“Magnesium is one of the main minerals in your body,” says Michelle Schoffro Cook, Ph.D,, holistic nutritionist, and author ofSuper-Powered Immunity. “It’s necessary for strong bones and teeth, and helps muscles to relax—not just when we’re tense, which it does help, but for proper muscle movement as well. It’s nature’s relaxant and natural anti-inflammatory and is important for cardiovascular health.”
Since magnesium is a mineral not made in the body, you have to get it from dietary sources, Cook says. And if your diet falls short, you’re at higher risk for certain health problems.
“A magnesium deficiency is linked to a wide range of disorders, including cardiovascular disease, menstrual problems, and psychiatric disorders,” Schoffro Cook says.
Research has confirmed the many benefits of this important mineral. Here are a few to note.
Supports cardiovascular health
Ensuring you have the proper amounts of magnesium in your diet helps keep your heart healthy, by reducing the risk of high blood pressure.
How? High blood pressure can make your arteries less flexible, which reduces the flow of blood and oxygen to your heart, potentially leading to heart disease. Magnesium helps relax blood vessels.
Several studies confirm that a deficiency in magnesium increases your risk of cardiovascular disease. In 2022, The Food and Drug Administration agreed that “the totality of scientific evidence supports a qualified health claim on the relationship between magnesium and a reduced risk of high blood pressure in conventional foods and dietary supplements.”
“Bone mineral density is the measure of the amount of minerals within the bones and is usually an indicator of bone strength,” Schoffro Cook says.
Studies have shown that men and women with higher magnesium diets have higher bone mineral density. A 2021 review of studies on magnesium and bone health found that participants who took magnesium supplements had improved bone mineral density and lower fracture risk.
Helps reduce depression and anxiety
Several studies have found that magnesium may help regulate mood.
A 2017 study showed that participants who received 248 mg of magnesium chloride for six weeks had significant improvement in measures of depression and anxiety symptoms. In addition, participants experienced these positive effects quickly, in only two weeks.
Researchers suspect that magnesium decreases cortisol in the body (the stress hormone).
Improves sleep
Wong says she mixes 300 mg of magnesium powder into a glass of water before bed, to help her relax.
Studies confirm magnesium’s positive effect on sleep quality.
High cortisol levels can cause sleep problems, and magnesium’s cortisol-lowering effect helps counteract that. Magnesium also naturally increases melatonin, the hormone your body produces in response to darkness, helping us feel more relaxed and rested, which helps with sleep quality.
Activates vitamin D
Vitamin D has many benefits, including increasing bone strength and immunity and improving heart and brain health.
But did you know that Vitamin D needs magnesium to work?
This study shows that magnesium helps activate Vitamin D by aiding enzymes in metabolizing Vitamin D.
Helps relieve migraine headaches
Magnesium acts as a preventative and pain reliever for migraine headaches.
Research has shown that magnesium deficiency can be a cause of migraines. A study showed that magnesium sulfate significantly reduced the pain of migraine headaches compared to a combination of prescription medications dexamethasone and metoclopramide. Magnesium also helps to regulate the chemicals that transmit pain.
Magnesium can also alleviate the auras that sometimes accompany migraines. It does this by preventing the wave of brain signaling, called cortical spreading depression, which produces visual and sensory changes in the common forms of migraine auras.
You probably have a magnesium deficiency
The vast majority of people in modern society are at risk for a magnesium deficiency, says Schoffro Cook. “Food grown in mineral-depleted soil, which is most of our current food supply, tends to have low levels of minerals like magnesium. Combined with our high need for the mineral, we have become vulnerable to magnesium deficiency.”
The solution to the problem: Take a magnesium supplement and make a greater effort to eat a magnesium-rich diet.
Foods high in magnesium
Some of the foods rich in magnesium, according to Schoffro Cook include:
Blackstrap molasses
Seeds, including chia, flax, and pumpkin seeds
Seafood, including fatty fish like halibut, mackerel, salmon, and tuna as well as oysters and scallops
Grass-fed meat
Organic dairy products
Oatmeal
Brown rice
Organic corn
Your daily magnesium needs
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for magnesium is 400-420 mg for men, 310-320 mg for women, 350-360 mg for pregnant women, and 310-320 for breastfeeding women.
But that may not be enough. “The RDA for magnesium was established in 1997,” says Wong. “Since then, there has been much more research suggesting that magnesium levels need to be higher.”
So how do you know if you need more magnesium?
“Blood tests only measure the amount of magnesium in the blood, which is a small percentage of the total magnesium in the body, so it’s not an ideal way to determine magnesium levels in the body,” says Schoffrom Cook. “Because the amount of magnesium in foods has declined by approximately 80 to 90 percent over the past century, the number of people deficient in the mineral tends to be high. If a person is suffering from hypertension, diabetes, or a neurological disorder, they may have a magnesium deficiency.
Magnesium supplements
Since you may not be able to get all of your magnesium from food, you may want to consider taking a supplement.
While there are many forms of magnesium supplements to choose from, Schoffro Cook generally suggests magnesium glycinate, aspartate, ascorbate, or malate. “These forms tend to have greater bioavailability and seem to be better absorbed by the brain and muscles,” she says.
She suggests choosing a research-backed brand that has third-party laboratory testing to verify you’re truly getting what’s listed on the label and choosing non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) varieties.
Side effects
“Because magnesium is part of our bodies, it tends to be quite safe, but it’s still a good idea to consult with your doctor if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, have kidney disease, or another serious health condition,” says Schoffro Cook.
High doses can cause toxicity, she says, and since magnesium has a laxative effect, it can sometimes cause increased bowel movements or diarrhea.
Finally, she says, some drugs interact with magnesium, including some statins and antibiotics. “It’s best to check with your doctor or pharmacist to see if any of the drugs you’re taking interact with this essential mineral,” Cook says.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
