Magnesium for athletes

The mineral magnesium is something of a miracle nutrient. Most athletes know that it is essential for health, but few really appreciate its importance for sports performance. New research, however, suggests that optimal magnesium intake could be even more important than we previously believed.

Think of the “big players” among sports nutrition minerals and chances are you’ll find iron, calcium, and maybe zinc. However, despite magnesium’s key role in energy production, many coaches and athletes are still unaware of its critical importance in maintaining health and performance. To make matters worse, magnesium is a mineral that we often get poorly from our diet; dietary intake of magnesium in the West has fallen to less than half of that recorded in the late 19th century and is still falling. Moreover, many nutritionists believe that the amount of magnesium needed for optimal health has been underestimated in the past, and research suggests that even small deficiencies in magnesium intake can seriously impair athletic performance.

What is magnesium good for – why is it important?

Pure magnesium is the second most abundant mineral in cells after potassium, but about 60ml found in the typical human body is not present as a metal but as magnesium ions (positively charged magnesium atoms found either in solution or complexed with other tissues such as bones ). About one quarter of this magnesium is found in muscle tissue and three fifths in bones; but less than 1% is found in blood serum, although blood magnesium is used as the most common indicator of magnesium status. This magnesium in the blood serum can be further divided into free ionic, complex bound and protein parts, but it is the ionic part that is considered the most important in measuring magnesium status, because it is physiologically active.

Magnesium is necessary for more than 300 biological reactions in the body, including those involved in the synthesis of fats, proteins and nucleic acids, neurological activity, muscle contraction and relaxation, cardiac activity and bone metabolism. Even more important for athletes is the key role of magnesium in anaerobic and aerobic energy production, especially in the metabolism of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the ‘energy currency’ of the body. The synthesis of ATP requires magnesium-dependent enzymes called ‘ATPases’. These enzymes have to work extremely hard – the average human can store no more than about 90ml of ATP, but during strenuous exercise the rate of ATP turnover is phenomenal, with as much as 15kg of ATP per hour being constantly broken down and reformed.

A study conducted on rats earlier this year provides further evidence of the connection between magnesium and lactate. Taiwanese researchers investigated the effects of pre-exercise magnesium administration (17 mg per kg body weight) to rats forced to swim for 15 minutes. In particular, they wanted to look at the effect of added magnesium on blood lactate, glucose and pyruvate (an important junction at the ‘crossroads’ of aerobic metabolism).

Before exercise, blood lactate, glucose, and pyruvate levels did not differ in magnesium-supplemented rats compared to magnesium-deprived rats (control group). However, after forced swimming, lactate levels in the magnesium-supplemented rats rose to only 130% above pre-exercise levels compared to a 160% increase in the control group. Moreover, swimming caused a decrease in brain glucose and pyruvate levels in the control group to 50-60% of pre-exercise levels; in magnesium-supplemented rats, brain glucose levels increased to 140% of pre-exercise levels and pyruvate levels increased to 150% of basal levels during forced swimming!

The researchers concluded that not only did the magnesium supplement help suppress lactate production, but it also somehow increased glucose availability and metabolism in the brain during exercise. This is important because scientists now believe that the brain and central nervous system play a large role in determining the degree of muscle fatigue we feel; greater availability of glucose in the brain could theoretically translate into lower levels of perceived fatigue.

What is the best magnesium for athletes?

Until recently, magnesium has been somewhat neglected among sports nutritionists, many of whom did not appreciate how important optimal magnesium status is to athletic performance. However, it now appears that magnesium has another surprise to reveal, as new research shows that it can play a vital role as an antioxidant, helping to protect the body from the potential damage caused by oxidative stress (damage to cells caused by the production of oxygen) free radicals in the body .

Free radical damage describes damage that occurs within cells (for example cell membranes and DNA) at a molecular level as a result of ‘free radicals’. These free radicals are transient but highly reactive chemical species that are an inevitable byproduct of oxygen metabolism when fats, proteins, and carbohydrates combine with oxygen in the body to produce energy (aerobic metabolism). For this reason, they are sometimes called “reactive oxygen species” (ROS) or “oxygen radicals”.

Although our cells have a very effective antioxidant defense system to extinguish and neutralize harmful free radicals, these systems are not 100% efficient, and over time, biochemical damage gradually accumulates, leading to a decrease in cellular function. Most scientists today believe that accumulated cellular damage from free radicals lies at the heart of the aging process and many degenerative diseases such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Athletes process and use larger amounts of oxygen and at higher speeds than the majority of the population; this explains why many scientists believe they could benefit from a higher intake of antioxidant nutrients to boost their defenses.

Although it is known that other minerals such as copper, zinc and selenium participate in the activation of enzymes that deactivate free radicals and thus protect the body, the possible role of magnesium as an antioxidant nutrient is surprising to say the least. This is because unlike other antioxidants, magnesium is not “chemically speaking” considered adept at accepting and transferring electrons (something that characterizes all other antioxidant molecules). However, despite this fact, a growing body of recent evidence suggests that adequate dietary magnesium is essential for controlling oxidative stress.

One of the earliest studies that indicated a possible connection between magnesium and oxidative stress was conducted at the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade, in which young soldiers who were exposed to chronic stress participated. The researchers monitored markers of oxidative stress such as increased concentrations of superoxide anion (free radicals) and malondialdehyde (a marker of lipid damage in cells) in each subject, as well as magnesium status. They found that low magnesium status correlated with increased levels of oxidative stress and that the worse the magnesium status, the greater the oxidative stress reported.

But what is the best magnesium for athletes? It is difficult to give a concrete answer to that question, since any intake of magnesium in the body that does not take it in sufficient amounts is good, but there are certain advantages and disadvantages of different types of magnesium intake. Taking the example of athletes, taking magnesium orally provides much slower absorption than magnesium in a spray that bypasses digestion and provides results in just a few minutes.

In order to get the optimal amount of magnesium in a day, it is necessary to know which foods are rich in magnesium and to what extent they contain it.

Magnesium in the diet

Magnesium is well supplied in unrefined whole grains, such as wholemeal bread and whole grain cereals, and also in green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, peas, beans and lentils. Fruit, meat and fish provide low levels, as do refined/sweet foods. Contrary to popular belief, milk and milk products are not particularly rich sources of magnesium. Magnesium is a fairly soluble mineral, which is why cooking vegetables can result in significant losses; in grains, it tends to be concentrated in the germ and bran, which explains why white refined grains contain relatively little magnesium compared to their unrefined counterparts.

The recommended intake of magnesium in the UK is set at 300mg for men and 270mg for women. The US has recently revised its numbers upwards and now recommends an intake of 400 mg per day for men aged 19-30 and 420 for those over 30; the figures for women under and over 30 are 300 and 310 mg per day. However, some researchers believe that even these levels are too conservative and should be set even higher at 450-500 mg/day for all adults.

The best way to get an adequate dose of magnesium is transdermally. Be Natur Ionic Mg SkinSport is an ideal solution for establishing optimal levels of magnesium in the body. By applying the spray to the skin, we bypass the gastrointestinal system, which allows magnesium to enter the circulation faster and more efficiently. The preparation was created using an innovative method based on the structuring of a solution that converts magnesium chloride hexahydrate of 100% pharmaceutical purity into an ionized solution of magnesium and chlorine that has a beneficial effect on your skin. The preparation is applied transdermally, has been dermatologically tested, and is also suitable for sensitive skin.

What does all this mean for athletes? The simple message is that a growing body of evidence suggests that maintaining optimal magnesium status is probably even more important than we previously realized. The latest research on magnesium and lactate adds further weight to the evidence showing that healthy magnesium intake is vital for endurance and anaerobic performance. In the long term (and perhaps more surprisingly), it appears that optimal magnesium intake may also be essential for antioxidant protection and proper regulation of inflammation, both of which are desirable for athletes, young and old. Although more research is needed to uncover the underlying mechanism behind these effects, the message is that you shouldn’t ignore magnesium’s impact on your body!