Most discussions on nutrients overlook the critical role of magnesium in our diet. Magnesium helps with various things, such as keeping our energy metabolism, muscle relaxation, and protein production. A body deficient in this nutrient cannot properly perform important enzymatic reactions. This adversely impacts the body’s functioning.
Do you experience muscle cramps, insomnia, constipation, and low mood frequently? All of these are telltale signs of magnesium deficiency. These generally occur if your body hasn’t been getting adequate magnesium for a long period of time.
Severe magnesium deficiency can lead to various complications in the short and long term, some of which can be fatal. So, it is best to be alert and take action timely. Keep reading to learn about the 11 warning signs of magnesium deficiency.
11 Warning Signs of Magnesium Deficiency
1. Muscle Spasms and Cramps
Magnesium blocks calcium so the muscles can relax after contraction. However, if they contract too much due to low magnesium, it causes cramps and spasms. Magnesium deficiency lowers the electrical limit at which the nerve cells become depolarized. It makes them hyper-excitable.
Magnesium is involved in 300 biochemical processes, including muscle contraction.
Consumption of magnesium citrate has been found to be effective with leg cramps. Lack of magnesium in the peripheral nerves leads to muscle spasms, which can be avoided by eating a diet rich in the nutrient.
2. Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
PMS, which is characterized by lethargy, mood swings, fatigue, bloating, and a general feeling of irritability, can also be assigned to magnesium deficiency. It has been found that serum magnesium diminishes during the premenstrual week. Already, women eat a diet low in this nutrient. This, along with the reduction of magnesium during the premenstrual week, causes them to experience PMS symptoms.
Magnesium affects ion levels of progesterone and estrogen. When these hormones are stable, the likelihood of PMS symptoms reduces. Magnesium supplementation is found to be helpful with mood-related PMS symptoms.
3. Tiredness
Prolonged fatigue or a general feeling of weakness is another sign of magnesium deficiency. This is because the nutrient is involved in energy production. It also regulates electrolyte balance, such as the transport of potassium and calcium into cells. Magnesium is also involved in nerve and muscle function. If it is low, you will experience tiredness and fatigue.
Magnesium deficiency also causes sleep problems. This is because it governs the neurotransmitters impacting sleep. Lack of sleep inevitably makes you tired. The nutrient regulates blood pressure and glucose levels. Both of them are important for metabolic health. Fluctuations in them due to magnesium deficiency cause fatigue and energy dips.
4. Irregular Heartbeat
Irregular heartbeat happens to those arrhythmias. These are heart conditions that cause erratic heartbeat. According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, magnesium helps keep a steady heart rhythm. Magnesium facilitates heart muscle contraction. In other words, it keeps your heart beating normally. Heartbeat is maintained by sodium, potassium, and calcium.
As mentioned in the previous point, magnesium governs their transport into cells, it also regulates their transport to the heart’s tissues. Magnesium deficiency disturbs the movement of these electrolytes. This, in turn, causes irregular heartbeat. That is why, long-term deficiency of the nutrient can be fatal as it can cause cardiac arrest.
5. Loss of Appetite
Magnesium helps activate and regulate digestive enzymes. These enzymes break down the food in the intestines and stomach. Low levels of magnesium can disturb these functions of digestive enzymes. This causes poor digestion. It also hinders the body from absorbing all the nutrients from food.
When your body is low in magnesium, your stomach is unable to produce adequate digestive enzymes. This, in turn, reduces your appetite. So, magnesium supplementation is essential to regulate appetite loss.
6. Numbness
Magnesium is also involved with nerve transmission and neuromuscular conduction. Through this, it impacts your nervous system. Magnesium also protects against excessive excitation, which can cause neuronal cell death. While tiredness explained above is a sign of mild magnesium deficiency, numbness can be taken as an indicator of severe deficiency of the nutrient.
Magnesium deficiency can lead to various neurological disorders. Some examples include psychosis and apathy. When the body does not get this nutrient, nerve and muscle functions are compromised. Numbness often strikes suddenly on body parts, such as leg, arm, foot, and face. The feeling is experienced on both sides of the body at the same time.
7. Thyroid Issues
It is common to find people with autoimmune thyroid disease as also being deficient in magnesium. The nutrient converts inactive thyroid hormone T4 into T3, which is the active thyroid hormone. In the absence of this conversion, cells do not get the potent form of the thyroid hormone. Therefore, low levels of magnesium prevent the proper functioning of the thyroid.
Healthy magnesium levels in the body lower the production of thyroid antibodies. Thus, reduces the autoimmune attack on the thyroid gland. Thus, adequate intake of magnesium is vital to manage autoimmune thyroid disorders.
8. Constipation
Chronic constipation is one of the most common bowel conditions. It is majorly caused by dietary factors and an inactive lifestyle. Magnesium helps with stabilizing energy levels in the body. Magnesium deficiency makes the bolus of food hard and dry. This makes it difficult to move, which causes constipation.
Magnesium citrate is a gentle laxative that has been proven effective in fighting constipation. Magnesium relaxes the muscles within the intestinal walls. It also pulls water into your bowels and makes the stool softer so it can move easily.
9. Headaches and Migraines
It has been seen through several studies that people with migraines also have low magnesium levels in their bodies. Researchers found that a form of magnesium, magnesium picolinate, which is an organic salt can reverse deficiencies that cause headaches.
Scientists believe that magnesium blocks signals in the brain that cause migraines or changes in vision. Magnesium deficiency can cause narrowing of the blood vessels in the brain. This results in migraine. It is best to increase magnesium intake in the diet through foods rich in the nutrient.
10. High Blood Pressure
Magnesium deficiency can be a risk factor for hypertension. Studies have found that low levels of this nutrient increase blood pressure. Magnesium can relax the smooth muscle lining in the vascular system. Researchers found that magnesium deficiency causes vascular lesions, including fibrinoid necrosis of the blood vessels and smooth and endothelial cell hyperplasia.
For those wanting to understand the complex processes easily, it is sufficient to know that magnesium improves blood flow. Thus, it reduces the workload on the heart. Low amounts of magnesium can constrict the blood vessels and raise blood pressure. Consuming adequate quantities of this nutrient supports healthy blood pressure.
11. Poor Bone Health
One of the central roles of magnesium is building and maintaining healthy bones in the body. More than half of the magnesium in the body is present in the bines. Since it is also required for other bodily processes, your body tightly regulates the amount of this nutrient in the blood. Magnesium deficiency can cause this nutrient to be pulled from the bones, which deteriorates bone health.
Consuming magnesium-rich foods supports bone mineral density and lowers the risk of fractures and brittle bones. The nutrient, along with others like calcium and vitamin D, helps develop and maintain strong bones.
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Summing Up
Magnesium deficiency can be caused by various things, such as medications, alcohol consumption, and eating a diet lacking in magnesium-rich foods. As you can see, this nutrient is critical for regulating several important bodily processes. If you experience a few of these warning signs, it is best to get your magnesium levels checked and take corrective actions to treat the deficiency.
