Magnesium homeostasis is primarily maintained by a dynamic interplay among three key organs: the intestines, bones, and kidneys.
Health Risks from Excessive Magnesium
Although the risk of acquiring too much magnesium from food is low among healthy people, high doses of magnesium from dietary supplements or medications can cause diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal cramping.
Three organs are responsible for maintaining normal magnesium levels, including your:
Causes of Hypomagnesemia
Usually, the magnesium level becomes low because people consume less (most often, because of starvation) or because the intestine cannot absorb nutrients normally (called malabsorption). But sometimes hypomagnesemia develops because the kidneys or intestine excrete too much magnesium.
Mg is essential in the metabolism of vitamin D, and taking large doses of vitamin D can induce severe depletion of Mg. Adequate magnesium supplementation should be considered as an important aspect of vitamin D therapy.
Your body needs magnesium to function normally. Symptoms of magnesium deficiency include low appetite, nausea or vomiting, muscle spasms or tremors and abnormal heart rhythms.
Your body tightly controls the amount of magnesium in your blood mainly through your: Kidneys. They filter extra magnesium from your blood and get rid of it through urine (pee). If your magnesium level is low, your kidneys limit the amount lost through urine.
It often interacts directly with vitamins, sometimes in an interdependent way. The fact is, they cannot work without each other. Magnesium is involved in the conversion and activation of vitamin D, while vitamin D is important for magnesium absorption.
Occasionally, a high dosage of magnesium from supplements or medications can cause mild symptoms of an overdose, including diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps. The following forms of magnesium are most likely to cause these symptoms: magnesium carbonate. magnesium chloride.
Chocolate – Chocolate cravings can indicate a hidden magnesium deficiency. If you frequently reach for chocolate, incorporate more magnesium-rich foods into your diet, such as nuts, spinach, raspberries, pumpkin seeds and raisins. Salty snacks – When only potato chips will do, you might have low potassium levels.
The causes of magnesium deficiency include: Chronic diarrhea. Frequent vomiting. Malabsorption, due to a digestive condition, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), or a procedure that removes part of the small intestine, namely weight loss surgery.
Culprit medications linked to hypomagnesemia include antibiotics (e.g. aminoglycosides, amphotericin B), diuretics, antineoplastic drugs (cisplatin and cetuximab), calcineurin inhibitors, and proton pump inhibitors.
The main function of the parathyroid glands is to make the parathyroid hormone (PTH). This chemical regulates the amounts of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium in the bones and blood.
Magnesium also acts an electrical conductor that contracts muscles and makes the heart beat steadily. More than half of the magnesium in our body is stored in bones, and the remaining in various tissues throughout the body.
A deficiency is when you have lower than normal levels of a nutrient. It's not common to have magnesium deficiency. Doctors don't test for magnesium levels in routine blood tests. But there are signs and symptoms that may tell them it's time to check out your magnesium levels.
And taking vitamin D in large doses can also deplete magnesium, leading to a magnesium deficiency — or making an existing one worse.
Achieving 100% of the daily recommended magnesium intake can be accomplished by eating foods rich in magnesium, such as:
Vitamin D and calcium
The active form of vitamin D (calcitriol) may slightly increase intestinal magnesium absorption (6).
Key Takeaways. Vitamin B12 and magnesium play complementary roles in energy production, nervous system support, and muscle function. Taking them together is safe and may even enhance absorption and effectiveness when included as part of a balanced daily routine.