How Magnesium Helps Sleep & Insomnia
What is Magnesium?
Magnesium is a relatively new treatment recommendation for better sleep. This nutrient plays a large role in sleep regulation. Current research shows that additional magnesium can help the body relax and improve symptoms of insomnia.
Magnesium is a nutrient essential for more than 300 processes in your body. Magnesium maintains a healthy immune system, regulates muscle and nerve function, ensure steady blood pressure, and keeps your bones strong. Magnesium also helps manage blood sugar levels and is needed for protein and energy production.
Recommended Magnesium Intake
Health experts recommend adults take in 300-420 milligrams of magnesium daily. The appropriate amount depends upon your sex and age. Without magnesium supplements, as many as 48% of people do not get enough daily magnesium.
Certain groups are at higher risk for insufficient magnesium levels:
- Senior adult
- Teenagers
- People with Type 2 diabetes
- Those who drink excessive amounts of alcohol
- People with gastrointestinal disorders
Onnor's Dream ONN Sleep Support Capsules contain 400mg of Magnesium Glycinate to aid sleep.
Can Magnesium Help You Sleep?
Additional magnesium in your diet has the potential to help you sleep better. While researchers recognize that magnesium plays an important role in sleep regulation, they do not fully understand the effect of magnesium on sleep behaviours.
“What’s clear from the research is that a lack of magnesium negatively impacts sleep.”
A serious shortage of magnesium in the body is rare. However, some of the signs of insufficient magnesium in your diet are muscle weakness and tiredness. Low levels of magnesium are associated with poor sleep quality and insomnia. Anxiety and depression also correlate with low magnesium levels, and both anxiety and depression can contribute to insomnia.
Magnesium and Insomnia
Insomnia is a common sleep disorder where you have difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or both. People with insomnia experience a lack of energy and don’t feel refreshed in the morning. They may also struggle with excessive daytime sleepiness, irritability, anxiety, or depression.
Research shows that magnesium may help improve insomnia symptoms:
In a study of elderly patients with insomnia, taking 500 mg of magnesium daily for eight weeks improved many subjective and objective measures of insomnia. The patients:
- Fell asleep faster and slept longer
- Increased their sleep efficiency, meaning they spent more time sleeping while they were in bed
- Woke up later and reduced early morning awakening
- Experienced increased concentrations of melatonin, a sleep hormone, and serum renin which plays a role in regulating blood pressure
- Experienced decreased concentrations of serum cortisol, the “stress hormone”
What are the Benefits of Magnesium?
In addition to improving sleep, magnesium supplements can be used to treat other health conditions:
Osteoporosis: Magnesium is a component of the bone-building process. Preliminary research shows that magnesium supplements can reduce bone loss caused by osteoporosis.
Cardiovascular Disease and Hypertension: Research shows that magnesium may reduce the risk of stroke or heart disease. However, participants in these studies were given a variety of nutrients, so the results can’t be attributed to magnesium alone. Additionally, research shows magnesium can reduce blood pressure, but only minimally.
Type 2 Diabetes: Because magnesium plays a role in the breakdown of sugars in the body, if you have a high amount of magnesium in your diet, you’re less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Researchers currently have insufficient evidence to prove that magnesium is effective in managing type 2 diabetes if you already have the disease.
Migraines or Migraine Headaches: People with low levels of magnesium are more prone to experiencing headaches or migraines. Limited studies have shown that magnesium can reduce the frequency and duration of migraine headaches. The American Academy of Neurology and the American Headache Society have determined that magnesium is “probably effective” as a migraine treatment and could be considered a possible preventative measure. However, because the effective level of magnesium for migraine treatment is higher than the standard upper limit, you should only take magnesium for migraines with the guidance of your healthcare provider.