By:

Sanidhya (1319020)
Ayushi (1319025)
Magnesium in the Human Body
● Fourth most abundant cation
● Role as a cofactor for more than 300 enzymatic
reactions
● Present in many foods, dietary supplements,
medicines
● An adult body contains approximately 25 g
magnesium
○ 50-60% in bones
○ Less than 1% in blood serum
● Normal serum magnesium concentrations 0.75 - 0.95
mmol/L
● About 120 mg magnesium into the urine each day
Sources of Mg
FOOD
● Mainly found in green leafy vegetables, such as spinach,
legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains
● Foods containing dietary fiber provide magnesium
● Tap, mineral, and bottled waters can also be sources of
magnesium, but the amount varies by source and brand
● About 30-40% of the dietary magnesium consumed is typically
absorbed by the body.
DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS
● Magnesium supplements are available in a variety of forms,
including magnesium oxide, citrate, and chloride
Functions
● Role in protein synthesis, muscle and nerve
function, blood glucose control, and blood
pressure regulation
● Required for energy production, oxidative
phosphorylation, and glycolysis
● Contributes to the structural development
of bone
● Required for the synthesis of DNA and
RNA
● Helps Regulate Muscle Contractions
● Maintains a Healthy Heartbeat
● Maintains Healthy Brain Function
● Needed in energy production
Digestive Absorption
Two mechanisms: a saturable
(transcellular) active pathway and a
non-saturable (paracellular) passive
pathway.
Toxicity
● Very large doses of magnesium-containing laxatives and antacids (>5,000
mg/day) are associated with magnesium toxicity, including fatal
hypermagnesemia.
● Symptoms of magnesium toxicity can include hypotension, nausea,
diarrhea, vomiting, facial flushing, retention of urine, depression, and
lethargy before progressing to muscle weakness, difficulty breathing,
irregular heartbeat, and cardiac arrest.
● The risk of magnesium toxicity increases with impaired renal function or
kidney failure
Deficiency
● Early signs of magnesium deficiency include
loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fatigue,
and weakness.
● As magnesium deficiency worsens,
numbness, tingling, muscle contractions
and cramps, seizures, personality changes,
abnormal heart rhythms, and coronary
spasms can occur.
● Severe magnesium deficiency can result in
hypocalcemia or hypokalemia
● Habitually low intakes of magnesium induce
changes in biochemical pathways that can
increase the risk of illness over time.
Disorders Caused Due to Mg Deficiency
● Type 2 diabetes
○ Hypomagnesemia might worsen insulin resistance
○ Leads to increased urinary losses of magnesium, and might impair insulin secretion and action
○ Results in a defective tyrosine-kinase activity, postreceptorial impairment in insulin action and
worsening of insulin resistance
● Osteoporosis
○ Contributes to osteoporosis directly by acting on crystal formation and on bone cells
○ Contributes indirectly by impacting on the secretion and the activity of parathyroid hormone
and by promoting low grade inflammation
● Migraine headaches
○ Mg deficiency is related to factors that promote headaches, including neurotransmitter release
and vasoconstriction
○ Believed that magnesium can prevent the brain signaling that causes visual and sensory
changes
○ Reduce or block pain-transmitting chemicals in the brain and may be helpful for brain blood
vessels
Citations
1. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/#:~:tex
t=Early%20signs%20of%20magnesium%20deficiency,occur%20%5B1
%2C2%5D.
2. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/286839#magnesium-deficie
ncy
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5652077/
4. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-does-magnesium-do#dietary-s
ources