Magnesium - Things You Need To Know: Our Choice Of Magnesium And Its Impact On Immunity

Of all the vitamins and minerals out there, magnesium gets a lot of attention. And rightly so. Magnesium is needed for the activity of more than 300 enzymes in the body (1). Enzymes are proteins that our bodies produce. These proteins help carry out chemical reactions required to carry out many essential processes. This is why you hear about magnesium being good for a variety of different ailments: calming nerves, reducing inflammation, muscles and cramps (2).

Magnesium in our foods has been declining over time. Why? In order to feed a growing population agriculture started using artificial fertilisers containing only nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. There are approximately 11 other minerals needed for human health. These artificial fertilisers did not contain the minerals that would usually get recycled from animal waste into our soils under natural conditions, such as magnesium. This means over time our foods become a poorer source of nutrients unless these are replaced in a more natural way such as by recycling animal waste.

In fact, from 1930s to 1980s the magnesium content of vegetables in the UK has declined between 15-23% (3). This has lead researchers to conclude that the increase in deaths from cardiovascular disease stems from a reduction in magnesium levels in the general population.

This is part of why buying organic can be better. They use organic fertilisers which tend to contain more than just nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.

You will sometimes hear people say there are no benefits to eating organic. When they make these statements, they often support them by looking at the vitamin C concentrations in organic vs non organic vegetables. This is taking advantage of consumer misinformation. You see vitamins and minerals are slightly different. Vitamins like vitamin C can be produced by the plant, whereas minerals cannot be invented out of thin air. They’re either in the soil for the plant to absorb or they’re not. This means comparing vitamin C levels in organic vs non-organic is not a fair comparison of how nutritious a fruit or vegetable is.

Magnesium is important to help produce the antioxidant glutathione. As we mentioned on our page on B-vitamins, low glutathione is thought to predispose people to poor COVID-19 outcomes. This may explain the results of a recent COVID-19 trial in Singapore. Hospitalised patients were given moderate doses of vitamin D, magnesium and vitamin B12. In the group receiving the vitamins, 2 out of 17 patients ended up in the intensive therapy unit (11.7%). In the group that didn’t receive the vitamins, 16 out of 26 ended up in the intensive therapy unit (61.5%) (4). That’s an almost 6x lower chance of needing serious treatment!

Obviously, this is a small sample. We believe the results are still dramatic enough to show the importance of magnesium as part of a supplementation protocol to support a healthy immune system.

In fact, one of the signs of magnesium deficiency can be a depressed immune response (2)!

Our bodies produce a substance called ATP in our cells from the food we eat. This is the main energy source for every process that occurs in the body. Magnesium actually helps ATP do its work (5), so magnesium is important for helping the body use energy and perform on a higher level (6).

So, what form of magnesium do we use? Most cheap supplements you buy in store will use magnesium oxide. This form of magnesium more concentrated than other forms. This means you can technically put more magnesium in each tablet/capsule. Many will say that because magnesium oxide isn’t as soluble as other forms like magnesium citrate, it will have a low absorption. This is a misconception because studies show that under the acidic conditions of the stomach it has been shown to dissolve (7). In fact, research from Yale has shown that it seems to work for improving bone health (8).

So, if it can provide more magnesium than other forms and it works, then why not use it? It turns out that magnesium oxide, is often used as an antacid. What this means is that it can neutralise acids and make things it comes into contact with less acidic. In the intestines it is important for things to remain acidic for many reasons; including nutrient absorption and keeping the good bacteria in whilst keeping the bad bacteria out. Studies in rats have shown that magnesium oxide has the capacity to cause an unfavourable shift in the intestinal bacteria (gut microbiome) (9). This is probably because of its ability to neutralise gastrointestinal acids. We know from the article on B-vitamins and the article on iron that an imbalanced gut microbiome is bad for the immune system and may put people at increased risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes. This is why we want to stay away from magnesium oxide at all costs.

We chose a highly absorbable form of magnesium called magnesium lactate. This is because studies show the bioavailability is more important than the quantity of magnesium (10). It is made up of magnesium and lactic acid. Lactic acid is naturally present in the gut because it is produced by the beneficial lactic acid bacteria. Lactic acid is known to inhibit the growth of bad bacteria (11), so it has the potential to contribute towards a good gut microbiome.

We don’t use fillers so we tried to stuff as much magnesium lactate into the capsule as possible. Unfortunately, as with all the good forms of magnesium, you can’t fit much in a capsule. Only 29mg. As mentioned previously, however, the bioavailability of the magnesium is more important than the amount. We generally don’t like taking lots of pills so we would get the rest from foods.

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For more information about how taking the ThinkPharm Formula would improve your life check out our other articles about how it was designed.

For a vitamin supplement that doesn’t profit from your misinformation and actually tries to improve your health, get your hands on the ThinkPharm Formula. Check out the formula on our product page.

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Disclaimer: Food supplements are intended to correct nutritional deficiencies, maintain an adequate intake of certain nutrients, or to support specific physiological functions. The ThinkPharm Formula (or any other food supplement) is not a medicine and therefore cannot and does not claim to treat or prevent disease. All content on this website is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. None of the scientific studies quoted on this website qualify as proof or implication that ThinkPharm Health's supplements treat or prevent disease. Findings of scientific studies do not always represent reality. It is always difficult for scientific studies to reach accurate conclusions regarding nutrition and its relationship to diseases. Please consult your healthcare professional before making any significant changes to your diet and lifestyle. ThinkPharm Health is not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting on information from this website.