Magnesium is making me feel depressed… Help!

So you’ve started taking magnesium because you’ve heard just how great it is. There’s very little side-effects and you fit all the symptoms of a classic deficiency.

That’s not surprising considering there are estimates that 57% of Americans do not meet the USA recommended daily allowance for magnesium.[1] Plus its likely many of us who have adopted a standard western diet fall into a similar category.

However all those promises of mood regulation, anxiety reduction and general all around positivity are not experienced. In fact could magnesium actually be causing you to be more depressed? The answer is surprisingly, yes.

See it all starts with an actual perceived benefit of magnesium. That is, magnesium is notorious for reducing blood pressure. It’s precisely the reason many of us take it in the first place. Many people’s racing thoughts and anxiety can be caused or exacerbated by uncontrollable high blood pressure. After all, think of the symptoms of high blood pressure and then compare them to anxiety, they are remarkably similar.

What causes a lot of us problems however is supplementing magnesium without a real thought of what it’s doing inside of us.

You’re probably thinking, magnesium reduces blood pressure that’s a good thing right? Well, yes and no.

See many people who suffer from magnesium deficiency will also suffer from a secondary calcium deficiency.[link] This is because magnesium regulates the absorbtion, direction in the body, and homeostasis of calcium. Which can often mean those who suffer from hypomagnesmia (low magnesium) will also suffer from secondary hypocalcemia (low calcium).

Why is this a big deal? Calcium is responsible for a number of bodily processes and is often mistaken for simply “helping bones stay strong”. Whilst that is one of its primary functions it also helps regulate heart health, strengthens blood vessels, keeps teeth & gums strong, maintains alkalinity balance, helps transport minerals more effectively and so on. However there is one important function that many people overlook… Calcium maintains blood pressure. [link] This is because it plays an important role in helping blood vessels tighten and relax when they need to.

But what happens when we’re low in calcium? Our blood vessels can’t contract when they need to which can cause low blood pressure.

What exactly does low blood pressure feel like?

Symptoms of low blood pressure

• Blurred or fading vision
• Nausea
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Fatigue
• Depression
• Lack of concentration
• Fainting

Do any of these sound familiar? What’s more you don’t have to tick every box as everyones body responds to mineral inbalances differently.

However I am here to stress than low calcium absolutely can cause depression or depressive thoughts. [link] This has been studied at length and any reputable source that discusses calcium deficiency symptoms will list depression as a major symptom.

Now you may be thinking I eat calcium rich foods, perhaps dairy if you consume it, or plenty of dark leafy greens as a plant based option. Now both of these are fine, depending on your beliefs. However, calcium levels aren’t simply a measure of how much calcium you consume.

Calcium levels are very much dependent on another cofactor that assists in its absorption and assimilation into the body. This cofactor is vitamin D. [link]

Healthy levels of Vitamin D can help calcium be absorbed up to four times more in the gut. [link] Which means all those calcium dense foods you’ve been consuming will be for nothing if you can’t get your vitamin D levels in check.

The perfect harmony of Calcium, Magnesium & Vitamin D

What’s more there’s a confusing axis with magnesium, calcium and vitamin D. See vitamin D is necessary for correct calcium absorbtion. Magesium is also necessary for correct transportation of calcium. So what happens if we have both low vitamin D and low magnesium? Well we almost certainly end up with low levels of calcium because we’re missing two of the needed cofactors to assist in it’s absorption.

To add to the importance in this supplement trio of confusion, Vitamin D also helps the absorption of magnesium too. I like to think of it this way, magnesium is the taxi of the supplement world. It patiently waits outside the airport terminal and transports all these different minerals to where they need to be.

Now imagine you have low calcium and low magnesium. This means you have a small amount of calcium passengers arriving at the airport and few taxi’s to transport the few guests. An unhealthy, but stable, balance.

When we begin supplementing magnesium we get a huge influx of mineral transporting taxi’s in our body’s airport. But instead of patiently waiting outside the terminal they go actively looking for these calcium passengers and begin transporting them all over town which is good in theory! But if we have hardly any calcium to begin then us supplementing magnesium is going to even more quickly make us notice our calcium deficiencies. Hence, low blood pressure due to magnesium supplementation. 

Now with all that in mind we know its integeral to our health to balance magnesium, calcium and lastly vitamin D.

I do recommend continuing your magnesium intake as its necessary for so much. I secondly recommend assesing your calcium intake. Without a decent amount all of this will be for nothing. Lastly I recommend taking a quality vitamin D supplement to direct your calcium and magnesium into the correct places, as well as a transdermal magnesium spray.