# Is Magnesium Deficiency a Silent Epidemic In the U.S.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725 "2013-08-08T17:14:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/21 "2013-08-09T12:32:45Z")
It seems to me that what used to be reporting is increasingly the venue of copywriters who need you to click through so you’ll consume the ads. Careful analysis is increasingly lost not just in the exaggerated headlines, but silly taglines and sound bites in the body of a piece as well. If magnesium deficiency is a silent epidemic that is killing us, why are we living longer? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/22 "2013-08-09T12:46:22Z")
Yea, I was thinking that - seems not so very long since the last time I heard “… is KILLING AMERICA!!!1!”. If all these things are killing people, why aren’t they dead? ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/23 "2013-08-09T13:46:22Z")
With Americans so poor in essential vitamins and nutrients, it hits the cannibals the hardest. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/24 "2013-08-09T16:22:08Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Sure, I’m not proposing a Magnesium-sufficient diet based on chocolate and nuts - only echoing **njtt** ’s point that Magnesium is in just about everything, including stuff that people eat quite a lot (maybe too much). OK, but it’s not like boron or vanadium say that either don’t established requirements or for which you need vanishingly little. For example your glutamatergic neurons like those with AMPA and NMDA receptors need magnesium to function properly, and that’s just one example. It’s an important nutrient. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/25 "2013-08-09T16:38:39Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > If magnesium deficiency is a silent epidemic that is killing us, why are we living longer? It’s _very_ silent. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/26 "2013-08-09T16:55:51Z")
To the chocolate issue - It is pretty easy to buy unsweetened raw cacao powder. 14 g of that, 60 KCal worth, contains 92 mg of magnesium, 23% of RDA, (plus 3 g of protein in the bargain) and adds flavor to a smoothie or plain yogurt quite nicely. Also noted for decent levels of a wide variety of antioxidants. But don’t forget the bottom line here: eat a diet high in a variety of vegetables, fruits, unsalted nuts, seeds, legumes, tubers, whole grain high fiber grains, etc. and you are covered and not only for magnesium. (Which is not to claim anything wrong with dairy, poultry, fish, other seafood, meat, etc., as part of the mix too!) Waste your intake on lower nutritional value foods (like highly refined carbs and foods with lots of added sugar and fats) and surprise surpise you may not be. This aint that complicated. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/27 "2013-08-09T20:11:22Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > OK, but it’s not like boron or vanadium say that either don’t established requirements or for which you need vanishingly little. For example your glutamatergic neurons like those with AMPA and NMDA receptors need magnesium to function properly, and that’s just one example. It’s an important nutrient. Divalent magnesium ions are needed to stabilize DNA and RNA, and most enzymes that use nucleotide triphosphates (e.g. ATP or GTP) use magnesium ions as a [cofactor. [QUOTE] Mg2+ is the fourth most abundant metal ion in cells (in moles) and the most abundant free divalent cation — as a result it is deeply and intrinsically woven into cellular metabolism. Indeed, Mg2±dependent enzymes appear in virtually every metabolic pathway: specific binding of Mg2+ to biological membranes is frequently observed, Mg2+ is also used as a signalling molecule, and much of nucleic acid biochemistry requires Mg2+, including all reactions which require release of energy from ATP.[33][34][13] In nucleotides, the triple phosphate moiety of the compound is invariably stabilized by association with Mg2+ in all enzymic processes. [QUOTE] ([Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_in_biology)) This nicely summarized what you can find in any biochemistry textbook. Magnesium ions are also present in “hard” water and mineral water (magnesium and calcium both contribute to water hardness). Magnesium and calcium compete for uptake , therefore excess magnesium uptake can interfere with calcium uptake. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/28 "2013-08-09T20:39:03Z")
I’m not sure what you point was but, from [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_synapse#Synaptic_transmission) > [@](#): > > The NMDAR is functionally similar to AMPAR except for two major differences: NMDARs carry ion currents composed of Na+, K+, but also (unlike most AMPAR) Ca2+; NMDARs also have a site inside their ion channel that binds magnesium ions (Mg2+). This magnesium binding site is physically located in the channel at a place within the electrical field generated by the membrane potential. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/29 "2013-08-09T20:55:39Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > OK, but it’s not like boron or vanadium say that either don’t established requirements or for which you need vanishingly little. For example your glutamatergic neurons like those with AMPA and NMDA receptors need magnesium to function properly, and that’s just one example. It’s an important nutrient. Yes it is an important nutrient, but this is like saying that carbohydrate is an important nutrient. It (magnesium even more than carbohydrate!) is an important nutrient for _everything_ alive, and thus is in virtually _everything_ you eat. This means that no-one, not even people with seriously weird, poor, restricted diets, is not getting a fair amount of magnesium in their diet, and very few people are likely not to be getting enough. AFAIK, there is little evidence that humans need boron or vanadium in their diet at all. A better example might be selenium, which is a necessary micronutrient (in very small quantities), and which you might get a deficiency in from some eccentric sorts of diet. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/30 "2013-08-09T21:09:56Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Yes it is an important nutrient, but this is like saying that carbohydrate is an important nutrient. It (magnesium even more than carbohydrate!) is an important nutrient for _everything_ alive, and thus is in virtually _everything_ you eat. This means that no-one, not even people with seriously weird, poor, restricted diets, is not getting a fair amount of magnesium in their diet, and very few people are likely not to be getting enough. > > AFAIK, there is little evidence that humans need boron or vanadium in their diet at all. A better example might be selenium, which is a necessary micronutrient (in very small quantities), and which you might get a deficiency in from some eccentric sorts of diet. I guess you didn’t read the quote earlier in the thread from the NIH. I reproduce the entire quote on magnesium deficiency here: > [@](#): > > Even though dietary surveys suggest that many Americans do not get recommended amounts of magnesium, symptoms of magnesium deficiency are rarely seen in the US. However, there is concern that many people may not have enough body stores of magnesium because dietary intake may not be high enough. Having enough body stores of magnesium may be protective against disorders such as cardiovascular disease and immune dysfunction [[7-8](http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/#en7)]. > The health status of the digestive system and the kidneys significantly influence magnesium status. Magnesium is absorbed in the intestines and then transported through the blood to cells and tissues. Approximately one-third to one-half of dietary magnesium is absorbed into the body [[9-10](http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/#en9)]. Gastrointestinal disorders that impair absorption such as Crohn’s disease can limit the body’s ability to absorb magnesium. These disorders can deplete the body’s stores of magnesium and in extreme cases may result in magnesium deficiency. Chronic or excessive vomiting and diarrhea may also result in magnesium depletion [[1](http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/#en1),[10](http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/#en10)]. > Healthy kidneys are able to limit urinary excretion of magnesium to make up for low dietary intake. However, excessive loss of magnesium in urine can be a side effect of some medications and can also occur in cases of poorly-controlled diabetes and alcohol abuse [[11-18](http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/#en11)]. > Early **signs of magnesium deficiency** include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and weakness. As magnesium deficiency worsens, numbness, tingling, muscle contractions and cramps, seizures (sudden changes in behaviors caused by excessive electrical activity in the brain), personality changes, abnormal heart rhythms, and coronary spasms can occur [[1](http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/#en1),[3-4](http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/#en3)]. Severe magnesium deficiency can result in low levels of calcium in the blood (hypocalcemia). Magnesium deficiency is also associated with low levels of potassium in the blood (hypokalemia) [[1](http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/#en1),[19-20](http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/#en19)]. > Many of these symptoms are general and can result from a variety of medical conditions other than magnesium deficiency. It is important to have a physician evaluate health complaints and problems so that appropriate care can be given. edit: so while fully manifested deficiency symptoms are rare, do not equate that with “getting enough.” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/31 "2013-08-09T22:25:30Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > I guess you didn’t read the quote earlier in the thread from the NIH. I reproduce the entire quote on magnesium deficiency here: > edit: so while fully manifested deficiency symptoms are rare, do not equate that with “getting enough.” I read it. I am not denying that magnesium deficiency is a thing, or that it can be serious (though, i think, very easily treated) on the rare occasions that it does actually occur. What I am denying, however, is that magnesium deficiency of any clinical significance is widespread, or ever likely to be. The fact that some people do not meet some arbitrary, bureaucratically set norm (usually set very high out of an excess of caution), is not evidence that they actually have a problem. It is not a “silent epidemic”. This is just scaremongering in order to get people to buy supplements the don’t need. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/32 "2013-08-09T22:35:51Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I read it. I am not denying that magnesium deficiency is a thing, or that it can be serious (though, i think, very easily treated) on the rare occasions that it does actually occur. What I am denying, however, is that magnesium deficiency of any clinical significance is widespread, or ever likely to be. The fact that some people do not meet some arbitrary, bureaucratically set norm (usually set very high out of an excess of caution), is not evidence that they actually have a problem. It is not a “silent epidemic”. This is just scaremongering in order to get people to buy supplements the don’t need. Didn’t I just say clinical deficiency is rare? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/33 "2013-08-10T00:16:35Z")
If loss of appetite is a symptom, then I am definitely safe. ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/34 "2013-08-10T03:44:07Z")
I take a magnesium supplement and I do notice that my sleep and mood is better when I take it. I’ve wondered if the reason we don’t get enough magnesium now is that we drink more processed water. Bottled waters and city water are filtered to a high degree. Maybe back when we all drank well water or water straight from a spring or river we got more magnesium and other dissolved minerals. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/35 "2013-08-10T04:37:41Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > Didn’t I just say clinical deficiency is rare? No, you didn’t, not really. More to the point, you strongly implied that large numbers of people are not getting enough, and I am saying that is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/36 "2013-08-10T04:44:18Z")
> [@Lightlystarched](#): > > I take a magnesium supplement and I do notice that my sleep and mood is better when I take it. > > I’ve wondered if the reason we don’t get enough magnesium now is that we drink more processed water. Bottled waters and city water are filtered to a high degree. Maybe back when we all drank well water or water straight from a spring or river we got more magnesium and other dissolved minerals. Filtering does not remove dissolved minerals (and any magnesium salts in the water would indeed be dissolved). However, water has never been a important source of dietary magnesium. As I have pointed out several times it is in food, all food (except for highly refined flavorings like sugar and salt). What you are noticing is almost certainly a placebo effect. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/37 "2013-08-10T04:45:10Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > No, you didn’t, not really. More to the point, you strongly implied that large numbers of people are not getting enough, and I am saying that is bullshit. If I have to choose between your expertise and the NIH, guess who loses? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/38 "2013-08-10T04:51:47Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > If I have to choose between your expertise and the NIH, guess who loses? 😛 You could make the attempt to follow my arguments I suppose, but apparently that is beyond you. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/39 "2013-08-10T04:52:47Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > You could make the attempt to follow my arguments I suppose, but apparently that is beyond you. Funny, I was going to say much the same thing. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725/40 "2013-08-10T04:54:01Z")
I read—okay, skimmed— the article a couple of times and couldn’t find any other details on the “50 studies” mentioned in the article title. That said, worthless anecdote: I developed an annoying lower eyelid twitch that went on almost continuously for many months, and in one of my desperate searches saw magnesium recommended as a possible cure. I took a supplement for a few weeks and it stopped. Maybe it worked, or quite possibly was sheer coincidence. I quit taking magnesium a couple of years ago and it hasn’t returned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-magnesium-deficiency-a-silent-epidemic-in-the-u-s/665725.md?page=3)