You need magnesium for the growth and proper health of your bones, and it helps keep muscles and nerves in tune. Some doctors use magnesium to treat heart disease when people experience such symptoms as irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, high levels of bad cholesterol and chest pain.
It can also be used to treat such diseases as chronic fatigue, attention deficit disorder, diabetes, kidney stones, migraine headaches, altitude sickness, restless leg syndrome and multiple sclerosis. Some people with skin disorders use it to treat boils, ulcers and infections, with it being particularly effective in severe skin infections caused by strep bacteria. In short, it’s a vital part of your human chemistry, designed to make the body run efficiently and effectively.
There are a lot of food sources that provide magnesium, but most people with a magnesium problem fall short of the required levels, which can cause a series of health problems.
But even worse is getting too much magnesium, which usually results from taking supplements in amounts that exceed recommended dosages. Surprisingly, symptoms are often the same as people with low magnesium, so it’s necessary to ask a few questions to determine whether you are on the high or low end of the magnesium spectrum before attempting any experiments with your body’s chemistry.
If you take too much magnesium, you could suffer from lethargy, muscle weakness, irregular heartbeat, urine retention, nausea and vomiting. If there are underlying health issues with your heart, kidneys or other organs, a magnesium overdose could have severe consequences, and may even lead to death in extreme cases.
It’s particularly important to pay attention if you’re taking milk of magnesia, antacids or other over-the-counter medications that have strong doses of magnesium as part of their chemistry. It’s easy to exceed your recommended daily dosage if you’re not aware of how much you’re ingesting.
FIBER IS A SOURCE
Fiber is one of the biggest sources of magnesium. Foods that contain high levels of it include vegetables like squash, green, leafy vegetables, broccoli, legumes, whole grains, nuts (almonds are super-magnesium carriers) and seeds. Meats, dairy, chocolate and coffee also contain doses of magnesium, and even water with a high mineral content (sometimes referred to as “hard water”) contains it.
As might be expected when green leafy vegetables are in play, magnesium helps regulate bowel movements. It can also help with acid indigestion.
All good, right? But some athletes take magnesium to increase endurance and energy. And when they take too much of it, they may experience the classic symptoms of magnesium overdose, which include diarrhea, nausea, loss of appetite, difficulty breathing, muscle weakness, low blood pressure and irregular heartbeat. As magnesium can help regulate the body, it also can stress your chemistry if too much is ingested. And again, if there are underlying conditions with the heart, kidney or other organs, a magnesium overdose of may have dire consequences.
PROBLEMS CAN ARISE
When ambitious athletes decide to take magnesium supplements, they often do it with off-the-shelf products and without medical supervision. That usually results in taking way too much. As with other drugs, many athletes gradually rationalize the use, feeling if one tablet works, maybe two will produce twice the effects.
Unfortunately, like alcohol on New Year’s Eve, too much of a good thing can produce unwanted results and sometimes serious medical side effects. You should always get a doctor or trainer to approve your ingestion of health supplements.
There are no statistics on those whose magnesium levels exceed the limits. Most people who do not take supplements are within tolerable limits, and it’s hard to exceed those limits through mere food, as magnesium excess is excreted through urine.
The National Institutes of Health recommend men and women limit their daily intake to 350 milligrams, although some recommended daily allowances for men allow up to 420 milligrams. There is no established tolerance level below that for younger children. The limits should prevent most unpleasant and potentially dangerous side effects from a magnesium overdose.
If you ingested magnesium supplements and feel like you may have overdosed, see a doctor immediately. The usual symptoms start with diarrhea and nausea but can progress to cardiac arrest and kidney failure if left untreated.
If you’re taking medications to treat osteoporosis, it’s particularly important to watch out for any additional magnesium intake because the medication contains a high dose of the mineral. Medications like doxycycline, minocycline and Tetracycline Hydrochloride are particular medications that magnesium can interact with negatively when ingested in large quantities. If you are on diabetes medicines like Glipizide or Glyburide, magnesium supplements can lower blood sugar to a level that leads to such symptoms as blurred vision, sweating, headache, nervousness and tremors.
Of particular note is the anti-seizure medication Neurontin, which is used at times as a behavioral medication. Many children are on this medication, and high magnesium levels can limit its absorption.
Overall, you have little to worry about when it comes to magnesium levels. Most people will get plenty of the mineral simply by following a normal diet and ingesting an adequate amount of fruits, vegetables, protein and whole grains. Unless you’re gobbling supplements, there’s not much to worry about. But always consult your doctor before starting any supplement regimen. They are medical professionals trained to know which interaction may result from your ingestion of excessive magnesium.