Magnesium Malate: Promotes Muscle, Bone & Heart Health
Last Updated on June 18, 2024
What is Magnesium Malate?
Magnesium malate is a food supplement containing both magnesium and malic acid. It is sometimes referred to as ‘magnesium salt’. Magnesium is a mineral that is considered essential for the production of energy. It helps to maintain the health of the skeletal system, kidney function, the nervous system, and your muscles. For many people, malic acid is less well known, but this naturally occurring compound is also considered important for physical and mental health, improving concentration and aiding muscle performance. Malic acid is found in many fruits and responsible for their tart taste.
Magnesium malate is believed to be better absorbed than other forms of magnesium supplements. Unlike elemental magnesium, which is poorly absorbed in the intestines, magnesium malate is one of the most bioavailable forms of the mineral alongside magnesium citrate and magnesium glycinate. This enhanced absorptive capacity means that more magnesium is available for the body to use.
Magnesium Malate in Food
Magnesium is not produced in the body, so it is important to ensure a good supply of it through your food or supplements.
Magnesium can be found in nuts & seeds, such as almonds, cashews, peanuts, and flax seeds, as well as whole grains & beans.
Two slices of whole wheat bread pack 45 milligrams of the mineral, a half-cup of brown rice has about 40 milligrams, and a half-cup of cooked oatmeal gives you 30 milligrams. A half-cup of black beans has 60 milligrams and kidney beans has 35 milligrams. Other magnesium-rich legumes include chickpeas, white beans, and lentils.
Also, magnesium is found in soy milk, yogurt, fruits, and vegetables, such as broccoli, spinach, carrots, avocados, bananas, and apples, as well as some meats and fish.
A cup of soy milk rings up 60 milligrams, while a half-cup of firm tofu packs about 50 milligrams. One medium banana provides 32 mg of magnesium, and a half-cup of boiled spinach provides 78 mg.
Dark Chocolate is also very rich in magnesium, with 64 mg in a 1-ounce (28-gram) serving.
Although malic acid is naturally produced by the body, some people do not produce enough of it. It can be found in a wide range of fruits, such as apples, grapes, oranges, berries, nectarines, and pears. It is also found in many vegetables, like carrots, potatoes, peas, and broccoli.
Shilajit: An Amazing Natural Magnesium Malate Supplement What makes this supplement something to marvel over is the fact that it contains more than 80 trace minerals, all in a natural ionic form and in balanced ratios. One of these minerals includes magnesium, in the form of naturally occurring magnesium malate! Over and above this, it consists of many other healthful compounds unique to its composition, including Fulvic Acid, Carbon-60, Dibenzo Alpha Pyrones, Vitamins and plant antioxidants (polyphenols). The medicinal use of Shilajit has been recorded for more than 3000 years in Ayurvedic texts, with science on recently beginning to catch up. This supplement boasts all the natural magnesium malate benefits, as well as being capable of balancing any other essential trace mineral deficiency you may have. From restoring your electrolytes to providing your cells with more energy, the list of Shilajit benefits is becoming more comprehensive with every passing year! |
Health Benefits of Magnesium Malate
Magnesium supplements like magnesium malate confer several potential health benefits. It serves as an essential cofactor in more than 600 metabolic reactions involved in a broad array of biological functions, such as regulating your energy and making protein, as reported in a January 2015 Physiological Reviews article. It is also essential for healthy bones, muscles and nerves. Think of magnesium as a biochemical multi-tasker.
Here are some of the benefits that may be associated with Magnesium malate.
Prevents Cramps
An insufficient amount of magnesium in your diet will lead to increased muscle & leg cramps, and in more severe cases, it can lead to numbness, which magnesium malate can help to prevent. Magnesium malate is thought to be better at reducing muscle cramps than other forms of magnesium.
May Enhance Reproductive Health
Magnesium plays a key role in the female reproductive system. If a woman manages to maintain a good level of magnesium, she may be able to significantly reduce unwanted symptoms of PMS, including swelling, headaches, irritability, mood, and fatigue.
Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to magnesium deficiency. In order to ensure a successful gestation period, it is essential for the soon-to-be mother to have a healthy level of magnesium. This mineral is essential for the full growth and development of the fetus, protein synthesis, and tissue construction. Magnesium deficiency may also be associated with birth defects.
Treats Headaches and Migraines
Many people also use magnesium supplements to help prevent or treat headaches and migraines. Experts think magnesium helps to block or lower pain chemicals in your brain and keeps your blood vessels from tightening. You’re more likely to get migraines if you don’t get enough magnesium.
Help Promote Regular Bowel Movements
Magnesium malate can also be used to help promote regular bowel movements. It can act as a laxative, drawing water into your intestines and stimulating the movement of food through your digestive tract.
It even acts as a natural antacid, a type of medication used to treat heartburn and relieve stomach upset.
Clears Out Toxins
Magnesium stimulates intestinal peristalsis as well as softens stools by accumulating water in our intestinal tract, which not only helps to prevent constipation but also naturally helps to get rid of toxins.
Aluminum is a particularly dangerous metal that has been associated with a range of neurological disorders, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Magnesium binds with other toxic metals, which minimizes the damage they can cause and means that the body is more easily able to expel them.
Could Help Prevent Depression and Enhance Mood
Magnesium is involved in the synthesis of all our hormones, including Serotonin and Dopamine which are responsible for making us feel good. Without it, we would be incapable of feeling happy!
Magnesium has been used to treat depression since the 1920s. Interestingly, one study in 8,894 adults found that very low magnesium intake was associated with a higher risk of depression.
Reduces Fibromyalgia Related Pain & Inflammation
Fibromyalgia is a complex disease which causes sometimes debilitating pains. It’s symptoms often come and go with little predictability. The causes of fibromyalgia aren’t currently well-understood, and there isn’t currently an FDA-approved treatment for it. Several studies of natural fibromyalgia treatments have found a remarkable connection between usage of compounds such as malic acid in reducing fibromyalgia pain. In addition to the benefits of malic acid, elemental magnesium has been shown to be an indicator of lowered levels of C-reactive protein — a type of universal biomarker for inflammation. Fibromyalgia is thought to be integrally influenced by inflammation, and magnesium’s correlation to C-Reactive protein could offer further insight into the benefit of magnesium compounds towards reducing fibromyalgia symptoms and also arthritis.
You also need magnesium to produce bodily antioxidants like glutathione and absorb dietary nutrients like Vitamin C. Both our bodily and dietary antioxidants help to lower inflammation in the body and keep our immune systems strong.
Helps Prevent Osteoporosis
Magnesium is necessary for the building of bone tissue and, also, improving the absorption of calcium. Research suggests that it may also protect against bone loss, broken bones, and the bone disease osteoporosis. Studies show that women with osteoporosis tend to have lower levels of magnesium than those who don’t.
Fights Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome has similar symptoms to those caused by fibromyalgia. It is thought that the malic acid in magnesium malate can help combat tiredness and boost energy levels.
Helps with Stress
Magnesium plays a special role in keeping our nervous system stable, which enables us to withstand stress. Deficiency of magnesium in the body may induce heightened stress levels, anxiety, and fatigue; all of which may negatively affect your working ability throughout the day.
When looking at the way magnesium interacts with our bodies, it appears to increase neurotransmitters that block stress, such as norepinephrine, and decrease ones that cause it, such as adrenaline and cortisol. These stress chemicals are also implicated in chronic stress and anxiety.
Boosts Skin Health and Vitality
Magnesium has been shown to directly benefit the health and appearance of skin in clinical trials testing Dead sea salts and Epsom salts, both of which are incredibly high in magnesium. Bathing in these magnesium salts proved to enhance skin hydration, skin barrier function and reduce dry, flay skin.
Besides these benefits, this mineral is able to improve skin conditions in many other ways:
- By improving the quality of sleep, which will definitely improve both your health and skin condition. Our body drains toxins during deep sleep and also uses the time to regenerate bodily tissues, such as the skin.
- Magnesium may regulate the body’s cortisol levels, which would decrease the severity of acne in some cases, since cortisol appears to directly correlate with acne formation.
- The production of antioxidants in the body accelerates when there is an increased amount of magnesium present, which wards off inflammation, skin damage and breakouts.
Malic acid is derived from fruit and is therefore classed as an alpha hydroxy acid. These fruit acids can act as natural exfoliants, helping the skin maintain a youthful appearance. Taken internally, magnesium malate is thought to keep the skin healthy by supporting enzyme production. A study published by Dr. W.P. Smith in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science cites malic acid as being a useful supplement to one’s skin care regiment to prevent oxidative stress and inflammation.
Helps Maintain Oral Health
Magnesium malate encourages the production of saliva in the mouth, which regulates the bacteria levels, ridding the mouth of bad bacteria and therefore making it essential for good oral health.
Improves Energy Production
Unlike other forms of magnesium, magnesium malate can enhance energy production in the mitochondria at a cellular level. Human cells synthesize malic acid in the form of malate. Among its functions, malate transports of nutrients in and out of the mitochondria.
Mitochondria are like a battery pack, providing our whole body with energy through each of our cells individually. The nutrients are broken down in the mitochondria into a chemical known as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), commonly referred to as the “energy molecule.”
By supplementing the dietary intake of malic acid, this process can be enhanced, leading to increased energy levels and improved exercise tolerance.
Possibly Promotes Hair Growth
If you are deficient in magnesium, it can potentially help to restore the vitality to your hair as it is required by all your cells to function optimally.
When looking at postmenopausal women, a deficiency in magnesium and a few other trace minerals appear to contribute to hair loss. Seeing as magnesium plays such an extensive role in cell division, growth, hormone production and inflammation reduction, it may be able to aid hair growth and protect against hair loss. However, magnesium supplementation alone has never been shown to do either of these things.
May Improve Blood Sugar Control
Studies show that a higher intake of magnesium may be associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Taking magnesium supplements may also help improve blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity.
Insulin is the hormone responsible for transporting sugar from your bloodstream into your tissues. Increasing insulin sensitivity can help your body use this important hormone more efficiently to keep your blood sugar levels in check.
Furthermore, magnesium malate contributes to breaking down sugars in the body by removing products that inhibit glycolysis or sugar break down.
Enhances Exercise Performance
Magnesium plays a central role in muscle function, energy production, oxygen absorption, and electrolyte balance, all of which are important factors when it comes to exercise.
Several studies show that taking magnesium supplements could boost physical performance. It enhanced the availability of energy for cells and helped clear out lactate from the muscles. Lactate can build up with exercise and contribute to muscle soreness.
What’s more, malic acid has also been studied for its ability to promote muscle recovery and reduce fatigue in endurance athletes.
Strong, Well-Developed Muscles
Magnesium helps our body synthesize a special growth factor that affects the growth and development of muscle fibers. In sports research, it was revealed that magnesium helped to improve strength performance of athletes.
Improved Vascular and Heart Health
Magnesium is essential to both the functioning of all our blood vessels and the heart, including the electrical impulses that guide our heart beat. Right levels of the mineral can lower your chances of an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmias), heart disease, or a heart attack.
The Framingham heart study, publishing in January 2013, indicated that low levels of magnesium in the blood are associated with the most common heart rate disorder, atrial fibrillation (afib). This irregular heartbeat occurs when a malfunction in the heart’s electrical system causes the upper chambers of the heart to quiver.
Research has suggested that magnesium supplementation may provide protection against cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, platelet aggregation and vascular calcification (stiffening of the arteries). It also may improve on the risk factors for heart disease and blood vessel problems, such as fat and glucose metabolism, especially when magnesium supplementation is placed together with a health lifestyle and a balanced diet. Magnesium also may help boost your HDL, or “good,” cholesterol levels.
For instance, PhD, Dr James J DiNicolantonio highlights the role of Magnesium in the prevention of Cardiovascular disease, which is sweeping the world by storm, including even the most developed countries:
“…the vast majority of people in modern societies are at risk for magnesium deficiency. Certain individuals will need to supplement with magnesium, especially if trying to obtain an optimal magnesium status to prevent chronic disease. Subclinical magnesium deficiency increases the risk of numerous types of cardiovascular disease, costs nations around the world an incalculable amount of healthcare costs and suffering, and should be considered a public health crisis.”
The list goes on as current research has began to link magnesium insufficiency with many more chronic diseases, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, migraines and even ADD/ADHD.
May Stabilize Blood Pressure
Magnesium relaxes the walls of blood vessels, which may possibly aid in the fight against hypertension. In a few research trials, it helped to lower blood pressure when potassium, sodium and calcium levels were in balance. Those with hypertension have been associated with decreased levels of bodily magnesium and research also suggests that it may increase the effectiveness of antihypertensive drugs.
Eases Breathing and May Help with Asthma
Magnesium effectively relaxes the bronchial muscles and helps to regulate breathing. Magnesium deficiency is associated with those who have moderate to severe asthma and prescribing a magnesium supplement in conjunction with treatment has helped to reduce inflammation and open the airways in both adults and children.
May Prevent the Risk of Cancer
In a long-term study involving men and women between the ages of 50 and 76, it was tested to see if magnesium supplementation made a difference on lowering the risk of pancreatic cancer & colon cancer. It was also recorded that for every 100mg of magnesium taken, the risk of developing pancreatic cancer decreased by 24%. These results also appeared to be independent of age, gender, body type or the use of other pharmaceuticals.
Who Shouldn’t Take Magnesium Malate?
Magnesium malate and magnesium supplements in general are contraindicated for anyone who has severe kidney problems, such as kidney failure. When the kidneys fail to excrete magnesium, this can lead to a dangerous buildup in the body and result in toxicity.
If you are taking potassium-sparing diuretics, your magnesium excretion will also be reduced, therefore it is not advised to take a supplement.
Dosage
Most healthy adults need 310–420 mg of magnesium daily. This can come from a combination of food and supplement sources. Studies show that magnesium supplementation in doses of 150–350 mg per day could benefit your health.
The normal adult value blood levels for magnesium is 1.5 – 2.5 mEq/L (0.75 – 1.25 mmol/L).
Possible Side Effects
Magnesium malate supplements are well tolerated and pose minimal risk of overdose or toxicity. Any excess magnesium is typically eliminated by the kidneys through urine.
The risk of diarrhea, stomach cramping, and bloating from its osmotic effect can vary from person to person, but is generally dose-dependent. The higher the dose, the higher the risk of side effects.
The Bottom Line
When used in combination with a healthy diet high in magnesium-rich foods, magnesium malate can help increase your intake of this important mineral and deliver several health benefits. This should not imply that magnesium malate can treat these or other health conditions. What it does suggest is that the optimal intake of magnesium can better regulate heart, lung, nerve, and hormonal functions to the benefit of your overall health.
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References
https://www.verywellhealth.com/magnesium-malate-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-715798
https://medium.com/@isotropeusa/magnesium-malate-supports-natural-energy-production-promotes-joint-health-9f4ba3573459
https://www.purehimalayanshilajit.com/magnesium-malate/
https://www.organicfacts.net/magnesium-malate.html
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/magnesium-malate
https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-diet-magnesium
https://www.everydayhealth.com/atrial-fibrillation/diet/where-to-get-your-magnesium-for-healthy-heart/
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