16 Magnesium Deficiency Symptoms – Signs of Low Magnesium Levels
You may know what magnesium is, but do you know how important the mineral can be for your health? Magnesium is involved with over 300 metabolic processes in our bodies, leading to the mineral being called the ‘master mineral’. So what exactly does it mean to have a magnesium deficiency, and what are some magnesium deficiency symptoms?
Why Supplementing with Magnesium is a Good Idea
Firstly, magnesium is necessary for the proper transportation of calcium across cell membranes. Why? Calcium needs other nutrients that help get calcium into bone matter. Those other nutrients are silica, vitamin D, vitamin K, and, you guessed it – magnesium. Excessive calcium intake has been linked to heart health issues by staying in the blood long enough to calcify into arterial plaque.
Minerals are more important than vitamins, which struggle actually struggle without minerals. Thanks to modern monoculture farming methods that rely heavily on using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides that are absorbed into the soil, out topsoil has been heavily depleted of its mineral content.
The master mineral magnesium is missing from most of our topsoil, leaving the vast majority, perhaps 80%, with a failure to meet even the USDA’s recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 240 to 420 millgrams (based on age). It’s important to note that government RDAs are known to be well below optimum levels. Many experts think our magnesium levels should be twice the amount.
While observing bodily signs can help, you may want to have some tests administered in the end to test whether or not you’re deficient in magnesium. Serum or blood level measurements are usually inadequate because magnesium operates on a cellular level and accumulates in organ and nerve tissue. So even good results with blood testing are very often deceptive, leaving one with a magnesium deficiency. One effective test developed for use by health professionals is the Exa Testâ„¢.
If testing is unavailable, put your symptom watch hat on. There are many symptoms of magnesium deficiency that relate to cardiovascular, heart, neurological, and muscular dysfunction and disease.
These various magnesium deficiency symptoms are numerous because of the mineral’s diverse role in so many different cellular metabolic functions.
16 Magnesium Deficiency Symptoms
As mentioned, magnesium is a mineral responsible for numerous bodily processes. An anti-inflammatory mineral offering protection against illnesses like arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease, magnesium has been used to remedy problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, respiratory issues, and much more. But as you may suspect, just as upping magnesium intake can solve problems, a magnesium deficiency could lead to many of those same issues and much more.
Here are 16 signs of a magnesium deficiency.
- Calcium deficiency
- Poor heart health
- Weakness
- Muscle cramps
- Tremors
- Nausea
- Anxiety
- High blood pressure
- Type II diabetes
- Respiratory issues
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Potassium deficiency
- Difficulty swallowing
- Poor memory
- Confusion
It’s important to note that while these are symptoms of a magnesium deficiency, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are definitely deficient in magnesium if you experience the above issues.
How to Safely Supplement Magnesium
It’s almost impossible to overdose magnesium by supplementing, but consuming too much magnesium is still not a great idea. Too much of the mineral could lead to some side effects like irregular heartbeat or slowed breathing. Similar to oral ascorbic acid C, there is a bowel tolerance threshold that brings on diarrhea if exceeded. Not all magnesium supplements are easily absorbed, either.
You can find inexpensive products that feature magnesium citrate, which is among the most readily absorbed forms of magnesium supplements.
You can also apply transdermal magnesium chloride topically to be absorbed internally through the skin. Magnesium chloride is also known as magnesium oil, though not really an oil. It’s a briny solution from ancient sea beds. It is available through various online sources. Google magnesium oil products.
If you don’t want to supplement and simply want to acquire magnesium through food sources, here are a few foods that can relieve you of any magnesium deficiency symptoms:
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Soybeans
- Black beans
- Cashews
- Spinach
- Squash
- Sesame seeds
- Almonds
- Okra
Additional Sources:
Careful here. The signs for deficiency are similar to the signs for overdose for magnesium.
Is there a clinical test that you recommend to determine magnesium levels in the body and what is the appropriate range?
aim for 6 optimal 6.5 get it done through request a test. for a rbc test not blood serum that is useless. no need for a dr. as most wont no what that is anyway.
RBC magnesium is a better way to test for tissue magnesium levels. Serum magnesium is fairly useless.
Taking a bath in Epsom salts, which is very high in magnesium is a fast way to get magnesium into the body. If you don't want to take a bath in it, soak your feet in a tub of about a 1/2 cup of the salts and, warm water. I also juice using foods that will not interfere with iodine uptake for the slow thyroid. You can look up goitrogenic foods or, Hypothyroidism. I also get a B-12 shot. Keeping my body alkaline is why my arthritis is no longer mine. Great website!
Excellent article, as usual. Thanks for the information! Please work with an editor to fix the errors though because it is hard to take you seriously as a professional when you have multiple typos and mistakes.
I believe too much of anything is or can be harmful. Seek balance. All things are interconnected and work together. I also believe in slowly building up dosages.
Chlorella is a great source of magnesium.
Just have to respond to the "we get too much calcium in our diets" from Gary Hutch. I've been part of a two year cancer research project working directly with a nutritionist and lab work every other month, as well as recently getting all of my levels checked because I donated a kidney in May and my doctor wanted baseline levels on everything, including magnesium, potassium and calcium. Most women need to work at getting enough calcium in their diets. (Especially people like me who are lactose intolerant and don't do cheese or milk.) I have seen elderly woman with severe osteoporosis. NOT fun. – K. Archibald
I am a type 2 diabetic..am 58 yrs of age and female. On 8/30/13 I suffered shoulder fractures, 3 to be exact. I was looking for a supplement to take to help with future issues I will no doubt suffer, mainly arthritis. I have it now in many areas of my body. A friend told me about magnesium and how much it has helped him deal with his pain issues related to a few bad accidents he suffered over the years. Soooo, I thought that I would try it myself. I was only taking it for a few days when I received a message from my friend informing me of some dangerous side effects that could cause severe problems for diabetics. Do you have any info regarding these risks? I stopped taking it until I learn as much as possible. I should have done that prior to taking it but I was desperate due to the pain of this injury. Thanks all…
You should probably resolve your diabetes first before anything else. Increase your good fats, eliminate all transfats and simple carbs from your diet. There are many good books onthis by Gary taubes, mark sisson, dr Fallon. Your cells are insulin resistant so your system needs to be brought back into balance. Type 2 diabetes is a symtom of metabolic disorder and is curable with lifestyle changes.
I do hope it wasn’t the mg you stopped! All diabetics start out deficient in mg! Oft times it helps get blood sugar numbers back within range all by itself. Get thee to a Functional Medicine practitioner.
If you take 5000 mg of it, it’s toxicity, not really an overdose, it’s better to have the maximum amount recommended like no more than 500 mg a day.
Thanks for this! Another way is to mix some Epsom Salts with water and to put it into a spray bottle and then to spray it on the bare skin.
Really? This works for a deficiency?
Yes, oral, or transdermal (through skin absorption) magnesium is helpful. Any form you can get helps. And it needs to be a daily routine. If you have a Mag. deficiency it is important to keep supplementing in order to outweigh the loss.
Least anybody misinterpret what you wrote: Epsom Salts should only be used EXTERNALLY unless under strict medical supervision. Keep it topical.
Absolutely which is why you should read the ingredient labels on your lotions and makeup carefully! Anything you put on you skin that is “absorbed” ends up inside your body 😉 A good brand coconut oil makes an excellent moisturizer in place of all that other crap full of chemicals!
Look up a couple of posts I made a comment about turmeric for pain.
A great read, I have 80% above symptoms. Thought I might have M.E!! I already have Asthma and Crohns! Started taking Magnesium today and feeling hopeful:)
Don’t forget the Vit D and Vit K2 (mk-7)! See Vitamin Research Council for more info.
What brand and dose of mafgnesium did you take? I am thinking about taking some magnesium because I have internal trembling and terrible anxiety. I am a 60 year old female.
Chocolate should be on the list. It is one of the HIGHEST food sources of magnesium with just one ounce containing 95 mg. or 24% of the recommended MINIMUM amount. I use magnesium oil to absorb magnesium transdermally (through the skin). It works better than Epsom salts, although both are very helpful and Epsom salts contains much needed sulfur. There are several really good forums on Facebook on Thyroid problems and associated nutritional deficiencies such as iodine-iodide, selenium, magnesium, boron, zinc, etc. I belong to 2 of them. One is ‘Iodine Support Group’, the other simply ‘Iodine’. Some very experienced people are administrators on both pages and help us in understanding and turning around the debilitating problems caused by imbalances in thyroid and adrenals, which often have lack of selenium as a probable root cause. Thyroid and adrenals work hand-in-hand, along with hormones such as progesterone, estrogen, DHEA and testosterone which are directly tied to thyroid and adrenal function.
I would actually steal chocolate from my children, I crave it that much when suffering with fatigue & foggy head.. have just started magnesium in the last two days so feeling hopefull.. doc will only give anti depressants..I take but they gradually stop working, probably as I’m not depressed. Thank u for this information x
My mom used to buy a pound a week “for medicinal purposes”. Once she got her mg levels up she was able to quit the chocolate on her own, cold turkey.
This surely does work but it should be noted that anyone with kidney issues, obviously anyone with diabetes should probably not use this treatment. I have yet to see Epsom Salts that don’t show this warning on the label. Just so nobody missed the warning or tells anyone who uses this treatment. But in general, Epsom Salts are wonderful.
Again, see Dr. Dean’s research. Mg is needed by kidney pts, too. It’s the other minerals; potassium, sodium and phosphates that are the problem.
Halibut is also a good source but one of the best is 100g a bar of dark chocolate (at least 85% is best). Its so rich I think that people who “crave” chocolate are actually craving the magnesium so often deficient in most diets. Go check the numbers on NutritionData, don’t take my word for it.
Un-sulphured Raw Organic Blackstrap Molasses is magnesium rich and is an excellent food source.
I like the article and agree that Mg deficiency is a real issue, but the comment that “The master mineral magnesium is missing from most of our topsoil” is really misleading. Yes, the crops grown using synthetic nitrogen fertilizers can be and often are deficient in MANY minerals. But if the soil does not have sufficient Mg then the plants will simply not grow. The two most important minerals in the soil are calcium (65% of CEC) and magnesium (15% of CEC). CEC is cation exchange capacity or the total amount of positively charged minerals the soil will hold. Not to get too technical but just realize that without Mg you won’t have to worry about eating deficient food because there won’t be any.
That being said, soils LOW in the necessary Mg will produce some fruit, but it won’t be a bumper crop by any means and yes, it can be deficient in Mg. As mentioned in other articles, grow your own food, taking special care to use organic fertilizers that contain the full spectrum of plant available minerals. Eat lots of GREEN veggies from fully mineralized soils. This is the ONE way you can get the Mg you need without running the risk of mercury contamination by consuming sea fish.
If it sounds like I’m passionate AND informed about this topic, it’s because I am. I founded an organic fertilizer company, MightyGrow Organics, with the specific purpose in mind to give organic growers the tools needed to grow nutrient dense food. I also advocate bio-fortification of garden veggies by making certain ALL the minerals the plants can take up are present in the soil.
One of the ways that Round-Up herbicide works is to prevent the plant from taking in mg, causing the plant to die. Eating gmo crops or those doused with RR/glyphosate pre-harvest certainly isn’t going to help one’s mg deficiency problem!
Migraines are not on the list and they are caused by magnesium deficiency.
I’m learning so much from the comment section of this article. Thank you everyone for sharing.
The theory behind how you can’t overdose is that too much will exceed bowel tolerance and you’ll end up with loose stool. Too much of THAT and you’ll end up with mineral deficiency symptoms like arrhythmia. Best opt for a blend of formulas ending in “..ate”. Avoid mag oxide unless you have too much money. If that’s the case, there are better charities. Need more info? Read Dr. Carolyn Dean’s research. She is the Queen of Mag!
Iodine without sufficient selenium can wreck havoc for hashimoto pts. Get levels of Se up first, THEN add in I.
Most people who eat lots of dark green leafy veggies get lots of calcium. If one still gets osteoporosis, then it’s probably because complementary nutrients are missing, esp. vit D, mag, and vit K2. It’s been decades since I consumed any dairy and my bones rival those of a teenager.
Are those really our main sources of magnesium? Who really eats those things on a daily basis. No wonder 80% of the population is deficient.
Magnesium is definitely a help with anxiety issues. I’m living proof of that! When I start getting really bad anxiety I take a 250mg in the a.m. and a 250mg just prior to bedtime and in a few days my high anxiety levels start to recede.