50 | HealthLinksSC.com An easy way to add magnesium is to buy a bag of pumpkin seeds and add them to salads, vegetables and smoothies or eat them as a snack, Oswalt notes. A quarter-cup of pumpkin seeds provides 42 mg of magnesium. TO SUPPLEMENT OR NOT TO SUPPLEMENT? For those who follow the standard American diet, due to busy schedules or the inability to prepare healthy meals every day, there are magnesium supplements available. Magnesium is found in some multivitamins but can also be purchased separately in a capsule, tablet or powder form. It’s also produced in different formulas, based on the preferred benefit: • Magnesium glycinate — calming, good for people who have difficulty sleeping, helps with depression and anxiety. • Magnesium threonate — crosses the blood brain barrier, supportive of brain health including memory, brain development, learning and support for migraine headaches. • Magnesium taurate — promotes heart health, muscle contractions for movement including the heart pumping and reduces blood pressure. • Magnesium citrate — aids in digestion and regularity. • Magnesium oxide — used for heart disease and bone health. There are also combination formulas available like Tri-Magnesium, that attempt to combine the benefits of several supplement types. Before considering a supplement, the individual’s primary care provider should be consulted, both dietitians explain, as there can be contraindications with medications and medical conditions. An individual taking heart medications or antibiotics or who has renal disease finds that magnesium may decrease the effectiveness of their medications. Can there be too much? Magnesium does not prove harmful to the body unless high doses are ingested, Oswalt notes. Gastrointestinal issues can result as magnesium is often used to combat constipation and irregularity. “As long as you’re looking at the appropriate dose that’s on the bottle and sticking to that, you should be fine,” she explains. “But if you take too much, you might have some GI issues, especially if you have a sensitive stomach, like nausea, stomach pain or cramping, and then it could lead to serious issues like irregular heartbeat and heart attack.” In addition to following the recommended dosage, Oswalt suggests reviewing the ingredients to avoid fillers that sometimes are used with supplements. While TikTok may tout magnesium as a weight loss supplement or energy boost supplement, it’s really about maintaining a healthy diet with a variety of foods contributing to the nutrient intake. “There’s not a superfood or magic food as far as diversity,” Davis attests. “Most vegetables, beans, nuts, all of those things, if we’re eating a variety and having that diversity in our diet, we're going to be able to meet our needs for most minerals and vitamins. A lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon for certain foods, and they’re not paying attention to having enough diversity.” FOODS HIGH IN MAGNESIUM Food Milligrams (mg) Percnt DV* per serving Pumpkin seeds, roasted, 1 ounce 156 37 Chia seeds, 1 ounce 111 26 Almonds, dry roasted, 1 ounce 80 19 Spinach, boiled, ½ cup 78 19 Cashews, dry roasted, 1 ounce 74 18 Peanuts, oil roasted, ¼ cup 63 15 Cereal, shredded wheat, 2 large biscuits 61 15 Soymilk, plain or vanilla, 1 cup 61 15 Black beans, cooked, ½ cup 60 14 Edamame, shelled, cooked, ½ cup 50 12 Peanut butter, smooth, 2 tablespoons 49 12 Potato, baked with skin, 3.5 ounces 43 10 Rice, brown, cooked, ½ cup 42 10 Yogurt, plain, low fat, 8 ounces 42 10 *National Institutes of Health
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