It helps keep bones strong, nerves and muscles working properly, and blood sugar under control. Magnesium is also necessary for maintaining a steady heartbeat and normal blood pressure to maintain heart health. Read on to find out why magnesium is important for heart health and good sources of this important nutrient.
Less than 1 percent of the body's magnesium is found in the blood. Most magnesium (up to 60 percent) is found in the bones. The rest is inside cells, notes Hugh Calkins, MD, professor of medicine and director of the cardiac arrhythmia service at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. In otherwise healthy people, a magnesium deficiency is uncommon, Dr. Calkins says, because the kidneys help control how much magnesium is in the body. For example, when your magnesium level is low, less is excreted in the urine. If your healthcare provider suspects that you have a magnesium deficiency, they might order a blood test to check your level.
In a review published in May 2019 in Cardiology Research and Practice, researchers found that a low level of magnesium in the blood may increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. In addition, the review showed that a low magnesium level is associated with atrial fibrillation (afib), the most common heart rate disorder. Afiboccurs when a malfunction in the heart's electrical system causes the upper chambers of the heart to quiver.
With age, magnesium absorption decreases in the body. Magnesium deficiencies can also be caused by certain conditions, including alcoholism, malnutrition, preeclampsia (if a woman is pregnant), a digestive disorder like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, diabetes, or chronic diarrhea.
Prolonged use of certain medications can cause too much magnesium excretion. These include diuretics like Lasix (furosemide), as well as proton pump inhibitors like Nexium (esomeprazole) and Prevacid (lansoprazole) used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease. Because older people are more likely to take these medications, they're at greater risk for a magnesium deficiency.
Experts advise people to get nutrients primarily from food. “Just 1 ounce of almonds or cashews contains 20 percent of the daily magnesium an adult needs,” says Lakkireddy. Although magnesium is added to some foods, like breakfast cereal, there are several excellent natural sources of this mineral:
“Patients who do not have normal kidney function should be very careful about taking too much magnesium because it can be toxic at high levels,” says Lakkireddy. The forms of magnesium in dietary supplements, which are more easily absorbed by the body, include magnesium aspartate, magnesium citrate, magnesium lactate, and magnesium chloride, according to Lakkireddy.
Too much magnesium from food isn't a danger because the kidneys excrete what the body doesn't need. But high doses of magnesium from supplements can cause diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramping. Extreme doses of magnesium, over 5,000 mg daily, can be fatal. If you’re concerned about your magnesium level, talk to your doctor to find out how you can get the most of this valuable nutrient.
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