I just started taking extra magnesium in addition to the 100 mg in my multivitamin. I'm taking 225 mg at the moment, may try going up to 350 mg soon. I only get the 100 mg calcium in my multivitamin, and the rest of my calcium is coming from food so I'm not entirely sure how much I'm getting. I'm taking the magnesium for bipolar disorder to balance my moods out and prevent stress and anxiety. I don't want to be taking more than I need, but also don't want to throw off my balance of nutrients.
I think the magnesium increases your bodys ablility to utilize the calcium you are ingesting. So as long as you are getting adequate amounts in your diet, you should be good.
It also depends upon the type of magnesium which you are taking. It is best if it is bound with an acid, such as magnesium citrate (citric acid) or magnesium malate (malic acid). No matter what people say about alkalinity, most minerals need acid for the body to be able to metabolize them. Most multivitamins and mag supplements are magnesium oxide. The manufacturers do this, because it is very cheap for them. The body doesn't use it, so it sits in the intestines collecting water and causes soft stools.
I take 1000mg (1g) magnesium malate twice daily. Search our forum for health benefits of malic acid.
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- Jim
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Cardiovascular Health https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18281113
Physicians associate magnesium with improved cardiovascular health, noting how the mineral can reduce tension in arteries and help normalize blood pressure. A Russian study recently looked into the effects of magnesium orotate supplementation on patients with confirmed congestive heart failure. The scientists took 79 patients with the condition and divided them into two groups; one group received 6,000 mg of magnesium ororate for one month and then 3,000 mg for 11 months thereafter, while the second group received a placebo. The results, published in the "International Journal of Cardiology" in 2009, showed that only one quarter of the magnesium-treated group died in the year of study, compared to half of those in the placebo group.
Pharmacology and Toxicology of Nutrition University of Hohenheim Stuttgart, Deuschland.
Abstract
Magnesium orotate dihydrate (MO) has the sum formula C10H6MgN4O8 x 2H2O and a MG of 370.52. The salt is poorly soluble in water and hence does not bind gastric acid nor does it exhibit noteworthy laxative effects upon oral administration in contrast to easily dissociable Mg salts. As a source of magnesium (Mg), MO is indicated for the oral treatment of extracellular Mg deficiency. Orotic acid (OA), the second active ingredient of MO, is a key intermediate in the biosynthetic pathway of pyrimidines and is shown to improve the energy status of injured myocardium by stimulating, a.o., the synthesis of glycogen and ATP. Myocardial energy-rich phosphate levels are decreased during hypoxic conditions; subsequently, intracellular Mg is depleted and lost via the urine. Since binding sites for Mg (ATP) are provided by OA it can be classified as "Mg-fixing agent". Accordingly MO is also indicated for the treatment of Mg depletion as convincingly shown in animal experiments and also in coronary heart patients undergoing e.g. aortocoronary bypass surgery.
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I just started taking extra magnesium in addition to the 100 mg in my multivitamin. I'm taking 225 mg at the moment, may try going up to 350 mg soon. I only get the 100 mg calcium in my multivitamin, and the rest of my calcium is coming from food so I'm not entirely sure how much I'm getting. I'm taking the magnesium for bipolar disorder to balance my moods out and prevent stress and anxiety. I don't want to be taking more than I need, but also don't want to throw off my balance of nutrients.
Most people get too much calcium and too little magnesium, and since magnesium regulates calcium it is only logical to assume you need more magnesium.
In other words, if you take in more calcium than magnesium, that has the same effect as being deficient in magnesium. Therefore, I would suggest you continue doing what you are doing, and if at some point you decide you need more calcium than you're getting from your multi and your diet, then supplement with 1:1 ratio magnesium to calcium, 500 to 800mg per day, from citrate, since the supplements that end with "ate" are better absorbed than the ones that end with "ide".
Also, I do not believe there is such a thing as bipolar disorder, however, you may be deficient in one or more vitamins, minerals, or amino acids:
Most people, particularly those who consume yoghurt/milk/cheese will have little or no trouble meeting the calcium RDA.
The average adult however does only obtain about half the magnesium RDA and many people think the RDA for magnesium is far too low.
So taking additional calcium will probably raise stroke incidence.
Raising magnesium intake will probably be helpful for most people.
Correcting Vitamin d deficiency quadruples the amount of calcium you can absorb from food however as most people don't have sufficient magnesium to counterbalance that calcium.
Remember only 4% of magnesium oxide is absorbed and as this forms the most common magnesium in multivit/mins it should be disregarded as a magnesium source.
We found little evidence to support a positive association between calcium intake and prostate cancer risk in this case-control study. On the contrary, we found no association between total calcium and prostate cancer risk and an inverse association between calcium from food and risk for prostate cancer among all men. An inverse association between total calcium and prostate cancer was limited to black men in analyses using healthy controls, although no evidence of an association was found among white men. Also, a high calcium intake correlated with lower risk for high-grade cancer but not low-grade cancer............................................ .................................................. ..............We observed lower risk for prostate cancer with increasing intakes of calcium from food in both healthy and biopsy-negative controls. The inverse association between total calcium and prostate cancer was limited to black men. Among all men, the highest calcium intake in our study was related to lower risk for high-grade prostate cancer but was not associated with low-grade prostate cancer. Overall, our findings suggest that among men with diets that have moderate to low calcium intake, adequate calcium intake may reduce the risk for prostate cancer, particularly among black men, and reduce the risk for high-grade prostate cancer among all men.
The full text of this paper is free online and it worth a read if anyone is worried about calcium intake and prostate cancer risk/incidence.
Personally I believe we all have to ensure we meet the RDA for calcium and the preference is to get as much calcium from foods as possible. Traditional foods such as natural live yoghurt and kefir have much to offer as well as the calcium they enhance our natural gut flora and help improve our immune function.
Ensuring your vitamin D3 level stays above 40 ng/ml 100nmol/l significantly improves calcium absorption from food/water sources. At the most calcium from supplements should be limited to 500mg/daily more than that is associated with increased stroke risk.
Magnesium acts as a natural calcium channel blocker, used by the body to counterbalance calcium's actions. It's harder to find magnesium in foods than calcium so it's more important to supplement with magnesium than calcium. Most people only get about half the RDA of magnesium which is a factor that may be driving Diabetes, Heart disease and depression incidence.
Because magnesium is so important and used for so many different functions I think we need to use as many different sources of magnesium as possible rather than putting all our eggs in one basket and relying on one particular form/source.
I think a lot of us should be getting our dietary needs from food. The big exception I can see is vitamin D in which it makes sense that our ancestors were outside more and most of us are in buildings all day.
I personally try to get my dietary needs from food first and pills second. Each time I see a person who is over 100 years old I neve hear about a pill they are taking.
Come on Ted! are you saying the 1200mg of calcium a day should be taken?
NO I'm saying that the RDA for calcium should be met mostly, if not entirely from food/water sources and AT MOST 500mg/daily from supplements would be acceptable for people who simply cannot or will not consume dairy products.
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Old people dont need more calcium in pill forms. They need proper diet and digestive enzymes.
Not just old people the same goes for everyone else.
In most instances, based on government recommendations, adults under age 50 should take about 1000 mg of calcium daily. Over age 50 the recommendation is 1200 mg daily.
I think it's important to ensure that everyone, whatever age/sex gets the appropriate daily intake of both calcium and magnesium BUT we must include in our calculations the amount of calcium and magnesium that we are already consuming in our food and water and other liquids we drink.
It really will do more harm than good if people think they MUST get 1000mg daily calcium from SUPPLEMENTS daily as that will surely increase the rate of stroke incidence.
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The safe upper limit from all sources is 2000-2500 mg daily.
I think the evidence shows rather that people who take more than 500mg calcium from supplements daily will increase their risk of stroke. While it may not matter if the RDA for calcium is exceeded from food supplies it's not the case that calcium from supplements is exactly equivalent to calcium from food/water sources so IMO the fact that the body uses calcium from foods sources better than calcium sourced from supplements is good reason to increase your intake from dietary sources and limit intake from supplements.
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Foods rich in magnesium include unrefined grains, nuts and green vegetables. Green leafy vegetables are particularly good sources of magnesium because of their chlorophyll content.
It may be worth checking your daily magnesium intake from this calculator.
Just because magnesium is in a food source don't not mean your body is able to absorb magnesium from that food source.
Is calcium always needed with magnesium?
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