Magnesium Deficiency and Depression

[Fran]

I've found a couple of studies which suggest a link between magnesium deficiency and depression. My personal experience of eating foods high in magnesium and taking supplements is that it has stabilised my mood (not very scientific I know, but I'm glad it's worked).

Judging by the type of foods that are magnesium-rich, I wonder if a lot of people are magnesium deficient. The recommended daily amount is 400mg.

Foods rich in magnesium are:

Halibut

Nuts

Spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables

Wholegrains

Legumes

Yogurt

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...;indexed=google

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...t_uids=15567428

The second link made me think, because if magnesium deficiency is a cause of depression and this isn't determined before prescribing anti-depressants; then it would be like giving drugs to treat the symptoms of Beriberi (Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency).

Edited March 31, 2007 by Fran

[EricaH74]

I've found a couple of studies which suggest a link between magnesium deficiency and depression. My personal experience of eating foods high in magnesium and taking supplements is that it has stabilised my mood (not very scientific I know, but I'm glad it's worked).

Judging by the type of foods that are magnesium-rich, I wonder if a lot of people are magnesium deficient. The recommended daily amount is 400mg.

Foods rich in magnesium are:

Halibut

Nuts

Spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables

Wholegrains

Legumes

Yogurt

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...;indexed=google

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...t_uids=15567428

The second link made me think, because if magnesium deficiency is a cause of depression and this isn't determined before prescribing anti-depressants; then it would be like giving drugs to treat the symptoms of Beriberi (Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency).

Great post Fran...

People are always looking for meds to help them with their problems when most of the time it is a simple deficiency or perhaps a simple dietary change that they should be looking at. Checked out your links, very good information. I had the WORST migraines and mood swings, I had a doctor tell me (YES an actual doctor) that it may be a magnesium deficiency and I should take a supplement. So I started and have not looked back.

Here is a post from a great website, with great information and good products -- Jigsaw Health

According to the dictionary, a catalyst is any "event or substance that accelerates a reaction or outcome."

Cool.

Want to spark the best version of yourself? Meet magnesium.

Without Magnesium, There Is No Life.

Involved in more than 325 biochemical reactions, some of the early symptoms of magnesium deficiency include body aches, chronic constipation, headaches and migraines, insulin resistance, PMS, leg cramps, muscle twitches, and more. Left untreated, a magnesium deficiency can lead to more life-threatening conditions such as heart disease, hypertension, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and others.

Magnesium's role in energy production. One of the primary roles of magnesium is to activate the adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy storage molecule, to create and store energy. Without energy, there is no life.

Magnesium's role in relaxing muscles. Another primary role of magnesium is to work with calcium to help regulate the body's nerve and muscle tone. In many nerve cells, magnesium serves as a chemical gate blocker - as long as there is enough magnesium around, calcium can't rush into the nerve cell and activate the nerve. This gate blocking by magnesium helps keep the nerve relaxed. If our diet provides us with too little magnesium, this gate blocking can fail and the nerve cell can become overactivated. When some nerve cells are overactivated, they can send too many messages to the muscles and cause the muscles to overcontract. This chain of events helps explain how magnesium deficiency can trigger muscle tension, muscle soreness, muscle spasms, muscle cramps, and muscle fatigue especially in the back and legs where some of the body's largest muscles live.

Jigsaw Magnesium w/SRT may help:

* Relax muscles and ease athletic injury.

* Support energy production.

* Promote healthy, restful sleep.

* Encourage calmness and lessen stress.

* Maintain blood pressure within normal limits.

* Maintain healthy blood sugar/glucose levels.

* Promote regularity and healthy digestion.

* Support healthy breathing and a healthy heart.

* Reduce symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS).

* Support normal bone structure.

Good stuff, keep it up!!!

E

Edited May 4, 2007 by Ebabyxo

[william.scherk]

I've found a couple of studies which suggest a link between magnesium deficiency and depression. My personal experience of eating foods high in magnesium and taking supplements is that it has stabilised my mood (not very scientific I know, but I'm glad it's worked).

Thanks for the post, Fran. I am a skeptic when it comes to new health claims (from Shark fin gel suppositories to magnetic boogie boards) . . . but well-established claims have well-established research, and there is a long tradition of research into magnesium.

See, for example -- if you are into doing some independent research -- New Perspectives in Magnesium Research. It has a wide-ranging table of contents and may be available via ILL in your area.

[william.scherk]

Jigsaw Magnesium w/SRT may help:

* Relax muscles and ease athletic injury.

* Support energy production.

* Promote healthy, restful sleep.

* Encourage calmness and lessen stress.

[ . . . ]

Hi, E Baby XO (and say hello to your sister D baby XX), are you an agent for this product? If not, how do you know the product does what it says it does?

[Christopher]

Sifting through the old Psych topics, I find this lovely one. There's a corporation out there that actually runs a nice detailed analysis of all vitamins and minerals a person currently has in their system. I don't know how they run it or how many times they run it, but I've heard from some esteemed doctors that many people do have simple deficits that a change in diet can fix (though usually it requires the right supplements - I wish I could think of some of the more common ones). One kid I know had an aggression/self-destructive tendency that disappeared with a certain supplement. In a different less-personal case, they found that several aggressive criminals in jail also had certain mineral deficits.

It's amazing how much a healthy psychology depends on a healthy body. For all the discussion about healthy values and action (rightfully so), such little things like chemistry and biology make such huge differences in people's ability to carry out everything we discuss here. Some people, because of biology, have essentially social anxiety disorders. Not an easy thing to deal with, especially when one is an Objectivist. Begins to make one wonder (at 1am in the morning), just how much of seemingly-Objective living is actually objective, and how much of it is actually just behavior oriented at certain thinking and intelligence mechanisms in our head? I know I for one find myself thinking a lot, and it's a nice thing, but there are times I'm like a work addict when I think - knowing that working is healthy, but the approach to working is a little bit unhealthy because thinking alone is not completely living. In fact, it's hard to overestimate the fact that healthy living is really a totally different state than imagining one is living healthy because one thinks a lot.

I think we can never underestimate simple things like the importance of changes in the state of our consciousness. States of consciousness, the "feeling-ways" and "automatic thinking-ways" of our subconscious, are such a strong function of physical health; states of consciousness are strongly dependent on action; and states of consciousness really don't change much when we think hard. When we think too much, sometimes we solidify a current state in our head, but that state blocks out other emotions, other things. We think, and in doing so, we cease to fully live.

Of course, thinking is very healthy. Thinking is a means to an end after all... it's just not an end in itself (although it can be quite pleasurable). And with that, I'm done thinking about sleep, and now I'm gonna do it! I'm off to bed!

[BaalChatzaf]

It's amazing how much a healthy psychology depends on a healthy body.

We ARE bodies. All we are, are physical beings. In fact everything that exists is physical.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[BaalChatzaf]

Judging by the type of foods that are magnesium-rich, I wonder if a lot of people are magnesium deficient. The recommended daily amount is 400mg.

Foods rich in magnesium are:

Halibut

Nuts

Spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables

Wholegrains

Legumes

Yogurt

I'm strong at the finish cuz' I eats my spinach, I'm Popeye the Sailor Man. Toot! Toot!

Ba'al Chatzaf

[anonrobt]

Judging by the type of foods that are magnesium-rich, I wonder if a lot of people are magnesium deficient. The recommended daily amount is 400mg.

Foods rich in magnesium are:

Halibut

Nuts

Spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables

Wholegrains

Legumes

Yogurt

I'm strong at the finish cuz' I eats my spinach, I'm Popeye the Sailor Man. Toot! Toot!

Ba'al Chatzaf

As long as is not that canned stuff - retched tasting spinach...