How Magnesium balances your internal rhythms

Magnesium is a vital mineral that your body needs for a wide range of processes, and several of them play a part in keeping your body’s inner clock in good time. A deficiency can easily lead to tiredness and fatigue as these processes aren’t being carried out effectively.

Energy Production

Your body needs magnesium to make and direct something called the ATP molecule, which basically turns food into energy. It does this by making enzymes to break down food, moving nutrients to where they are needed, and by turning glucose into energy your body can use. So getting enough magnesium is important to keep energy production efficient and stable, stopping you from feeling tired.

Nervous System

Magnesium is essential for regulating the signals being sent throughout your nervous system and brain. It also activates the parasympathetic system, which is responsible for making both your body and brain feel relaxed and calm.

Sleep-Wake Cycle

Magnesium plays a key role in the production and regulation of melatonin, a hormone which guides your brain’s sleep-wake cycle. Your body naturally produces melatonin in the evening to make you start feeling sleepy. Melatonin should stay in your bloodstream for about 12 hours, then once the amount in your bloodstream starts going down, your brain knows it’s time to wake up.

Cell Function

Magnesium gives cells the energy they need to work properly and has been pinpointed as a key part of how cells keep to a schedule, helping them adjust to different processes during the day and night. Magnesium also helps to create, repair, stabilise and protect the strands that make up your DNA – the instruction manual for your body.

What to Remember

Magnesium is needed for the healthy functioning of a whole range of processes that keeps your body in good rhythm. But our bodies don’t produce it, so it’s important to make sure you’re getting enough.