Cortisol regulation – magnesium calms your nervous system and prevents the creation of excess cortisol, the stress hormone. When your stress hormonal system is in balance, your levels of progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, FSH and LH will be too.
Hormone creation - magnesium actually makes your hormones progesterone, estrogen and testosterone, so if you're getting into perimenopause or are just off the Pill and your levels are low, it can be your best friend.
Magnesium is critical in the making of hormones
Magnesium is needed for the production of hormones such as progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone. Magnesium is essential for thyroid production.
Magnesium Glycinate: great for calming, helping with sleep and hormone balance. Magnesium Citrate: known to be best for constipation and gastrointestinal issues, it is less bioavailable than other chelated forms of magnesium.
Magnesium plays a very important role in hormone regulation and is therefore one of the nutrients that boost progesterone levels.
Magnesium has been shown in many studies to be a regulating mineral. If your estrogen levels are too high or too low, then magnesium can help bring them back to stable levels, which will positively impact testosterone and progesterone.
Magnesium has a clear positive impact on hormonal health, offering support for things like sleep, mood and premenstrual syndrome. From regulating your sleep cycle to increasing sleep efficiency, why not discover the benefits of magnesium on sleep for yourself?
One study found that just ten weeks of supplementation with magnesium oxide increased thyroid hormone production -- specifically T4 levels -- and reduced inflammation.
Magnesium typically decreases along with estrogen in menopause, making symptoms associated with low magnesium levels more noticeable.
Magnesium is Essential to Balancing Hormones
Magnesium is one of the most essential minerals to help balance hormones. While you can take a supplement, and even spray your skin with magnesium spray, there's no better way of getting the magnesium you need than from the foods you eat.
I recommend magnesium glycinate or bisglycinate (the mineral joined to the amino acid glycine). It's the type of magnesium that is most absorbable and the least likely to cause diarrhea. Magnesium bisglycinate has the added benefit of glycine, which calms the nervous system and improves insulin sensitivity (14,15).
Interestingly, Magnesium in women actually lowers testosterone, especially if they're at risk of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).
Risk Factors
Age is the number one risk factor for low estrogen. As a person with ovaries approaches age 47—perimenopause age—they experience fluctuating estrogen levels for several years until full menopause. Some other risk factors associated with low estrogen include: Extreme dieting or eating disorders.
Magnesium is anti-aging – Magnesium is essential to the production of steroid hormones such as Testosterone, DHEA, Progesterone and Estrogen. It has been shown to enhance glutathione production, prevent telomere shortening and reduce oxidative stress – slowing down the aging process.
Hormone creation – magnesium actually makes your hormones progesterone, estrogen and testosterone, so if you're getting into perimenopause or are just coming off the Pill and your levels are low, it's a great help to your body.
People with diabetes, intestinal disease, heart disease or kidney disease should not take magnesium before speaking with their health care provider. Overdose. Signs of a magnesium overdose can include nausea, diarrhea, low blood pressure, muscle weakness, and fatigue. At very high doses, magnesium can be fatal.
Carolyn Dean, the following common factors can deplete the body's magnesium and/or increase the demand for magnesium: Supplements and drugs containing caffeine. Diuretics. Certain medications, including proton pump inhibitors, asthma medications, birth control pills, insulin, digitalis, and certain antibiotics.
Since you can't properly metabolize vitamin D without the right level of magnesium, taking vitamin D by itself may not fix a deficiency. Taking vitamin D in large doses can also deplete magnesium, leading to a deficiency or making an existing one worse.
The benefits of magnesium supplementation in healthy individuals aren't clear, but Dr. Nassar says that taking a magnesium supplement every day likely isn't unsafe for most people. Just be sure you're not taking too much magnesium. The maximum dietary allowance for most adults is around 400 mg or less.
One study. View Source of older adults with insomnia found that magnesium supplementation at a dose of 500 milligrams daily for eight weeks helped them fall asleep fast, stay asleep longer, reduced nighttime awakenings, and increased their levels of naturally circulating melatonin.
Magnesium helps to ensure your skin is armoured against external damage as it regulates cellular regeneration and repair. Everyday your skin is under attack from free radicals. This is one of the most important magnesium benefits for skin and hair because it actively helps your skin in terms of protection and recovery.