Is supplementing with magnesium dangerous?

[glab]

Recently I read in a cardiology magazine how a professor responded to a reader who asked if taking magnesium as a supplement is safe and advisable
and the professor said that nobody should take magnesium unless he has a deficiency. He sounded as if taking magnesium is dangerous and can cause
a disbalance between magnesium and potassium. Is this really such a big deal?
I'm confused about this cause from what I heard most people have too little magnesium due to stress,alcohol,poor nutrition.

I have a years supply of magnesium orotate at home which when take according to the dosage guidelines provides 100mg magnesium per day. But now after reading
this I'm worried that taking magnesium could cause more harm than it does good. But this stuff was pretty damn expensive and if I don't take it it will expire.

I have also taken magnesium glycinate in the past with no ill effects. But what sounds scary is the potassium stuff. If taking magnesium could lower potassium or
cause an imbalance then this could be dangerous. From what I read messing with potassium is really dangerous.

 

[Mycophile]

Never heard anything about that but when I told my doctor that my muscles cramp up when I exercise he recommended I take Magnesium.

So there's a doctor's opinion for you, which is good enough for me.

 

[Foreigner]

If you're taking it orally then your body has its own mechanisms for starting and stopping absorption. Excess can also be excreted from the kidneys, or stored in the bones (if there's enough complementary minerals to form bone, like calcium). You'll also just start getting diarrhea from ingesting too much. The only way you could really mess up quantity is if you're using IV magnesium... then you could kill yourself. But who does that?

The other problem is that modern blood labs for magnesium are notoriously poor at detecting deficiencies. Just because blood plasma levels show "normal" magnesium, doesn't mean you have enough stored in the body. Eating a meal containing magnesium within 24 hours of the blood lab can fudge the result. And if a blood lab ever shows you're deficient, then it means you're really deficient.

Magnesium is one of the most deficient minerals in the modern diet.

 

[lavendermew]

I use a powder dissolved in water for mine, and I vary the dose based on--TMI WARNING--how much it makes me poo. The runs, too much. Constipation, not enough. If it's comfy, I'm pretty good. [END TMI].

None of my doctors have had a problem with it, and I've found that if I take it regularly it decreases the severity and length of my migraines somewhat. I like the powder better because it's a lot easier to adjust the dose than the pill (the pill made me REALLY REALLY SICK in a GI-tract way). I've heard it's better absorbed that way, but I'm not sure if three's any science to back it up--all I know is that I can get very specific with my dose which I find very helpful.

 

[GrymReefer]

Mineral supplementation can always be beneficial, but you must make sure there is harmony in its volume of consumption in reference to other micronutrients it compliments. Also, never consume minerals on an empty stomach. It is just not a good feeling at all from my experience. If you want to get technical I would recommend a blood test before supplementing with minerals.

A lot of minerals work in concurrence with each other and having an abnormally high concentration with one could potentially lower another one to unsuitable concentrations. Its also possible to cause a deficiency in one category because of the absence of the other. If you want science then magnesium deficiency (intracellular) will potentially inhibit the ROMK channels and promote excessive potassium secretion leading to hypokalemia (potassium deficiency) Sodium also factors into this equation as it is a major component of ECF and contributes to regulation of osmolarity. Too much sodium and you have an increase in blood pressure and hypertension. Too low of sodium concentration and your blood pressure drops and you deal with hypotension. This all has a major effect on the heart's muscle tissue.

This was all pretty simplified, too. There is vast amount of factors leading to this environment including genetic diseases promoting magnesium/potassium deficiencies.

Just a thought... if you are someone who is extremely active then you sweat a lot more than the average individual. Sweating is where we lose a good quantity of our micronutrients and sometimes meticulous supplementation that the normal individual wouldn't do can be warranted. I personally have never taken magnesium, potassium, or iodine in a supplemental form. However I do take zinc and copper which have a very similar situation of maintaining harmony.


A guide to the molecular activities pertaining to sodium regulation

A study explaining the mechanics of hypokalemia