Have you woken up groggy after yet another night of uneasy sleep? Are fatigue and muscle cramps your constant companions? If the answer to all of this is “yes”, then your magnesium levels may be depleted. Magnesium deficiency in the modern lifestyle is extremely common. If you want to return to the days of blissful sleep and energetic mornings, you need to understand why modern lifestyle drains magnesium, and fine-tune your habits for good.
Studies show that magnesium deficiency in India is widespread- with almost 44% of Indian prediabetes patients suffering from it. Globally,almost 60% of adults exhibit effects of magnesium deficiency. This is concerning, because magnesium is a critical nutrient which is vital for over 300 biochemical reactions.
So what causes magnesium deficiency? Today, we are going to look at how lifestyle factors cause magnesium loss, how it affects your body, and what you can do about it.
The good news is that at VitSupp, you can find the best magnesium supplement, which can help you replenish your body and help you get back on track within just two months.
But first, let’s understand the role of magnesium in the human body- and how the body uses it.
Contents
Function of magnesium in the human body
Magnesium participates in over 300 essential biochemical processes that help the body function optimally. It is called a foundational mineral because it works behind the scenes, but its deficiency may lead to acute problems.
Here’s what it helps with:
1. Energy production (ATP activation)
Without magnesium, ATP, the body’s primary energy molecule, cannot function properly. Magnesium helps convert food into energy at a cellular level, which is why magnesium deficiency and fatigue are closely linked.
2. Muscle contraction and relaxation
Magnesium helps muscles contract and relax smoothly. The body uses more magnesium during heavy exercise, which is why doctors often recommend magnesium for muscle relaxation for athletes to aid recovery.
3. Nervous system and sleep regulation
Adequate magnesium for nervous system support is essential because it plays a vital role in moderating neurotransmitter activity. It calms the nervous system, helping the body fall asleep easily and sleep more deeply.
4. Heart rhythm and blood pressure balance
Several studies show that stress heavily influences heart health. Magnesium, by regulating stress, improves cardiovascular functions. Being a natural calcium blocker, magnesium helps relax heart muscles which keeps the heart healthy.
5.Bone structure and calcium metabolism
Magnesium also helps the body absorb calcium better, and in bone mineralization. 60% of your body’s magnesium is stored in bones.
6.Regulating blood sugar levels
As magnesium plays a crucial role in converting food into energy, it also affects insulin sensitivity. Studies show that people with higher magnesium intake often exhibit better insulin sensitivity and have lower blood sugar levels.
7.Stress response and neurotransmitter balance
Stress and magnesium deficiency have a direct link. Magnesium helps regulate neurotransmitters like serotonin, or the happy hormone, and also reduces the production of cortisol, the stress hormone. Low magnesium levels can lead to depressive moods.
Now that we know why we need magnesium, we must understand when our body sends us distress signals. Magnesium is mostly stored in bones, and often, blood tests do not reveal deficiencies. However, there is a wide variety of symptoms that we can pay attention to.
Magnesium deficiency in Modern Lifestyle: Symptoms To Look Out For
Magnesium deficiency often goes undiagnosed. Most magnesium is stored in the bones, which is why blood tests rarely reveal any deficiency. Magnesium deficiency symptoms often overlap with “burnout”. Doctors often treat symptoms individually, and not at a mineral level.
However, you must always be alert for magnesium depletion symptoms, such as:
- Poor or restless sleep
- Feeling of anxiety
- Muscle cramps, aches, and delayed recovery
- Brain fog
- Chronic fatigue
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Constipation
- PMS symptoms
- Increased stress reactivity
So what depletes magnesium from the body? Modern lifestyle and magnesium deficiency are heavily related, office workers, people under chronic stress, and athletes often suffer from it.
Who Is Most at Risk of Magnesium Depletion Today
Not just diabetics or prediabetics, many Indians suffer from magnesium deficiency. Magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyle makes some people more vulnerable, such as:
1.Busy professionals
These are people who are under chronic stress. Sedentary lifestyle and magnesium deficiency are strongly linked, and most professionals today spend long hours sitting. Long commutes, late nights, and a poor diet also deplete magnesium faster.
2.Athletes and fitness enthusiasts
Athletes have a more active lifestyle, and they burn a lot of calories. As the body needs magnesium to transform food into energy, physical exercise demands more from your magnesium reserves. As a result, their lifestyle may lead to magnesium deficiency and muscle cramps, and they need more of this nutrient for recovering faster.
3.Women (PMS, hormonal shifts)
Modern women have a lot on their plates, from office work to household chores, being caregivers, rearing children and often carrying a heavier emotional burden. Add to that hormonal imbalances, pregnancy, menstruation or menopause, you have a lot that depletes their magnesium reserves.
4. People with high stress or poor sleep
Magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyle is a direct product of poor sleep and chronic stress. The bad news is, the more stressed you are, the more magnesium you need. People with demanding lifestyles get stuck in a vicious low-magnesium, high-stress loop, which affects their quality of life severely.
4.People taking certain medications
Low magnesium has been linked to the use of some medications like diuretics, certain antibiotics, PPIs that reduce stomach acid production, or chemotherapy drugs.
While some factors are beyond our control, making some smart lifestyle edits can go a long way in restoring magnesium levels in your body. But in order to do that, you must first understand WHAT depletes magnesium.
Lifestyle factors causing magnesium loss
Magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyle can result from various factors:
1. Chronic Stress and the Magnesium–Stress Loop
When you are stressed, your body demands more magnesium. This causes the body to use your reserves faster. At the same time, depleted magnesium levels worsens stress response- often leading to irregular heartbeat and unregulated production of cortisol. This creates a vicious cycle, resulting in mood swings, poor sleep, feeling of anxiety, brain fog and constant fatigue.
2. Poor Sleep and Circadian Disruption
Poor sleep and magnesium deficiency always form a loop. Low magnesium levels lead to poor sleep, and poor sleep depletes the body’s magnesium levels faster. Insufficient magnesium levels fail to calm the nervous system and regulate the release of neurotransmitters. This triggers stress and irregular heart contractions, which further worsens the problem.
Add to that people pulling late nights, getting screen exposure for more than 12 hours a day and other environmental stressors sending the nervous system into overdrive. With chronic stress, magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyle has led to poor sleep globally, which in the long run leads to even bigger issues.
3. Processed Food and Magnesium Deficiency
A big part of magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyle is caused by modern diets that heavily rely on processed food and refined ingredients. This is especially becoming the norm for the urban populace and busy professionals whose diet is now heavy with white flour, sugar, packaged foods and sugary drinks like processed juices and soda.
Many people today take the easy way out by grabbing some packaged food or takeaways. However, magnesium-rich foods in India are easily available, like nuts, legumes, seeds, and leafy greens.
For people with an active lifestyle, a high fiber or high calcium diet can also lead to magnesium deficiency. In that case, just relying on food is not enough, you also need a good supplement. Check out VitSupp Magnesium formulation, the best magnesium supplement in India.
4. Caffeine, Alcohol, and Stimulant Culture
The rise in consumption of tobacco or alcohol has contributed greatly to magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyles. Apart from the grave impact these incendiary substances have on your health, they also deplete magnesium levels faster.
Chronic alcoholism leads to increased urinary magnesium loss. People who consume alcohol or cigarettes often suffer from digestive issues, stress, and poor sleep, which further leads to magnesium deficiency.
5. Physical Exertion
People who have a very active lifestyle, or are situated in a hot climate zone, often lose magnesium faster due to sweat. This is why magnesium deficiency in India is so widespread.
6. Environmental and Urban Stressors
Many reasons for magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyles can be traced back to environmental and urban stressors. We are living in an era of constant stimulation, pollution, and noise, which leads to stress and other long-term health problems. Hence, our body demands more magnesium to fortify itself and function properly. Unfortunately, as our diets are often insufficient with magnesium, we are left feeling out of sorts and poorly prepared to deal with these stressors.
Our lifestyles are draining magnesium reserves- but our diets are not replenishing us enough. Consider adding a chelated magnesium supplement to your daily routine.
How to restore magnesium levels naturally
Magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyles should be treated in a holistic way. Here are a few pointers:
1. Follow a Healthy Diet
Go for a balanced diet, and include more sources of magnesium in it. Go for:
- Leafy greens- spinach, lettuce
- Legumes- black beans, kidney beans
- Nuts- almonds, peanuts, unsweetened peanut butter
- Grains- brown rice
- Seeds- pumpkin
- White potato with skin
- Soybean
- Banana
- Avocado
- Dark chocolate
2. Manage Stress
Stress and low magnesium levels form a vicious loop. While modern lifestyle is inherently stressful, try to do these on a daily basis:
- Reduce screen time outside work
- Read books instead
- Meditate or just zone out for 30 mins
- Spend time with friends and family
- Take long showers
- Do something that gives you pleasure
- Take a 15-minute walk
3. Manage Your Sleep Schedule
For busy moms and urban professionals, this may be the most difficult part. Still, here are a few things you can try:
- No phone at least an hour before bed
- Go to bed early, wake up early
- Keep the room dark, avoid strong night lights
- Make your bed ready at least an hour before you go to bed
- Put your devices away from your bed
4. Lifestyle Edits
Try incorporating good habits that don’t demand a lot from you, like:
- Cut down on alcohol or tobacco
- 20 minutes walk or other exercise daily
- Practice mindfulness or meditation for 15 minutes
- Take in the early morning sun
- Switch to water from sodas and whole fruits from juices.
5. Magnesium Supplements
At the end of the day, choose a good magnesium supplement that is
- Clean
- Vegetarian
- With the most absorbable form
- Gentle on the gut.
Remember, not all supplements are equal. So if you want to choose the right one, pay attention to the label first.
How to fix magnesium deficiency: the science of absorption
Magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyles cannot be fixed by diet alone. You have to get the right supplements. Most cheap magnesium supplements contain magnesium oxide, which is not readily absorbable. Go for one with magnesium bisglycinate instead, which is a more stable and bioavailable form.
VitSupp Magnesium is a great option that ticks all the boxes. Our products are FSSAI-compliant, lab-tested, and 100% vegetarian. So if you’re looking for a magnesium supplement that actually works, choose VitSupp.
Conclusion
There are no quick fixes for magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyles. Rather, it requires you to take a holistic approach. By understanding why modern lifestyles drain magnesium, we get a better idea of where we can intervene to create a difference. With a little bit of smart lifestyle tweaks, following a healthy diet, building habits that don’t ask a lot of you and choosing the right magnesium supplements, you can restore balance over time.
FAQs:
Magnesium is a foundational nutrient that is vital for many bodily functions- from enzyme and energy production to regulating neurotransmitters and maintaining calcium balance. However, it gets depleted fast when life gets more demanding. Chronic stress, heavy exercise or active lifestyles, hormonal imbalances, lack of sleep, and consumption of packaged or processed foods result in magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyles. The good news is that you can restore your magnesium levels with clean supplements like VitSupp Magnesium supplement, which uses highly absorbable forms and is highly effective.
Stress and magnesium levels are inversely related. One way in which stress depletes magnesium is by triggering cortisol, the stress hormone. Stress also puts the body on high alert, which leads to more adrenaline production. This, in turn, signals the kidneys to pass more urine, which lowers the body’s magnesium reserves. Chronic stress has led to widespread magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyles, and the lower your magnesium levels, the worse your stress response gets. So, it is important to fortify yourself with a chelated magnesium supplement like VitSupp Magnesium supplement, which helps your body retain magnesium for longer and fight stress better.
A big factor for magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyles is poor sleep. When your sleep is disrupted or uneasy, it stresses you out. This leads to the body demanding more magnesium for oxidative purposes. This leads to a vicious loop, magnesium deficiency leads to insomnia and poor sleep, which depletes magnesium faster. If you want a clean, effective magnesium supplement for stress and sleep, choose VitSupp Magnesium supplement. It absorbs better, acts faster, is gentle on the gut, and is 100% vegetarian.
Some common symptoms of magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyles are:
Poor or less sleep
Feeling of restlessness and anxiety
Muscle cramps and aches
Delay in recovery after exercising
Mood swings, brain fog, cognitive confusion
Irregular heartbeat or palpitations
Feeling of tingling in muscles
Magnesium, being a foundational mineral, participates in over 300 biochemical reactions. Most of it is stored in the bones. As a result, even though blood magnesium levels may show normal, you may still have magnesium deficiency. For optimum wellness, supplement your diet and lifestyle with VitSupp Magnesium supplement.
Yes, magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyles can lead to anxiety and fatigue. Magnesium plays a vital role in energy production, so a deficiency will disrupt the normal process and lead to fatigue. Similarly, magnesium plays a big role in calming the nervous system and regulating stress. Low magnesium levels means an agitated nervous system and stress, which further depletes magnesium. To prevent that, go for VitSupp Magnesium supplement, a clean, highly absorbable formulation that works fast and retains magnesium longer.
Yes, magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyles can result in muscle cramps and headaches. Firstly, magnesium helps in energy production, and regulates muscle contraction and relaxation. As a result, a deficiency leads to muscle cramps and slower recovery. This is more pronounced in athletes or fitness enthusiasts. Magnesium also calms the nervous system, regulates neurotransmitter production and overall stress response. Low magnesium levels trigger stress and agitate the nervous system, which can lead to headaches. To prevent it, try VitSupp Magnesium formulation.
Yes, a diet rich in processed or refined foods often leads to magnesium deficiency in modern lifestyle, where consumption of packaged and fast food has increased. In order to get adequate magnesium, one should get more nuts, legumes, leafy greens, soy beans and other natural foods.
However, magnesium depletes faster if you are under chronic stress, have an active lifestyle or suffer from hormonal imbalances. So, along with a good diet, choose a good supplement like VitSupp Magnesium formulation. Our formulation is 100% vegetarian, fast absorbing and highly effective.
Magnesium bisglycinate or magnesium glycinate is the most absorbable form of the mineral. They are also more stable and get to work fast, which puts less pressure on the gut. Thus, if you have a sensitive stomach; shun supplements with magnesium oxide, and go for glycinate and bisglycinate formulations like VitSupp Magnesium supplement. It’s proven to be effective, with fast absorption and a calm stomach.
Magnesium bisglycinate or magnesium glycinate is the most absorbable form of the mineral. They are also more stable and get to work fast, which puts less pressure on the gut. Thus, if you have a sensitive stomach, shun supplements with magnesium oxide, and go for glycinate and bisglycinate formulations like VitSupp Magnesium formulation. It’s proven to be effective, with fast absorption and a calm stomach.
Look for magnesium supplements if you are suffering from one or more of the following symptoms:
Muscle aches and cramps
Chronic fatigue
Feeling of anxiety and restlessness
Irregular heartbeat and palpitations
Brain fog
Mood swings
Poor sleep
Feeling of tingling.
You must talk to a doctor to clarify your symptoms. Most magnesium is stored in your bones, so even people deficient in magnesium may show “normal” levels in their blood. If you need supplementation, consider VitSupp Magnesium supplement. It’s a clean, gut-friendly, highly absorbable formulation, and is 100% vegetarian.
But remember, supplementation alone may not be enough. You should follow a balanced diet and follow a healthy lifestyle for long-term wellness.
