Best Magnesium For Sleep

Many individuals take supplements, whether for fitness and workout purposes or overall well-being. Numerous supplements also provide advantages that enhance the quality of our sleep. Considering this, there exists a plethora of sleep-improving supplements. While certain ones rely on medications to ease into sleep, others, which are natural, support our immune system, soothe our muscles, and facilitate better sleep. It's not necessary to turn to prescription drugs for sleep aid; magnesium supplements can offer a comparable effectiveness without affecting your cognitive function.

Magnesium is one of the most commonly used supplements. Fortunately for a lot of people, in addition to therapeutic effects on muscles, bones, and health in general, it will also help you sleep. In this article, you’ll learn some facts you likely didn’t know about magnesium while learning about the best options for sleep.

Magnesium is extremely abundant, but there are a lot of different variants that are used in common life. Here, we’ll highlight the variants that have a well-established scientific link with sleeping more soundly.

Everything You Need to Know About Magnesium

Magnesium is a metal, a mineral that we can easily receive through foods or different supplements. It is among the 24 essential vitamins that our body consumes to keep itself healthy. Our body welcomes magnesium because it provides a strong foundation for our health. According to some estimates, the human body can use magnesium through over 600 cellular reactions. With that in mind, every organ, tissue, and cell uses this mineral for the proper overall function of the human body.

It enhances the function of our bones, muscles, heart, and even brain. While people with good magnesium saturation consume it through food and occasional supplements, people with magnesium deficiency need to take special supplements to keep it at optimal amount inside the body.

Unlike some other vitamins, our body doesn’t produce magnesium naturally. That’s why we receive it through food and supplements to fuel our body with energy. According to The National Institutes of Health, the optimal recommended amount of magnesium varies from 310-320mg a day for adult women. However, men should take between 400 and 420mg a day to keep their body at optimal function.

On average, the human body retains about 25mg of magnesium, which is below the recommended amount. However, those 25mg are distributed through the bones and soft tissue. Magnesium deficiency, however, can often be found. Over 68% of Americans don’t receive enough magnesium, regardless of the diet and supplements, according to research.

Magnesium deficiency isn’t problematic if it occurs rarely. However, frequent magnesium deficiency can contribute to poor sleep quality, hypertension, and several cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Types of Magnesium

As mentioned above, there are different forms of magnesium. Not all magnesium ultimately works for sleep. There are different types and each has its purpose. We’ll highlight some of them below.

Magnesium Citrate

Magnesium citrate, similarly to citric acid, is used to help with the body’s digestion system. A lot of people who suffer from constipation or indigestion use magnesium citrate to help regulate the gut flora and restless stomach acids. Keep in mind that using magnesium citrate also requires you to drink a lot of water as excess consumption may lead to dehydration.

Magnesium Chloride

If you previously heard about magnesium chloride, that’s because it’s one of the most popular forms of magnesium on the market. It’s also consisting of ocean water and can aid you with sleep, contribute to better digestion, and strengthen your metabolism. It also helps with unease and anxiety.

Magnesium Glycinate

Magnesium glycinate is extremely effective for bones and muscles because it helps them relax. It’s also a good stress relief and can be used as a sleep aid. It’s generally safer compared to other magnesium types because it doesn’t feel heavy on guts and won’t result in potential laxative effects.

Magnesium Oxide

Magnesium oxide is beneficial for indigestion, stomach acid problems, and heartburn. Interestingly a study showed that it’s beneficial for those who suffer from migraine and other types of persistent headaches. However, it can have laxative effects so you should take it with reserve.

So Which Magnesium Should I Use For Sleep?

Like we mentioned there are certain types of magnesium for sleep. The best options that help you sleep are magnesium glycinate and chloride. However, sleep experts recommend using magnesium glycinate as the best natural sleep aid out of other magnesium forms.

Magnesium glycinate is beneficial to our sleep cycle because it improves the amount of sleep meaning you’ll sleep longer. Additionally, it improves the quality of sleep so you’re likely to get more restorative and deeper sleep. It’s noticeable that it doesn’t have many side effects.

Some sleep experts oftentimes recommended melatonin as a sleep aid. However, more and more people agree that magnesium is a better replacement. Melatonin used different natural ingredients and enjoyed the leading position in providing natural sleep aids. With magnesium, that’s to change.

How to Recognize Magnesium Deficiency?

Magnesium deficiency often manifests as the inability to sleep soundly. That said magnesium needs to be at certain levels to help you optimize your sleep. However, there are more symptoms of magnesium deficiency, some of them include:

• Different aches
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Anxiety
• Restless leg syndrome
• Cramps
• High blood pressure
• Osteoporosis
• Irregular heartbeat.

A lot of people don’t notice that they are magnesium deficient until the levels get critically low. That’s because the magnesium deficiency doesn’t noticeably affect our life more so than stressful situations or other conditions. Fortunately, magnesium deficiency can easily be treated with the help of a health professional. Still, don’t go on about taking medicines on your own, your doctor will be the best person to tell you your suited therapy.

Consequences of Magnesium Deficiency

As we said, magnesium deficiency isn’t normally detected unless it’s critically low. However, according to the International Life Sciences Institute, several health risks are a result of a magnesium deficiency, including type 2 diabetes, migraine headaches, asthma, hypertension, stroke, and others.

Magnesium deficiency can also lead to insomnia and sleep deprivation. While that can’t kill us, sleep deprivation makes us more prone to the accidents and we may end up getting injured.

Magnesium Through Food

According to Terry Cralle, There is a lot of magnesium-rich foods that can be combined for better effects. They’ll undoubtedly improve the magnesium levels in your body. Additionally, this food is rich with more vitamins that are beneficial for health. Some of the food includes:

• Nuts
• Dark chocolate
• Beans
• Avocado
• Tofu
• Whole grains
• Bananas
• Leafy greens
• Seeds
• Salmon
• Soy milk
• Dairy
• Halibut
• Chicken breasts
• Beef
• Legumes
• Peanut butter

If you happen to feel like your diet isn’t enough magnesium rich, you can explore it and find some additions and replacements to make that you think would make your magnesium levels better.  Keep in mind not to consume carb and fat reach food before bed, as it can keep you awake instead of aiding you to sleep.

Health Benefits of Magnesium

Magnesium is responsible for helping over 300 enzymes in our body function. That said, aside from the sleep benefits, magnesium also adds up with more health benefits. If you want to improve your overall lifestyle and not just sleep hygiene keep these health benefits in mind:

• The better overall mood and stress relief
• Muscular relaxation and aid in muscular strains.
• Improves bone health
• Better metabolic health
• Relief for aches and pain.
• Better focus and attention span
• Suitable for athletes.

One of the biggest benefits, however, is that it can be used as sleep aid, especially the magnesium glycinate and chloride. However, any form of magnesium should help your muscles relax. The magnesium is also beneficial to our nervous system which is also effective for sleep hygiene.

Potential Health Risks

Even though magnesium is beneficial to many health aspects of our life, moderation is the key. Excess consumption of magnesium could have implications for our health and even cause the opposite effect than intended. For example, a lot of people report they experienced stomach cramping after taking more than 600mg a day. Such a high amount of, for example, magnesium oxide could lead to laxative effects.

It may also be harmful to kidneys if taken in excessive amounts. If you have some existing kidney issues you should talk to your doctor before attempting to take magnesium, more so with chronic kidney disease. It’s worth noting that some medicines don’t work well with magnesium so it should be used with caution.

Where to Find Magnesium for Sleep?

You shouldn’t take magnesium on your own unless the doctor prescribed it to you or you feel confident enough to use it. Here are some magnesium options for sleep.

Natural Vitality Calm – Magnesium and other vitamins rich powder that is used for muscle relaxation and sleeps. It’s a vegan and gluten-free mix that can be taken for stress relief and troubles sleeping. The manufacturer recommends half a teaspoon at the start, moving onto the full teaspoon after getting used to it.

Nobi Nutrition High Absorption Magnesium Complex  - This magnesium supplement is often used for sleep, muscle cramps, and strain and restless leg syndrome. One pill contains 500mg of magnesium.

Triple Calm Magnesium – A 150mg magnesium pill for stress relief. It is also good for relaxing muscles and nervous system and will help guide you to sleep.

Conclusion

As long as you take the optimal amount of magnesium and don’t exceed the daily intake recommendation, nothing bad will happen to you. Even a small exceeding now and then isn’t dangerous. However, as we stated in the health risks the side effects can worsen if you frequently overdose.

Magnesium is an ideal vitamin for sleep because it works on muscular and bone relaxation. It helps relieve pain and aches while soothing the central nervous system. Magnesium can be found anywhere from mineral water and fruit to supplements used to aid us to sleep alongside melatonin. While all magnesium has sleep soothing effects, the most effective options are magnesium chloride and glycinate. Still, glycinate has the least side effects like laxation and nausea.