Magnesium is an essential mineral and one of the electrolytes and plays a key role in their balance in your body. A balanced ratio of electrolytes ensures the optimal balance between tension and relaxation in your muscles. If you suffer from cramps frequently, e.g. calf cramps, then the concentration of calcium in relation to magnesium in your body is probably too high. Magnesium relaxes your muscles by reducing the influx of calcium and thus the tendency to cramp.

As a vital and versatile mineral, magnesium can do even more: It inhibits the release of the stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline and has a stabilizing effect on your cell membranes, thereby reducing the excitability of your nerve cells. Magnesium is also essential for normal energy metabolism by activating adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the fuel of the cells, and thus around 300 enzymes.

• Your metabolism
• Your body’s energy production and performance
• Reduction of tiredness and fatigue
• The tissue and body fluids
• The transmission of stimuli and normal nerve function
• Maintaining bones and teeth
• Our muscle functions

Magnesium tablets 200 mg are easy to take with water or other liquids and provide you with 200 mg of pure magnesium per tablet. This corresponds on average to half the recommended daily dose for adults.

Good to know: If you take magnesium supplements orally, your body will not use the entire amount. The absorption depends on the dose. According to various studies, around 35 percent of 120 mg of magnesium is absorbed, while only around 18 percent of 360 mg is absorbed. You should also know that the additional magnesium will only remain useful in your body if there are enough binding molecules available. These are formed through biochemical adaptations only after an increased amount of the mineral has been taken in over a longer period of time. It is therefore recommended that you take appropriate dietary supplements for at least four weeks.

Magnesium is an essential mineral and indispensable for all organisms. Even plants can suffer from magnesium deficiency, as their green leaf, chlorophyll, consists of around 2 percent magnesium when healthy. The body of an adult human contains around 20 g of magnesium. The mineral plays an essential role in numerous metabolic processes and is involved in hundreds of enzyme reactions as a coenzyme or enzyme component. Free magnesium ions also have an important function as secondary messengers in the human immune system and stabilize the resting potential of cells in muscles and nerves.

If the need for magnesium is not sufficiently covered over a longer period of time, a number of symptoms appear. Typical symptoms are nervousness and irritability on the one hand, and tiredness, weakness and lack of concentration on the other. Muscle cramps, concentration problems, headaches and cardiac arrhythmias also often occur with magnesium deficiency. There is even a risk of a heart attack. Some scientists also suspect that depression is exacerbated by magnesium deficiency.

Depending on age and gender, a daily intake of between 24 and 400 mg of magnesium is recommended. Male adolescents and young adults between 15 and 25 years of age have the highest magnesium requirements. Breastfeeding women need almost as much, at 390 mg. An overview can be found at the German Society for Nutrition. Nicolai Worm, professor at the German University for Prevention (DHPG), believes that this guideline is too low. According to him, the information is based on the average for the population. Higher doses are recommended for optimal supply.

According to the National Consumption Study II, which collected data on the eating habits of Germans between 2005 and 2007, a quarter of men and a third of women are inadequately supplied with the essential mineral. Among girls between 14 and 18, the figure is as high as half. Pregnant women, breastfeeding women and the elderly are also at risk.

Diabetics are particularly likely to suffer from magnesium deficiency. This could even be one of the causes of the disease. Two of the largest epidemiological studies, i.e. studies that look at the spread of diseases in the population, found through an examination of a total of around 130,000 participants that people who permanently eat a diet low in magnesium are significantly more likely to develop diabetes.

The mineral magnesium is vital, but cannot be produced by our bodies. Therefore, it is vital to take it through food (and if necessary, food supplements such as Magnesium Verla, Biolectra or Magnesium effervescent tablets). Magnesium is found primarily in whole grain products, but also in mineral water, liver, poultry, fish, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, various nuts, chocolate, potatoes, spinach, kohlrabi, oranges, bananas, soft fruit, and milk and dairy products.

Magnesium preparations always provide magnesium in compounds, ie the magnesium is bound to another substance. In the compound magnesium oxide, for example, the mineral is bound to oxygen, while in magnesium carbonate it is present as a compound with the salt of carbonic acid. There are other compounds such as magnesium sulfate or magnesium citrate. The type of compound does not seem to play a role in the bioavailability and the speed of absorption. It is much more important that magnesium must be taken over a longer period of time in order to be used effectively by the body.