“First do no harm, then try magnesium.”

This is a saying much favoured by nutritionists. I include myself. And why should that be?

There are a number of trace elements which are required, but in very small amounts, for specific biochemical processes in the body. They are sometimes referred to as “micro-minerals” and comprise iron, manganese, copper, iodine, cobalt, fluoride and selenium.

But there are other minerals we require in significantly greater amounts which we refer to as “macro-minerals”. They comprise; calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, chloride and sulphur. These macro-minerals are required in greater amounts because they are involved in a great number of biochemical reactions throughout the body.

Magnesium is one of them. It is essential for man and so has to be consumed regularly and in sufficient amounts to prevent deficiency. It has been found to be a co-factor in more than 300 enzymatic reactions in the body. There is magnesium in every cell of your body and most importantly in muscle cells. Whenever you contract a muscle, each muscle cell uses calcium (another macro-mineral also found in all muscle tissue so not confined simply to bones). Every time you relax that muscle, each cell requires magnesium. This goes for all muscle (the heart included) and which is why athletes and those who take more exercise have a higher daily requirement for magnesium. It also goes for the brain where headaches and migraines can often be a symptom of magnesium deficiency because blood capillaries are unable to “relax” to allow normal flow following a sudden contraction.

Fortunately, magnesium is abundant in commonly eaten foods. Fibrous green leafy and root vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, wheat germ, brewer’s yeast, pulses, raisins, peas, red meat, soy and many more everyday foods are rich sources.

It is perhaps surprising, therefore, that deficiency is very common in the UK. Data suggest that 80% of people over 65 are deficient; that 70% of adults in the UK generally may be deficient (according to a study by Mineral Check); that 53% of teenage girls have daily intakes that indicate gross deficiency and among children and adolescents in the UK the majority fail to get the UK basic RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for magnesium which is 420mg a day for an adult. The RDA is not, as you might reasonably suppose, the optimum intake but rather the minimum required to prevent 90% of the population from developing deficiency-related conditions. A rather different proposition.

Along with modern diets deficient in magnesium-rich foods, the magnesium content has been found, in many of these foods, to have declined by over 20% since c1940. It has been observed that a carrot today has up to 40% less magnesium than it did at the end of World War II. This decline has been attributed to intensive farming and resulting soil depletion not just of magnesium but all earth-derived minerals.

Magnesium levels are typically measured in blood. However, levels are tightly regulated in blood and so cellular deficiency may be missed. Supplementation is easy, safe and will often effectively resolve symptoms of deficiency.