Magnesium glycinate has been shown to help relieve anxiety and improve sleep quality. If magnesium deficiency causes anxiety or insomnia, besides getting it from food, magnesium glycinate is a good alternative to dietary supplementation.
What is magnesium?
Magnesium is one of the 24 essential vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy life. It plays an important role in many of the body’s functions, but the body cannot produce magnesium on its own and must obtain it through food and supplements.
Studies have shown that magnesium intake can be inadequate and deficient due to a variety of lifestyle factors, such as a high amount of processed foods in the diet, alcohol dependence, or prolonged periods of high stress at work.
How does magnesium relieve anxiety?
When a person is under stress and anxiety, the body will increase the excretion of magnesium. Therefore, if the reserves of magnesium are not replenished, it may seriously affect your mood.
Studies on mice have shown that there is a relationship between insufficient magnesium intake and increased anxiety, and magnesium supplementation can help relieve anxiety in mice.
Magnesium helps improve brain function. It affects the part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which helps regulate the pituitary gland and adrenal glands. These glands are responsible for your stress response.
When you feel stressed, your body is likely to be in a sympathetic state for a long time, and over time, you will feel exhausted. If magnesium can be properly supplemented at this time, it can help you enter a state of rest and digestion, or activate your parasympathetic nerves, thereby relaxing your body, calming emotions, and alleviating anxiety.
Magnesium helps you better sleep.
At present, the number of patients with insomnia in the world has been on the rise due to the accelerated pace of life, increased work pressure, irregular schedules, and other factors. According to a 2012 Iran study, nearly 50% of the elderly suffer from insomnia. Magnesium can effectively reduce insomnia in the elderly. When the researchers added magnesium supplements to the diets of elderly subjects, they experienced longer sleep times and had better sleep efficiency.
Some people suffer from insomnia because they can’t seem to turn off their brains at night. Magnesium can slow your thinking by regulating a neurotransmitter called GABA. And help your body maintain a healthy level of GABA, so you have better sleep. GABA can also help you stay calm while preparing for sleep. This calm ritual can naturally improve your circadian rhythm.
Magnesium can be used as a sleep supplement, it can induce muscle relaxation and relieve stress, help people fall asleep faster, and maintain a long sleep so that the body can enter a more natural sleep cycle, and feel refreshed when waking up.
How to supplement magnesium?
Magnesium plays such a vital role in maintaining our health, but the human body cannot produce magnesium. We need to get it from food or supplements.
- Foods rich in magnesium:
Vegetables: dark leafy greens like spinach and Swiss chard;
Dairy: plain low-fat yogurt and milk;
Nuts: almonds and cashews;
Fruit: bananas, dried apricots;
Legumes: peas, black beans, and peanuts, soybeans, tofu;
Whole grains: brown rice, wheat bran, oats.
- Recommended magnesium supplements:
If the daily diet cannot guarantee adequate magnesium intake, or it has been found that the lack of magnesium affects the health of the body, then taking the internal supplements is a good choice.
Here is recommended an easily absorbed magnesium supplement, magnesium glycinate. It is one of many magnesium supplements that is easily absorbed by the body. Besides, it has few side effects and will not cause adverse reactions such as indigestion even when taken in high doses.
The bottom line:
Magnesium is a significant element for our health. Especially at the moment, people are prone to anxiety and insomnia due to problems such as irregular life and heavy work. Appropriate magnesium supplementation can effectively relieve these two problems.
In addition to the intake of magnesium in food, among many magnesium supplements, magnesium glycinate is recommended, which is easily absorbed and has the least side effects.
Wish you a good mood and restful sleep every day!
