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Magnesium is everywhere – quite literally. It’s the eighth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Our bodies need magnesium to work properly, which is why it’s found in every cell of the body.1
Without enough magnesium we face a whole list of potential problems, including very serious ones that affect the heart. That’s why a magnesium deficiency should be treated right away. We’ll explore what magnesium does for the body, how you can get more of it, and what it might mean if you can’t seem to keep your levels where they should be.
What is Magnesium?
Magnesium is an essential mineral necessary for the body for a wide variety of functions to work effectively. In fact, it plays a role in so many functions that living with a deficiency of magnesium can rather quickly affect your overall health. Magnesium is important for:
· Regulating blood sugar
· Regulating blood pressure
· Supporting the immune system
· Creating energy for the cells
· Helping nerves and muscles communicate
· Helping your body use proteins
· Building stronger teeth and bones
· Synthesizing your DNA
· Supporting electrical activity in the brain and heart
With all the benefits and supports magnesium gives the body, even a level that is just slightly lower than it should be can leave its mark over time. Millions of people across the globe suffer from magnesium deficiency, and it can be especially detrimental to seniors and the elderly.
What Happens if You Have Low Magnesium?
To put it simply: When you don’t have enough magnesium, your body doesn’t work as well. The problem is that it’s tough to know what’s going on when the symptoms are so subtle and could look like something else.
For instance, the most common health problems associated with a lack of magnesium are very general. They include muscle cramps, irregular heartbeat, fatigue, and mood swings.
Let’s say you chalk those problems up to other things and never get tested for magnesium levels. If the levels remain low, you might begin to suffer from more intense health problems, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis.
However, there are warning signs before you reach the point of serious health problems. If you’ve been dealing with fatigue or muscle cramps for a while and they begin to get worse, that’s a big red flag. But other symptoms can begin to creep in as well. Are you suffering from any of these issues?
· Chronic constipation. Magnesium pulls water into the bowels and relaxes the intestinal walls, making it easier to use the bathroom. When the magnesium levels drop, your bowels might seem to slow to an almost complete stop.
· Headaches. These can progress to migraines. This often occurs because the nerve cells in the brain don’t have enough energy to send the signals where they need to go; the result is an aching or pounding head.
· Issues with your skin. Just as your nerve cells have trouble with little magnesium, so do your skin cells. A lack of magnesium means your cells don’t have what they need to regenerate quickly. That can lead to thinning skin, discoloration, slow wound healing, and more.
· Problems with your bones. Breaking a bone might be one of the first signs of low magnesium. This is especially true if you suffer a very gentle fall and break something anyway. This is a good reason why seniors who tend to have low magnesium should keep a fall alert at their fingertips.
· General weakness and fatigue. Magnesium helps the body make and use proteins and energy. Over time, low magnesium levels can contribute to fatigue and a loss of strength, both of which can make you feel weak and tired. Sometimes you can be so tired it’s hard to get out of bed.
· Nausea and vomiting. This can turn into a vicious cycle: the more nauseous you feel, the more likely you are to vomit, which takes away some of the vital nutrients from the food you eat. Thus, you likely get less magnesium (and other minerals) as a result.
· Loss of appetite. Age brings all sorts of changes, including a natural decline in appetite. That’s why it can be so easy to attribute this symptom to getting older rather than to a deficiency.
· Muscle twitches or leg cramps. Magnesium plays a key role in normal muscle function. It isn’t unusual for a magnesium deficiency to result in leg cramps, especially at night. This occurs because the muscles and nerves are not working together as well as they used to.
· Numbness in the extremities. Just as with leg cramps, numbness is a sign that the nerves and muscles are not working in harmony. The numbness might be limited to one small area and be an annoyance, or might be widespread and become a serious fall risk.
· Heart palpitations. Changes in your heartbeat are always a cause for concern. Since magnesium affects every part of your body and keeps it working well, once heart palpitations begin, if due to a magnesium deficiency, it is likely pretty severe.
If you begin to notice any of these symptoms, get to the doctor and ask for a simple blood test to check your magnesium levels. In the meantime, an emergency alert system makes an excellent safety net.
Problems that Contribute to Low Magnesium
What if you’re getting enough of the right foods but you still struggle with ample magnesium levels? There might be a secondary condition or underlying problem that contributes to that, such as:
· Your body isn’t absorbing nutrients as it should. This is often the result of certain gastrointestinal conditions, such as Crohn’s disease.
· Chronic diarrhea (often another consequence of gastrointestinal problems).
· Drinking alcohol to excess.
· Getting too much calcium or vitamin D.
· Blood sugar levels that are far too high.
· An overload of stress.
· Some medications, such as diuretics, can make it tough to absorb magnesium.
· Certain medical conditions, especially those involving the heart, liver, and kidneys.
Genetic factors also play a small role. Age does too, as seniors are much more likely to develop low magnesium levels than those who are younger.
How to Get Enough Magnesium
The best way to get enough magnesium in your diet is through the food you eat. The proper foods should have enough magnesium to keep your body on an even keel. The National Institutes of Health gives a guideline for magnesium intake:
· Women over the age of 51 should have 320 milligrams of magnesium each day.
· Men over the age of 51 should have 420 milligrams each day.2
The FDA doesn’t require food labels to include the level of magnesium. Given that, how do you know you’re getting enough? Incorporate these foods that are rich in magnesium as part of your everyday diet:
· Pumpkin, chia, almonds, cashews, and peanuts
· Spinach
· Shredded wheat breakfast cereals, or those that are fortified with magnesium
· Black beans
· Edamame
· Soy milk
· Peanut butter
Other foods you usually associate with breakfast, such as oatmeal, yogurt, and bananas, are also strong sources of magnesium.
If you aren’t getting enough magnesium through food, your doctor might recommend supplements. They will likely also dive into further testing, as there could be a problem that means your body isn’t absorbing or using magnesium properly.
What to Know About Magnesium Supplements
If you aren’t getting enough magnesium no matter how good your diet is, your doctor might recommend supplements. There are different types out there that do different things.
For instance, magnesium citrate can aid with healthy bowel movements and ease constipation. (That’s why it’s the active ingredient in many over-the-counter constipation remedies.) Magnesium citrate can also help alleviate headaches or migraines.
You might recognize magnesium hydroxide as Milk of Magnesia, a common treatment for gastrointestinal issues.
Other types, such as magnesium glycinate or magnesium taurate, help with relaxing you, providing better sleep, and alleviating leg cramps and muscle twitches.
Before you begin a magnesium supplement, it’s very important to talk to your doctor. You can get too much magnesium through supplements. If you do get too much, the symptoms are quite similar to that of a magnesium deficiency, according to WebMD.3
Magnesium supplements might also interact unfavorably with other medications you might be taking. Besides that, those with kidney disease and some other chronic conditions will want to be sure their magnesium levels never go too high.
Only your doctor can do a medication review and determine if magnesium supplements are right for you, as well as the type and the proper dose.
As you work to get your magnesium levels to where they should be, medical alert systems for seniors and elderly adults can help keep you safe. The more severe consequences of magnesium deficiency can include osteoporosis, which makes it much more likely that you will break a bone and suffer serious injury with even what appears to be a “mild” fall.
Getting assistance right away for any fall, medical emergency, or household accident is vitally important to avoid further problems. Look to Alert1 today to help you stay safer tomorrow.
