Will magnesium supplementation ‘cure’ or ‘alleviate’ sore or tight muscles? Do you even need to be supplementing with magnesium? Before diving to deeply into this topic I need to acknowledge my biases.
- I typically don’t believe in supplements. Many products aren’t tested for quality, and the claims surrounding them are always touted to be better and stronger than Superman himself.
- I believe in the power of food because there is something about having whatever you are trying to get in food form that your body deals with and absorbs it the best. Just eating food in most cases is just fine. However, if you start taking a supplement of a vitamin/mineral found in that food-your body usually doesn’t deal with it as well.
- The supplement industry is a BOOMING business. Because it’s job is to get you to buy, they’re main objective isn’t to improve your health.
- I also believe that our culture is a ‘quick-fix’, ‘pill-popping’ generation. If there’s a pill that claims to do the same thing as hard work and planning, give it to us. I believe in taking responsibility for your bodily issues. If you have a weakness/issue-address it head on. Now I recognize that by supplementing or taking medicines can be and sometimes the best way to address your issues. For instance, if you have a medically diagnosed issue and you need a specific drug or supplement to manage your symptoms. The difference is usually that this decision is the result of testing to determine a problem and is an option after other avenues have been exhausted or the severity dictates their use.
With that out of the way, today I’ll debunk these claims about magnesium and explore if you really need to supplement with it. My sources are scholarly journals and other trusted research resources which are cited below.
A great resource about this topic can be found at National Institute of Healths’ Office of Dietary Supplements website. In a quick preliminary search of PubMed (website for scholarly journals) my searches yielded research regarding ‘smooth’ or cardiac muscle and studies revolving around insulin sensitivity. Not what we’re looking for. So let’s move forward.
Should you supplement?
Step 1. Get tested to see if you are deficient. If you are deficient, you will need to step up your game nutritionally or use a supplement. If you are good-then you don’t need to worry about it.
Step 2. Do your math. Are you getting enough from your daily food? Below are a few tables of the RDA (recommended daily allowance) of Magnesium (Mg) (Table 1) and foods high in Mg (Table 2). Look at your nutrition and see where you fall.
If you are well below the RDA:
- Focus on diet, then after doing that,
- Look at taking a generic multivitamin, and
- Finally consider speaking with your doctor about magnesium supplementation.
RDA’s of Magnesium
| Age | Male | Female | Pregnancy | Lactation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth to 6 months | 30 mg* | 30 mg* | ||
| 7–12 months | 75 mg* | 75 mg* | ||
| 1–3 years | 80 mg | 80 mg | ||
| 4–8 years | 130 mg | 130 mg | ||
| 9–13 years | 240 mg | 240 mg | ||
| 14–18 years | 410 mg | 360 mg | 400 mg | 360 mg |
| 19–30 years | 400 mg | 310 mg | 350 mg | 310 mg |
| 31–50 years | 420 mg | 320 mg | 360 mg | 320 mg |
| 51+ years | 420 mg | 320 mg |
*Adequate Intake (AI)
Foods high in Magnesium
Here is a table I got from the USDA Nutrient Database website for foods that have a high level of magnesium (Mg) in them.
| Food | Milligrams (mg) per serving | Percent DV* |
|---|---|---|
| Almonds, dry roasted, 1 ounce | 80 | 20 |
| Spinach, boiled, ½ cup | 78 | 20 |
| Cashews, dry roasted, 1 ounce | 74 | 19 |
| Peanuts, oil roasted, ¼ cup | 63 | 16 |
| Cereal, shredded wheat, 2 large biscuits | 61 | 15 |
| Soymilk, plain or vanilla, 1 cup | 61 | 15 |
| Black beans, cooked, ½ cup | 60 | 15 |
| Edamame, shelled, cooked, ½ cup | 50 | 13 |
| Peanut butter, smooth, 2 tablespoons | 49 | 12 |
| Bread, whole wheat, 2 slices | 46 | 12 |
| Avocado, cubed, 1 cup | 44 | 11 |
| Potato, baked with skin, 3.5 ounces | 43 | 11 |
| Rice, brown, cooked, ½ cup | 42 | 11 |
| Yogurt, plain, low fat, 8 ounces | 42 | 11 |
| Breakfast cereals, fortified with 10% of the DV for magnesium | 40 | 10 |
| Oatmeal, instant, 1 packet | 36 | 9 |
| Kidney beans, canned, ½ cup | 35 | 9 |
| Banana, 1 medium | 32 | 8 |
| Salmon, Atlantic, farmed, cooked, 3 ounces | 26 | 7 |
| Milk, 1 cup | 24–27 | 6–7 |
| Halibut, cooked, 3 ounces | 24 | 6 |
| Raisins, ½ cup | 23 | 6 |
| Chicken breast, roasted, 3 ounces | 22 | 6 |
| Beef, ground, 90% lean, pan broiled, 3 ounces | 20 | 5 |
| Broccoli, chopped and cooked, ½ cup | 12 | 3 |
| Rice, white, cooked, ½ cup | 10 | 3 |
| Apple, 1 medium | 9 | 2 |
| Carrot, raw, 1 medium | 7 | 2 |
Some other good sources of Mg are that didn’t make the list are; lentils, quinoa and nuts (sesame seeds, brazil nuts).
Magnesium Math
So let’s do some quick math if you are a 40 year old male you should be consuming about 420mg of magnesium daily. Assuming you ate relatively healthy meals your intake could look something like this:
For example, breakfast of cereal (40) and milk (24) with a banana (32). You could have a snack of an apple (9) and Greek yogurt (42) . For lunch you eat some carrots (7) , a PB&J sandwich on whole-wheat bread (25 PB + 46 bread), and almonds (80). At dinner you have a baked potato (43) with cheese & black beans (60), a small chicken breast (22) and broccoli (24-1 cups worth). If you total all this up you will have 454mg of Mg from your food.
My point: If you make conscious food choices about eating healthy (full of fruits & veggies and whole-grains) you can get what you need from food and don’t need supplementation.
So if your muscles are still sore and tight and your magnesium levels are fine, now what?
First, let’s quickly state that muscle soreness is often from working out and getting micro-tears in the muscle. Lets look at some great ways proven to deal with this issue.
- Drink water. As stated in a previous post about hydration, it’s been found that most American’s are chronically dehydrated. If you want to feel better overall and help your recovering muscles make sure you’re drinking enough water, or electrolyte drink.
- Move. Whether your idea of moving is doing yoga, or static stretching, foam rolling/smashing [2] or doing some dynamic movements. The point is, if you take a concerted approach to mobilizing whatever feels tight or sore, more likely than not you will start to feel better.
- Compression. Compression socks or other surgical grade/level gear has been shown to be helpful in aiding recovery [3-4]. So if you do a workout, try wearing some compression. I’ve had some great success personally as well as with our senior fitness clients in improved recovery (not as tight/sore post-workout/exercise).
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REFERENCES
- Institute of Medicine (IOM). Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes: Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Fluoride. Washington, DC: National Academy Press , 1997.
- Healey, K., Hatfield, D. et. al. (2014). The Effects of Myofascial Release with Foam Rolling on Performance. J Strength Cond Res 28(1):61-68.
- Kraemer, W., Flanagan, S. (2010). Effects Of A Whole Body Compression Garment On Markers Of Recovery After A Heavy Resistance Training Workout In Men & Women. J Strength Cond Res 24(3): 804-814.
- Lovell, D., Mason, D., et.al (2011).Do Compression Garments Enhance the Active Recovery Process After High-Intensity Running?. J Strength Cond Res 25(12):3264-3268.