Magnesium Rich Foods

Magnesium rich foods are critical to our diet but many of us actually go short and suffer from it daily.

We feel under par but don't realise tiredness, headaches, bad sleep and anxiety - that get much worse during periods and perimenopause - can be clear signs of low magnesium.

But it is easy to eat more magnesium rich food and boost magnesium fast and the benefits can be massive.

So in this guide we'll look at:

1. Signs of low magnesium
2. Benefits of magnesium
3. How much magnesium we need
4. Problems absorbing magnesium
5. How to raise magnesium fast
6. PLUS magnesium rich food you can easily include in your diet.

I do hope it helps. It is a big guide so bookmark or save for quick reference.

This is not medical advice. Always seek qualified medical advice for ongoing symptoms of ill health.

What Are Signs Of Low Magnesium?

Common signs and symptoms of low magnesium intake include :

• Muscle spasms & cramp
• Restless legs
• Pins & needles
• Painful heavy periods
• PMS
• Constipation
• Low energy levels
• Poor sleep
• Headaches
• Low mood
• Erratic emotions
• Anxiety
• Oily skin with acne & blackheads
• Frizzy hair
• Palpitations - check this guide on seeing a doctor for palpitations.

Magnesium deficiency symptoms can overlap with iron deficiency symptoms but two tell tale signs of magnesium deficiency are :

1. Muscle cramps
2. Restless legs.

Magnesium & Cramp

Magnesium helps muscles relax so magnesium deficiency can leave muscles painfully contracted.

Muscle cramps from low magnesium can commonly be an issue at night.

Magnesium & Restless Legs

Magnesium deficiency can also be a common trigger for restless legs.

Magnesium balances out the effects of calcium in our body and if we are short on magnesium calcium can over trigger nerves in our legs.

Benefits Of Magnesium

The benefits of magnesium can be dramatic and transform our personal wellbeing. Raising our magnesium to healthy levels can :

1. Balance hormones
2. Help us sleep longer
3. Relieve menstrual issues including PMS symptoms, heavy periods & painful cramping
4. Ease lower back pain
5. Boost mood whilst easing symptoms of depression & anxiety
6. Smooth hair & tame frizz
7. Prevent oily skin & spots.

Is Magnesium Good For Hormonal Imbalance?

Magnesium is critical for balancing the key hormones supporting sleep, reproduction, stress & metabolism.

Magnesium & Sleep

Magnesium stabilises the "sleep hormone" melatonin that we need to fall asleep in the evening.

Magnesium also helps us sleep longer by regulating neural transmission during sleep. This stops every little sound and movement disturbing us and protects our rest.

Magnesium & Menstruation

Healthy magnesium levels help smooth oestrogen and progesterone fluctuations in our menstrual cycle.

This eases PMS symptoms such as :

• Bloating
• Constipation
• Anxiety
• Anger
• Fatigue.

Optimal magnesium levels can also relax muscles to ease painful cramping and reduce heavy periods.

Magnesium & Back Pain

Magnesium ensures muscles relax properly without spasms and help prevent chronic lower back pain.

Magnesium & Skin Problems

Magnesium stabilises hormones that trigger excess oil production, spots and blackheads. Healthy levels can prevent blackheads and acne.

Can Magnesium Boost Mood?

Magnesium can boost and balance mood as it stabilises production of :

1. Thyroid hormones
2. Cortisol
3. Insulin.

Low thyroid hormones are tied to depression, whilst excess cortisol triggers stress and unstable insulin levels contribute to erratic emotions.

Raising magnesium levels can transform everyday wellbeing and we can do it easily without supplements.

How Can I Raise My Magnesium Levels Quickly?

Our first thought at mention of any deficiency is to pop another pill.

But we can raise magnesium levels quickly, easily and more effectively with a simple balanced diet.

In the following sections we'll dive into the detail of how to eat a range of the best magnesium rich food.

But these 3 easy daily habits can raise magnesium levels fast :

1. 2 cups of green leafy veg
2. Small handful of nuts & seeds
3. Helping of great quality dairy or non-dairy milk.

Focus on these simple habits every day and you'll quickly enjoy the benefits of more magnesium.

How Much Magnesium Do We Actually Need Daily?

Our daily magnesium need vary during our life. Teenage girls actually require more than adult women.

Basic daily requirements are :

• 310-30 mg for adult women
• 360 mg for teenage girls
• 400-20 mg for teenage & adult men

1 cup of spinach has about 150mg of magnesium so it doesn't look too hard to get enough does it?

But it's not quite so simple due to something called bioavailability.

Bioavailability Of Magnesium

In plain language it means our body doesn't absorb all the magnesium in food and how much we do varies.

Bioavailability in spinach can be as low as 25% so a cup of spinach may only give us 35-40 mg of magnesium whilst a glass of milk with 65mg and 75% bioavailability could give 50 mg.

Don't be fooled by food labels that only list mg and not bioavailability!

Other nutrients also impact in take of magnesium. It isn't typically an issue in a balanced diet & meals but supplements can cause problems.

So it helps to know how to increase absorption of dietary magnesium.

How To Increase Magnesium Absorption

The 6 simplest ways to increase magnesium in take from food are :

1. Get enough sunlight to prevent persistent vitamin D deficiency
2. Skip zinc supplements - get zinc from red meat, shell fish & nuts
3. Skip calcium supplements - get from dairy, nuts, seeds & green veg
4. Eat balanced meals containing protein & insoluble fibre
5. Go easy on tannin rich tea
6. Quit smoking.

You will find crazy complicated magnesium boosting tips out there on everything from balancing phytic and oxalic acid to never touching calcium within 2 hours of a meal!!

Don't go there!!

Our body is incredibly clever at absorbing optimal mineral levels from a balanced diet.

The 7th best thing to do to boost magnesium fast is eat a good range of these magnesium rich foods.

Food High In Magnesium

It is very easy to add a wide range of magnesium rich foods to our diet.

Ideally we want to enjoy food rich in magnesium from each of these food groups every day :

1. Dark leafy greens
2. Dairy
3. Seafood
4. Other vegetables
5. Nuts & seeds
6. Beans & pulses
7. Fruit
8. Traditional grains
9. More food high in magnesium

Magnesium Rich Leafy Greens

Dark leafy greens are a brilliant source of magnesium.

As we have seen we don't absorb most of the magnesium in green vegetables but two good helpings of leafy greens every day will give us over 30% of the daily magnesium we need. So try to ensure your family enjoy two helpings of these every day :

• Spinach
• Swiss chard
• Beet greens
• Kale
• Collard greens
• Turnip greens
• Broccoli
• Brussel sprouts
• Cabbage

Levels of minerals like magnesium and iron drop fairly quickly in green leafy vegetables once harvested so growing your own in a little garden is a green idea. Just a few pots of cut-and-come-again spinach, cabbage & chard on a patio or balcony can keep you in fresh greens.

Magnesium Rich Dairy

A good sized glass of full fat milk (16 oz) or a natural yoghurt (6oz / 170g ) can each give us 15-20% of our daily magnesium requirement. So children having milk on cereal, eating a daily gut healthy yoghurt and a cup of bedtime milk should be getting a good 40% of the magnesium they need daily.

Cheese isn't as rich in magnesium but a portion of most cheeses can give us roughly 5% of our daily magnesium whilst the following can push that up to 8% or so :

• Parmesan
• Ricotta
• Romano cheese
• Gruyere

Magnesium Rich Seafood

Some fish and seafood are especially rich in magnesium. Mackerel is richest with a good 20-25% of our daily magnesium typically absorbed from a mackerel fillet.

Some shell fish are also very rich in mackerel including :

• Oysters
• Whelks
• Crab

And other commonly available fish can give us 15% or our daily magnesium :

• Tuna
• Cod
• Pollock
• Bass
• Salmon

More Magnesium Rich Vegetables

A number of other vegetables in addition to green leafy veg are rich in magnesium. A good sized helping of all of these vegetables can give us another 10% of so our daily magnesium :

• Acorn squash - 20%
• Globe artichokes
• Baked potatoes
• Green peas
• Sweet potatoes
• Okra
• Sweet corn
• Rutabaga / swede

Magnesium Rich Nuts & Seeds

A good sized handful - about 1oz / 30g - of seeds & nuts can give us 15 to 20% of our daily magnesium. All of these nuts and seeds are high in magnesium :

• Hemp
• Pumpkin & squash seeds
• Flax seeds
• Brazil nuts
• Sesame seeds
• Chia seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Cashews
• Almonds
• Cashew butter
• Pine nuts
• Walnuts
• Peanuts
• Peanut butter

Nuts and seeds are obviously especially valuable for vegetarians and vegans as they are rich in iron. They are also a really important source for all of us of fatty acids that play a key role in balancing hormones.

Magnesium Rich Pulses

A good sized helping of many different beans and pulses contains 15% of our daily magnesium needs :

• Black beans
• Edamame
• Liam beans
• Navy beans
• White beans
• Black beans
• Adzukii
• Mungo

Beans and pulses - like nuts - are obviously critical for vegans and vegetarians as again they are rich in iron.

But they are important for all of us as along with nuts & seeds they play a key role in balancing hormones that isn't easily met by other foods.

Magnesium Rich Fruit

Most fruit aren't massively high in magnesium but if we hit a daily target of 3 portions of different fruit, they can together add up to another 15% of our daily magnesium needs. It's a good idea to try and get both some of the tropical fruits and some berries every day :

• Yellow plantain
• Passion fruit
• Avocados
• Grape juice
• Bananas
• Guava
• Raspberries
• Logan berries
• Blackberries
• Kiwi
• Papaya

Raspberries have all sorts of different health benefits - including quick constipation relief - and it is actually super easy to grow raspberries in a small space if you only have a tiny garden. Blackberries are another all round super food - again great to eat for constipation - and can be picked for free in the summer.

Traditional Grains High In Magnesium

Lots of us struggle with a diet overloaded with highly processed wheat and rice but many traditional grains that have gone out of fashion in the last 50 years are much gentler on our digestion and are rich in magnesium :

• Buckwheat
• Oats
• Quinoa
• Amaranth
• Cornmeal
• Sorghum flour
• Spelt

Buckwheat isn't actually strictly speaking a grain. It's a gluten free seed. But it's rich in a range of minerals including magnesium. One portion can give us as much as 35% of our daily magnesium requirement. If you haven't tried buckwheat before check out these recipe ideas:

More Foods High In Magnesium

If you are a vegan or vegetarian and still need some additional ways to raise your magnesium levels, these foods are all good sources with a good 10 to 20% of our daily requirement per helping :

• Tofu
• Tempeh
• Dark chocolate
• Coconut milk
• Soya milk

I really do hope you find this guide useful and that it helps you raise magnesium levels quickly if you or your family are suffering any of those tell tale signs of magnesium deficiency. If you found it helpful do bookmark or save for quick reference later and please do share with friends.

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Original images : Background from green leaves mangold with water drops by Marco Verch under Creative Commons 2.0