Can this “miracle mineral” really help us sleep?

It is described as the mineral of the moment.

Millions of us take magnesium for a variety of reasons. Can this help us sleep better? Sort out our digestion problems? Give our busy brains a moment of peace?

In the fast-paced world of supplements, it’s magnesium’s time to shine.

And the sector is booming. The global magnesium market is worth almost £3 billion and is expected to almost double over the next decade.

At a small factory nestled in the Yorkshire Dales, huge plastic barrels filled with white powder are stacked next to giant whirring machines.

Workers in protective suits carefully weigh magnesium citrate – a compound made by mixing the mineral with citric acid – into shiny steel containers.

“We send our supplies all over the world,” says Andrew Goring, chief executive of Lonsdale Health. “In the UK, obviously, but also Australia, parts of Asia, Kuwait and Iraq.

“It’s one of our biggest sellers and the market continues to grow.”

He shouts over the hum of the pill press, a Dalek-like machine that squeezes out dozens of small white magnesium tablets per second.

“Do we really need it?” I scream back. “And why now? Why has it become so popular?”

“The influencers, the social networks, that’s what’s driving it,” explains Mr. Goring. “We’ve known about magnesium and its benefits for years and now, finally, it’s become mainstream.”

I can almost hear the eyes rolling when I contact IBS dietitian Kirsten Jackson, who specializes in gut health.

“Clever marketing schemes,” says Ms. Jackson, “magnesium is involved in areas that people are willing to invest in: their sleep, their digestion and their mental health.”

But, she is keen to point out, that doesn’t automatically mean we need supplements to improve these things.

Magnesium is one of the many minerals found in our body. The recommended daily dose for women is 270 mg and for men 300 mg. We stock around 25g.

It may make up less than 1% of our population, but “it’s involved in over 300 different processes,” Jackson says.

It’s “especially important for our brains and our moods,” she says, because it helps nerves send messages correctly and supports the building blocks of brain cell membranes.

It also helps balance blood sugar, regulate blood pressure, and plays a vital role in moving calcium and potassium in and out of our cells, which keeps our heartbeat in rhythm.

So surely taking a pill full of this stuff should keep our bodies functioning properly?

It’s more complex than that, Ms. Jackson said. For a magnesium supplement to work, we must first be deficient in this mineral – and it’s difficult to detect a possible deficiency because the vast majority of our magnesium is stored in our bones and tissues.

But on an individual level, many say the supplement made a difference.

For Katie Curran, a communications specialist who has worked with some of fashion’s biggest brands, sleeping well was something she could only dream of.

“A year ago, I was in difficulty,” she confides. “It would take me so long to fall asleep, my brain would race, and then I would snap out of it only to wake up a few hours later.”

Katie decided to try magnesium glycinate, a combination of magnesium and glycine, an amino acid with limited evidence linking it to better sleep.

After two weeks of taking 270 mg a day, she says the noise in her head began to subside. The racing thoughts slowed and she began to feel like she could function again.

“My sleep improved significantly, I had more energy. I became more active. Other things changed in my life, so I can’t attribute it to one thing, but I think the magnesium supplements were an important part of the puzzle.”

While a magnesium deficiency can certainly affect sleep patterns, there is no evidence that taking supplements will definitely improve your sleep.

Social media is full of enthusiastic supplement buyers, many of whom have posts stamped “commission paid” in the corner, meaning they could be making money from their story or reel.

According to these influencers, it feels like there’s little magnesium that can’t help, as they recommend a variety of different products.

Magnesium is often mixed with other compounds in an effort to help support various parts of our body. For example, magnesium mixed with L-threonate or glycinate is believed to target brain health, which helps with sleep and stress relief.

If magnesium is combined with chloride, it is recommended for muscle tension and premenstrual cramps, while citrate and oxide mixtures are for digestion and help with constipation.

The majority of us can probably relate to having at least one of these issues. But as nutritionist Kristen Stavridis points out, the problem is that there isn’t enough solid evidence to show that the majority of these different magnesium supplements have a positive effect on the healthy population.

And even if that were the case, you would first have to have a magnesium deficiency to see a benefit.

“We have supplement companies screaming at us, ‘We’re all going to die,'” Ms. Stavridis says, “‘Quick! Take my pill and – hey presto – there’s your fix.’

“Many of us don’t get enough magnesium,” she continues, “about 10% of men and 20% of women don’t get the recommended daily intake.

“But taking a supplement is not the answer.”

Take sleep health, for example. Stavridis says there are many conflicting studies on whether magnesium supplements actually make a difference. Some trials claim it may have some benefit, while some randomized controlled trials – the gold standard – are more skeptical.

There is also an added complication that supplements can work against each other because of the way they interact in the body.

Taking zinc, for example – a supplement often recommended for perimenopausal women – can also affect the rate of magnesium absorption.

Basically, Ms. Stavridis says, it’s a minefield, not just a simple “take this” and you’ll be made whole.

She recommends looking at diet first. But if you’re considering taking magnesium supplements, Stavridis advises taking half the package-recommended amount daily and seeing how you feel.

If healthy people take too much, their kidneys can eliminate it in “expensive urine,” but there are still risks, such as diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea.

For people with kidney disease, taking magnesium supplements can be dangerous and cause hypermagnesemia – a potentially fatal condition that can leave a person paralyzed or in a coma.

Dietitian Kirsten Jackson also says most people should “focus 100% on their diet first.”

Foods like seeds, nuts, whole-grain bread, green vegetables and fruits are good sources of magnesium, she says.

She warns that if you’re not eating these types of foods regularly, you’re probably also missing out on other essential nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin K, fiber, and prebiotics.

“One magnesium supplement alone is not going to fix all of this.”