There are plenty of nutrients in food that are necessary for us to consume, and nutrient deficiency problems are associated with various symptoms and diseases. Sometimes, an entire set of signs and symptoms could be taken for a given condition when it is caused by a nutrient deficiency problem that would improve by adopting a balanced diet.
Magnesium is one of the most important minerals in the organism. After sodium, potassium, and calcium, magnesium is one of the most abundant elements in the body, and people sometimes do not know how important it is for the normal function of the muscles, the heart, and to maintain healthy bone mineralization.
In this article, we will provide a list of magnesium deficiency symptoms and will explain each one of them so you can realize how important this element is in human nutrition.
Muscle tremors and cramps
Magnesium is strongly associated with calcium, and there’s a balance between these two elements in almost every tissue in the human body, including the muscle tissue. In here, calcium plays an important role to stimulate the nerve endings and start muscle contraction. Magnesium deficiency causes an aberrant flow of calcium in the nerve cells; they become easily excited and start releasing abnormal nerve impulses to the muscle. This stimulation causes muscle contractions, and when it is severe enough, it could even cause seizures.
Note that muscle cramps and tremors may be caused by a plethora of nutrient imbalances and diseases, and the best way to know which one is affecting you is by performing a series of lab tests and take into consideration other symptoms. Therefore, it is essential to ask your doctor when in doubt and follow his advice for proper management.
Alterations in consciousness
As we have mentioned, severe magnesium deficiency can cause seizures and convulsions. It may also cause a series of alterations in the consciousness ranging from numbness to delirium and even coma. These symptoms appear when the deficiency is severe enough to reach the central nervous system and affect the normal function of the brain. In some cases, magnesium deficiency would manifest as mental confusion; in other cases, it would be apathy and lack of an emotional response. However, every symptom should be taken into consideration because there are plenty of brain issues that may give you alterations in consciousness, and most of them can be life-threatening.
Depression and anxiety
Other mental problems associated with magnesium deficiency are depression and anxiety disorders. There’s a high number of depression and anxiety patients with magnesium deficiency problems, and scientists have concluded that lacking this nutrient gives you a higher risk of depression and may promote anxiety. Note that, even though there’s a proven association, the exact mechanism is not known and we might need to have more evidence before reaching to any definite conclusion. Thus, even though it is a possible symptom, remember depression and anxiety should be treated by a specialist and may require more than an adjustment in the diet to be fixed.
Bone fractures
Magnesium is essential in bone mineralization. Along with calcium, it collaborates in the formation of bone, and magnesium deficiency problems are associated with weak bones, especially at an older age. Osteoporosis is the clinical name of weak or “porous” bones that break easily. It is associated with a higher risk of fractures, especially when paired up with calcium, vitamin D or vitamin K deficiency. Magnesium deficiency lowers the level of calcium in the blood and may cause severe alterations associated with such low levels, and adds up to the risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis. Thus, if you’re trying to improve your bone health or prevent osteoporosis, do not forget the importance of magnesium in your diet.
Digestion problems
Magnesium is strongly associated with a healthy intestinal function, and deficiency problems cause a series of digestive issues. Magnesium is essential to relax the muscles in the outer lining of the intestines, and it is an important laxative because it improves intestinal transit.
Some studies also show that magnesium deficiency may be associated with an increased level of inflammatory markers and may be one of the causes of inflammatory bowel disease. Thus, if you have constipation, nutrient absorption problems, inflammatory bowel disease, or abdominal cramps, you may want to consider magnesium deficiency as one of the possibilities. Of course, each one of them has a series of causes of their own, and only a specialist with a series of blood tests and a thorough physical exam would be able to tell you how to improve your symptoms.
Chronic fatigue
Mental exhaustion is another common side effect of magnesium deficiency associated with the central nervous system. The exact mechanism is not clear, but many patients with chronic fatigue improve their symptoms after fixing their magnesium levels. Thus, magnesium is one of the nutrients usually prescribed to improve chronic fatigue. Of course, tiredness and fatigue are common, and you may feel exhausted after a long day of work, but if you experience persistent fatigue that strikes you even after waking up after a long sleep, you may want to look at the rest of the symptoms in this list and consider magnesium deficiency as one of the likely causes.
Muscle weakness
As noted earlier, magnesium is associated with a normal function in the muscle tissue. In the neuromuscular junction, magnesium deficiency causes an overexcitement of the nerve cells and muscle cramps. However, in the muscle itself, magnesium deficiency is apparently linked with a reduction of potassium inside the muscle fibers, and this causes muscle weakness.
There’s also a muscle weakness syndrome associated with magnesium deficiency called myasthenia, and studies show that serious deficiency problems and associated muscle weakness may even lead to a syndrome called Sudden Infant Death in infants sleeping on their stomach. However, we should not be led to think that all types of muscle weakness require supplementation with magnesium. There are plenty of reasons behind this symptom, and your individual condition should be assessed by a professional before starting a therapeutic program.
Hypertension
Many studies have shown that patients with high blood pressure usually have low levels of magnesium. All seems to point out that magnesium deficiency increases blood pressure readings and may count as another cardiovascular risk associated with heart disease.
Dietary magnesium and magnesium supplements may improve high levels of blood pressure, but they should not be thought of as a sole therapeutic approach to treat hypertension. The exact mechanism by which magnesium is associated with high blood pressure is not entirely understood, and we might need additional studies to include magnesium in the therapeutic guidelines to treat hypertension. If you have high blood pressure readings, do not take it lightly and do not wait for additional symptoms to appear. Ask your physician and run the appropriate tests. Remember that hypertension is often asymptomatic and not doing something about it would lead to progressive cardiovascular disease affecting various organs in the body.
Arrhythmia
As noted in the previous sections, magnesium deficiency is associated with an imbalance in many other minerals inside the cell. Mineral imbalances are quite dangerous, and may even result in alterations in the heartbeat. In this case, magnesium deficiency causes a change in the level of potassium both inside and outside of the cells in the heart muscle. Heart muscle works with a membrane potential that requires a healthy level of potassium on both sides of the cell lining, and this alteration may lead to a chaotic contraction of the heart. This is one of the most serious problems that may result from magnesium deficiency because in severe cases it is associated with blood clot formation, heart attack, fainting, and other cardiovascular problems.
However, in most cases, arrhythmia caused by magnesium deficiency is mild and not every patient has noticeable symptoms. When they do, it is often felt as palpitations, as if the heart was about to leave the chest. Do not take it lightly and if you have any doubt or concern, ask your doctor about your symptoms.
Difficulty breathing
Another important association scientists have made with magnesium deficiency is severe asthma symptoms. Many individuals with asthma would display low levels of magnesium. What’s more, an inhaler with magnesium often improves asthma by relaxing the lung tissue and expanding the airways. Using magnesium supplements to treat asthma is not included in the therapeutic approach because it only helps some individuals. The mechanism is not fully understood, but it may be caused by calcification of the muscles located in the airways that results from a low level of magnesium. Such calcification causes a continuous constriction of the airways and makes it difficult to breathe.
Magnesium deficiency is often overlooked, and in the Western world, it is quite common because the diet is usually lacking magnesium-rich foods such as green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds. If you have experienced the symptoms we have listed above, ask your doctor and run the appropriate tests to rule out magnesium deficiency as a possible cause.