. Did we do it? What are we at? Yeah. So proud. for you guys.

Baylee: 21:35

It really is. We usually record over 50 minutes and then we edit it down for you.

Brianna: 21:41

Yeah, so that you can have a quick like lunch break podcast and not

Baylee: 21:47

long tail minute.

Brianna: 21:48

you literally. Okay, so we're getting back to it guys.

Baylee: 21:51

Yes, so I don't know think about magnesium See if it's something that you need to look into talk to your healthcare professional if it'll be beneficial for you We'll drop some Ones that we like to include or recommend and a link below through fullscript and you'll get a little discount there from us So you can check it out. If you have any other questions, send us a DM or if there's any other micronutrients, micronutrients being like your vitamins and minerals, send us a message. Let us know which one you want us to talk about,

Brianna: 22:26

That'd be good. I think that's a good idea.

Baylee: 22:28

right? Have a great rest of your day, everyone. And we'll talk to you next week.

Brianna: 22:33

Bye.