Magnesium is a vital mineral which our body needs for various functions – making proteins, producing energy, muscle contraction, controlling blood sugar, making DNA & giving nerve signals
Mineral is essentially a micronutrient & is required in small quantities. The average adult body contains 25 grams of magnesium. Majority of this is stored in bones & tissues. Magnesium is also present in the bloodstream although the level of magnesium in the bloodstream is kept constant. Kidneys play an important role in regulating the level of magnesium & alter the degree to which they secret magnesium into urine.
In order to be alive, our body is required to carry out a lot of chemical reactions every second. To ensure this, these reactions are catalysed by biological molecules called enzymes. These enzymes also require a cofactor to carry out these chemical reactions. These cofactors include vitamins, zinc, iron, copper & magnesium. 300 different enzymes in our body use magnesium as a cofactor. These enzymes & magnesium are therefore involved in a lot of important bodily processes in cells & tissues. As discussed above, magnesium is a cofactor for enzymes in cell respiration- a process by which cell products chemical energy from glucose. Enzymes that make DNA & protein molecules also require magnesium.
For nerves to send signals & muscles to contract, your nerve & muscle cells must control the concentration & movement of potassium, sodium & calcium ions. To facilitate this, your nerve & muscle cells have specialised pumps that move between inside & outside of cells. Lot of these specialised pumps need magnesium to function. Magnesium also act as cofactor for secretion & function of insulin- a hormone that regulates our blood sugar levels.
Our cells & tissues need chemical energy to function efficiently. For example our muscles use chemical energy in the form of ATP to contract & move our body. Our cell generates this energy by breakdown of glucose. However to do this our cells need glucose where the role of insulin comes into picture.
Insulin is a transport hormone that transports glucose ( converted from the food we eat) to different cells & tissues from where cells use this glucose to generate chemical energy. In case of muscles, our muscle cells have specific receptors for insulin on their surface. When insulin binds to these receptors, it triggers a series of chemical reactions which makes your muscle cells embed specialised glucose transporter proteins(GLUT 4 transporters) on their surface which allows passage of glucose from blood to cells.
Magnesium is a cofactor for enzymes associated with the insulin receptor & therefore is considered to be a very important element in chemical reactions that result in embedding of these transporter proteins in cell protein. Beides, Magnesium is also involved in secretion & production of insulin by Pancreas. Lower level of Magnesium is associated with poor insulin function. This essentially means that it becomes difficult for cells to take glucose from the bloodstream to generate energy. In such a scenario, glucose levels in the bloodstream begin to rise. In long term such an elevated blood sugar level can damage blood vessels & create chronic inflammation
If you have poor insulin function & high level of blood sugar, your body will compensate by producing more insulin. Unfortunately, this may further lower magnesium level since insulin causes kidneys to excrete more magnesium into urine. Therefore, people with poor insulin function are at greater risk of lower magnesium level & are advised to increase magnesium consumption through diet.
Given that your blood sugar, insulin level & magnesium are interrelated, genetics that impact your blood sugar level & insulin level will also have an impact on your magnesium level. Variant of PPARG gene which impact your blood sugar & insulin level will also have an impact on magnesium level. People carrying such variant &/or having high genetic risk to high blood sugar level should include high intake of magnesium in their diet. Besides, there are other gene variant-TRPM gene that impact transport, metabolism & excretion of magnesium
If you do a lot of endurance & HIIT training, you may need more magnesium in your diet. The reason is your muscle is working hard for a longer period of time & therefore putting more pressure on metabolic & energy producing pathways that use Magnesium as pathways. Besides, Magnesium is also secreted during high intense endurance training, thereby placing a higher need for a high Magnesium focussed diet.
Food rich in Magnesium include legumes, nuts,peanuts, almonds, cashew, spinach, soybeans, green leafy vegetables, seeds & whole grains.
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