Your brain needs Magnesium to learn, remember, and relax for a lifetime. With more than 50% of the population deficient, learning the best ways to absorb Magnesium in the brain is crucial.
Your brain needs magnesium to learn, relax, and remember. It’s vital for restorative sleep and clear thinking in the present and long into the future. But how do you get enough magnesium into your brain when our foods have declining magnesium levels and more than 50% of the population is deficient? Keep reading to learn the importance of magnesium for the brain and how to absorb it in the cells where you need it.
How Magnesium Supports the Brain
Magnesium and Cognitive Power
A brain fed with magnesium can learn, remember, and relax for a lifetime, likely due to increasing density of synapses, the connections that let neurons communicate. As synapses lose their density with age, communication in the brain weakens and memory suffers.
Researchers have found that magnesium (specifically delivered as Magnesium L-Threonate) supports clear thinking in four domains over a lifetime:
1. EXECUTIVE FUNCTION
Like the CEO of a company, executive function sets abstract goals, plans to meet them, act in accordance with these plans, and modulate performance based on obstacles that present themselves. Executive function is your ability to take in information, organize it, evaluate it, and responding based on relevant sensory information. It’s broken into organization, how you gather and structure information, and regulation, how you evaluate and respond to this information.
2. WORKING MEMORY
As executive function is seeing the bigger picture, working memory is the tools to get the job done. It’s how you hold and process information in brief intervals, and store temporary memories. You need to know who receives those TPS reports when you’re distributing them, but that information will do you no good in 20 years. Your working memory has a limited capacity and is linked to basic sensory processing; memories for the here and now.
3. ATTENTION
Rarely does accomplishing the CEO’s objectives allow a singular, maniacal focus. Attention is how you maintain concentration in a world of distractions.
It is not clear exactly which areas of the brain are responsible for attention, as some studies suggest a complex interplay between the thalamus, the visual cortex, and the prefrontal cortex.
While most of the discussions around low attention capabilities involve children, older adults experience waning attention.
4. EPISODIC MEMORY
While memorizing facts (semantic memory) about your life helps you write an effective resume, the ability to recall specific events from your life (episodic memory) makes those line items true experiences. Episodic memory is a form of long-term memory in which you recall your experiences from your perspective, complete with sensory and emotional details that only you could experience. It’s why your memory of an event can be drastically different that that of others who were present.
Magnesium and Sleep
Magnesium is critical to make the substances in your body that regulate sleep, including the neurotransmitter GABA and the hormone melatonin. Supplementing magnesium has been associated with deep, restorative sleep.1
Magnesium and Stress
When you’re stressed, your body burns through Magnesium making hormones like cortisol for a healthy stress response. When you’re already low, your body has a hard time managing stress and become more susceptible to its ill effects.
Signs of Low Magnesium in the Brain
In addition to poor stress response, low Magnesium shows up in a variety of common cognitive symptoms:
- Lethargy
- Agitation
- Depression
- Hyperactivity
- Poor memory
- Nervousness
- Vertigo
- Headache
- Irritability
- Low stress tolerance
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea
- Sleep disorders
- Fatigue
Sources of Magnesium for Brain Health
Magnesium is found in several foods that contain other cognitive health nutrients, including:
- Dark chocolate
- Leafy greens
- Nuts: Almonds, cashews
- Seeds: Chia, sunflower, pumpkin
- Legumes: Black beans, edamame
- Whole grains: Quinoa,<
- Fruit: Avocado, blackberries, bananas
The problem is these foods are not as Magnesium-dense as they once were. Industrial farming practices deplete the soil, which grows Magnesium-depleted plants. It’s not just processed food diets that are leaving more than half of us low.
Which Magnesium Supplement Is Best for the Brain?
Magnesium supplements are everywhere, but effectiveness varies. When it comes to Magnesium supplements for the brain, you get what you pay for. The smart money is on the form of Magnesium that targets the brain.
Magnesium L-Threonate Raises Brain Magnesium
Magnesium L-Threonate is the only compound shown to raise Magnesium levels in the brain. Threonate is a byproduct of Vitamin C metabolism. When paired with magnesium, as MIT researchers discovered in the 2010s, it raises magnesium levels in brain cells.
Threonate accumulates in the cerebral spinal fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. In addition to cushioning the brain from the skull, the fluid delivers nutrients, like Magnesium, to and removes waste from the brain.2
Magnesium Glycinate Supports Mental Health
Pricier than other forms like oxide and citrate, Magnesium Glycinate pairs Magnesium with the amino acid Glycine. This form is more bioavailable and Glycine itself supports brain health by its involvement in brain signaling.
Liposomal Magnesium Supplements Provide Cellular Absorption
All these benefits of magnesium for brain health mean nothing if the supplement does not absorb in the cells where the mineral does its work. Liposomal supplements encapsulate Magnesium in phosphatidylcholine spheres (liposomes) to deliver Magnesium to the cells.
Because Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is also the major component of your cell membranes, the liposomes can enter the cell. The Magnesium absorbs to work in the mitochondria while the PC merges with the membrane to keep the cell strong, help produce neurotransmitters, and maintain neuron health. Lypo-Spheric® Magnesium is the first liposomal Magnesium L-Threonate supplement.
Summary: Long-Term Brain Health Starts with Magnesium
Keeping your brain topped off with Magnesium supports a lifetime of:
- Learning
- Memory
- Relaxation
- Sleep
- Stress response
With Magnesium present in a variety of delicious plant foods from avocado to dark chocolate, it may seem easy to get enough, but the 50% adult deficiency rate says otherwise. Supplements are easy to find, but the form matters.
Magnesium L-Threonate is scientifically shown to raise brain Magnesium levels while Magnesium Glycinate also provides a vital amino acid. Liposomal Magnesium supplements deliver potent cell-level absorption along with neurotransmitter supporting Phosphatidylcholine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Magnesium is good for the brain?
Magnesium L-Threonate is the only compound scientifically shown to raise brain Magnesium levels in the brain. A Liposomal Magnesium L-Threonate supplement delivers this compound to the cells along with neurotransmitter-supporting Phosphatidylcholine.
What does low Magnesium do to the brain?
When brain Magnesium is low, you may feel lethargic, foggy, and irritable. Stress can exacerbate deficiency symptoms.
Is Magnesium good for the brain?
Magnesium is critical for brain health over a lifetime. Magnesium can help maintain mental acuity longer by supporting learning, relaxation, memory, sleep, and stress response.
References
1Ikonte CJ, Mun JG, Reider CA, Grant RW, Mitmesser SH. Micronutrient Inadequacy in Short Sleep: Analysis of the NHANES 2005-2016. Nutrients. 2019 Oct 1;11(10):2335. doi: 10.3390/nu11102335. PMID: 31581561; PMCID: PMC6835726.
2 Qifeng Sun, Jason G. Weinger, Fei Mao, Guosong Liu. Regulation of structural and functional synapse density by L-threonate through modulation of intraneuronal magnesium concentration. Neuropharmacology, Volume 108, 2016, Pages 426-439,
ISSN 0028-3908. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2016.05.006.
