Magnesium and Hormones

Magnesium is an essential mineral for many reasons. It’s also a key ingredient in the production of hormones which is why Magnesium and Hormones tag team in women’s body functions. Hormonal health is just one of the many Health Benefits of Magnesium.

Incredible Magnesium and Hormones

Magnesium is an essential mineral for many reasons. It’s involved in over 300 metabolic reactions, including energy production, helps regulate the energy balance between cells, and regulates a wide variety of other functions. It’s also essential for bone formation and maintenance and is required for the health of your nervous system.

Magnesium is a key ingredient in the production of hormones that control your sleep, appetite, and mood. The body gets most of its magnesium from whole foods — such as green leafy vegetables, nuts, and seeds. It’s also found in sesame seeds and tofu. 

 The most obvious signs that you’re deficient are:

• Anxiety or nervousness.

• Changes in moods or reactions.

• Headaches or migraines.

• Muscle cramps.

• Numbness or tingling in the body.

• Poor memory, concentration, or learning problems.

• Weakness or fatigue.

The best way to get your magnesium levels up and your blood sugar down is to include foods that are high in magnesium in your diet — dark leafy greens, nuts (almonds, cashews, and peanuts), beans (black beans and chickpeas), white potatoes, spinach, and Swiss chard. If that is not enough, you may consider adding magnesium supplements. Magnesium supplements have been shown to help with insomnia, anxiety, and stress.

{ Read More about 7 Huge Magnesium Deficiency Symptoms }

Benefits of Magnesium for Hormonal Balance

1. Thyroid Health – Magnesium helps create the active thyroid hormone. Our thyroid cannot function properly if we are deficient in magnesium. 
   
2. Blood Sugar Regulation – Magnesium is essential for a healthy blood sugar balance because it keeps enzymes responsible for blood sugar regulation active to work correctly. This is important because blood sugar levels have to stay within a tight range for the body to function correctly.
   
   Low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia) cause fatigue, confusion, and dizziness. Whereas blood sugar that is too high (hyperglycemia) can lead to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes (a blood sugar disorder).
   
   Magnesium also has a vital role in burning carbohydrates to produce energy in cells, so blood sugar regulation requires magnesium.
   
3. Cortisol Levels – Cortisol is a blood pressure regulating hormone necessary for blood pressure control, blood vessel constriction, and blood sugar balance. Still, it can be problematic when the body produces too much cortisol. Excess cortisol causes obesity, heart disease, and blood vessel constriction. It also causes blood vessel walls to thicken and blood sugar levels to rise (in the bloodstream and cells).
   
   Higher cortisol triggers fat storage and blood vessel constriction. This is why people with too much cortisol in their blood tend to accumulate body fat around the waist and have a hard time losing weight; they also tend to have narrower blood vessels and blood that is thicker.
   
   The blood sugar-regulating hormone insulin works closely with magnesium to get blood sugar into cells. It can help maintain healthy blood sugar levels and avoid hyperglycemia, but higher cortisol does the opposite by triggering insulin resistance.
   
4. Sleep Cycle Regulating Melatonin – Magnesium is essential for blood vessels protecting vasopressin, which can influence sleeping-cycle regulating melatonin. Melatonin plays a role in the sleep-wake cycle, blood sugar regulation, and blood vessel health.
   
5. Magnesium Helps Reduce the Aging Process – Magnesium is an essential mineral that’s lost as a result of aging. It plays a role in bone health and is also involved in energy production, nervous system function, blood glucose, and muscle metabolism. Magnesium deficiency can lead to osteoporosis, a condition characterized by thinning bones, which makes them more fragile.
   
   People with low magnesium levels are at higher risk for osteoporosis because the mineral is required for their bodies to metabolize calcium. An essential nutrient, calcium, is vital for strong bones, but it’s not the only element involved in building them.

Magnesium is an essential element in health, yet it is one of the few essential minerals our bodies don’t make–so we must get it from our diet or supplements. Magnesium and hormones are correlated, which means having enough magnesium can reduce your risk of hormone problems. For this reason, it’s important to evaluate your diet and consider supplementing as needed.

More Posts about Magnesium

Magnesium Benefits for Women

7 Huge Magnesium Deficiency Symptoms

References

Seelig M. S. (1993). Interrelationship of magnesium and estrogen in cardiovascular and bone disorders, eclampsia, migraine and premenstrual syndrome. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 12(4), 442–458. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.1993.10718335

Djokic, G., Vojvodić, P., Korcok, D., Agic, A., Rankovic, A., Djordjevic, V., Vojvodic, A., Vlaskovic-Jovicevic, T., Peric-Hajzler, Z., Matovic, D., Vojvodic, J., Sijan, G., Wollina, U., Tirant, M., Thuong, N. V., Fioranelli, M., & Lotti, T. (2019). The Effects of Magnesium – Melatonin – Vit B Complex Supplementation in Treatment of Insomnia. Open access Macedonian journal of medical sciences, 7(18), 3101–3105. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.771

Aydin, H., Deyneli, O., Yavuz, D., Gözü, H., Mutlu, N., Kaygusuz, I., & Akalin, S. (2010). Short-term oral magnesium supplementation suppresses bone turnover in postmenopausal osteoporotic women. Biological trace element research, 133(2), 136–143. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-009-8416-8

Newson L. (2018). Menopause and cardiovascular disease. Post reproductive health, 24(1), 44–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053369117749675