LLast summer, a photographer named Tyler Wesley Posted a video on TikTok claiming he no longer had fear after 30 years of being a “major sufferer.” He prescribed a supplement: 500 mg of magnesium, combined with vitamin D3.
The magnesium hashtag has over a billion views on TikTok, and people continue to rave about the mineral eradicating their anxious feelings.
It’s not the first time people have hoped that a vitamin or supplement can cure a mental illness. In the 1950s, psychiatrists were unsuccessful tried to treat schizophrenia and psychosis with forms of niacin, a B vitamin. The chemist Linus Pauling has discredited his belief that high doses of vitamin C could heal various diseases; he was taking about 18,000 mg per day (the recommended daily allowance is 75 to 90 mg per day).
But magnesium may be more promising than other vitamin fads. The body needs magnesium to function, and it plays many important roles in the body and in the brain. There is some intriguing evidence that it may reduce symptoms of depression or anxiety in some people.
At this time of year there is a great urge for quick health remedies. For most people, magnesium is a relatively harmless thing to try, but mental problems are complex and usually result from a number of different factors. Betting too much on the outcome of a single supplement can make you feel even worse if it doesn’t dramatically change your life.
Here’s what we know about magnesium’s effects on anxiety.
What does the research say about magnesium and anxiety?
Nearly half of Americans get less than the recommended amount of magnesium from their diet, says Louise Dye, professor at the school of food science and nutrition at the University of Leeds; the recommended intake range from 300 to 400 mg for most adults, depending on age and gender. And there is some evidence that getting more magnesium may be beneficial for the amount of anxiety people say they feel.
In a review paper van Dye and her colleagues showed four out of eight recent studies of magnesium had positive effects on anxiety. A randomized 2018 clinical trial in primary care outpatient clinics it was found that people with mild to moderate symptoms of depression felt better after taking magnesium. But this study was open-label, meaning people knew what they were taking and were more susceptible to placebo effects, when people’s expectations influence how they feel.
How can magnesium help anxiety or depression? “We know a lot about how magnesium works in the body,” says Katie Holton, a nutritional neuroscientist at American University.
Magnesium appears to have a general calming effect. It’s possible prohibit stress responses by preventing over-arousal via a neurotransmitter called glutamate. Too much glutamate can disrupt brain processes and has been linked to multiple mental health conditions, Holton added. Magnesium is useful for making enzymes that produce serotonin and melatonin, and it is also thought that it could be neuroprotective by regulating the expression of an important protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF, which helps neuronal plasticity, learning and memoryamong other roles.
But more research is needed to fully understand its effects. It is not yet clear what dosage people need to feel better, or how it compares to other interventions such as medication and cognitive behavioral therapy. It is also not yet known whether magnesium is most useful as an anxiety salve for people who are deficient, compared to those whose intake is adequate.
How can I increase my magnesium intake?
People with certain medical conditions or who are taking other medications should not take magnesium supplements, so it is crucial to talk to a doctor before taking a new supplement – and especially before stopping other medications. One reason why vitamins are so attractive is that people often prefer natural interventions over synthetic ones, especially when it comes to mental illness. But reducing prescription medications, such as antidepressants, in favor of vitamins is not recommended.
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If you want to see how magnesium affects you, Holton said she would encourage people to try adding more magnesium in their diet first. Foods such as seeds, nuts, salmon, whole grains, potatoes, beans, green leafy vegetables such as spinach and chard, and fruits such as avocado and banana are all high in magnesium.
For the supplement route, Dye recommended certain forms of the mineral: magnesium citrate, lactate or pidolate salts and chelated forms of magnesium, which are more bioavailable than others. It’s important to note that supplements are not strictly regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, although brands are verified are checked for quality and dosage by the non-profit organization US Pharmacopeia.
It is best to think of magnesium as a tool in a larger toolbox. “In our study, like any other intervention, it didn’t work for everyone,” said Emily Tarleton, an assistant professor of health sciences at Vermont State University. There are many more deficiencies that can disrupt mental functioning, and addressing just one deficit when there are others at play can only provide limited results.
Are there any disadvantages to adding magnesium to my diet?
There is potential harm in promising radical mental change to people who feel lost and desperate for some improvement. Magnesium supplements are sold on the TikTok store, so there is an incentive for creators to increase the certainty of how much it helps.
Philosopher of psychiatry Jake Jackson wrote that people with mental illnesses are constantly faced with conflicting opinions and debates about the best way to live with conditions like anxiety or depression, a condition he calls “epistemic adrift.” These feelings add to the distress they are already experiencing, and it can cause them to “feel morally inadequate and pressured to do the right thing without clear direction.” It can be tiring not to do your best and see so-called cures everywhere you look (or scroll).
Magnesium is low risk, so trying to eat more foods that contain magnesium or trying a supplement with a doctor’s support should be fine for most people. Getting more nutrients from your diet is likely to make most people feel better, so it’s worth a try. But be kind to yourself if it doesn’t work out.
“Given its importance in the body, it is perhaps not surprising to see clear benefits after ingesting magnesium,” Dye said. “However, magnesium should not be seen as a ‘miracle molecule’ capable of solving every problem.”