INSIGHTS | 4. Magnesium & Metabolic Health

Relationship between magnesium intake and development of metabolic syndrome in young and healthy adults.

Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash

Article: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/circulation

Context

Magnesium (Mg) is the 12th element on the period table, produced originally in aging stars and dispersed throughout the universe in the event of an explosion.

Magnesium is the 4th most abundant element in the Earth (after iron, oxygen and silicon), comprising approximately 13% of the planet's mass. After sodium and chloride, it is the 3rd most abundant element in seawater.

By mass, magnesium is the 11th most abundant element in our body. Thus, it should come as no surprise that it is an essential mineral to life itself. Hundreds of enzymes and proteins require magnesium to function.

Even by the low standards of daily intake recommendations, a large proportion of the US population is either deficient in magnesium or has low dietary intake.