Table of contents:
- The mineral magnesium can help overcome sleeplessness
- How can magnesium help sleep?
- How do you get magnesium to help you sleep?
Sleep is a basic human need, where during sleep the body can rest from all day work and replenish its energy. Difficulty sleeping, such as insomnia, is certainly very disturbing. This makes you feel tired the next day so that it can interfere with your activities. Several things may be able to help overcome your insomnia problem, one of which is meeting the mineral needs of magnesium. How can?
The mineral magnesium can help overcome sleeplessness
Several studies have linked magnesium's effects to sleep quality. Magnesium is a mineral that can help you fall asleep and maintain your sleep throughout the night.
James F. Balch, M. D., author of "Prescription for Nutritional Healing", said that a lack of the mineral magnesium (and also calcium) can cause you to wake up after a few hours of sleep and after that it is difficult to return to sleep, as reported by Medical News Today.
A body that is deficient in magnesium can show symptoms of chronic insomnia. Meanwhile, higher levels of magnesium in the body have been found to be associated with deeper, deeper sleep. As has been proven in research by James Penland of the Human Nutrition Research Center in North Dakota.
A study conducted by Abbasi, et al. from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2012 also strengthened previous research. Research conducted on 46 elderly people who were given additional magnesium intake for 8 weeks showed that giving additional magnesium can help insomnia, as well as improve sleep efficiency, sleep time, and wake up in the morning.
How can magnesium help sleep?
Magnesium is one of the essential minerals needed for various body functions, including nerves and muscles. In helping sleep, the mineral magnesium can help you relax and calm the nervous system and muscles so that you fall asleep easily and sleep better.
Magnesium relaxes your body by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, the system responsible for keeping you calm and relaxed. This is because magnesium plays a role in regulating neurotransmitters that send signals to the nervous system and brain.
In addition, magnesium can also bind to the receptor for gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is a neurotransmitter that is responsible for calming nerve activity. Not only that, magnesium also plays a role in regulating the hormone melatonin, which regulates the sleep-wake cycle in the body.
You need to know that lack of sleep alone can actually reduce magnesium levels in the body. This is because lack of sleep can cause the body to become stressed, which in turn causes the body to release magnesium out of the urine.
Apart from helping you sleep, magnesium can also help with anxiety and depression, both of which can disrupt your sleep. Research shows that magnesium deficiency can lead to anxiety, depression, and mental confusion. And, the addition of magnesium to medicine can overcome this.
How do you get magnesium to help you sleep?
You can get magnesium by eating a variety of foods that contain magnesium, such as green vegetables, nuts, seeds, cereals, meat, fish, and fruits.
Alternatively, you can also get magnesium from supplements (with doctor's advice). The maximum limit for magnesium supplements that are considered safe for consumption is 350 mg per day, avoid doses higher than that.
According to the 2013 Adequacy Rate (RDA), your daily need for magnesium is 350 mg for adult men and 310-320 mg for adult women.
