Magnesium glycinate may help improve sleep by relaxing muscles, calming the mind, and reducing stress – supporting deeper, more restful sleep naturally.

Is magnesium the perfect solution to the deep restful sleep that you’ve been longing for?

The relationship between magnesium and sleep is a topic that has gained attention in recent times. People who struggle with falling asleep, muscle cramps, restless legs or waking up much too early and lie staring at the ceiling, often discover magnesium as a suggested supplement, promising longer and deeper sleep by taking it just before bedtime. When there is a supplement that has so many wide-ranging claims surrounding it, we often wonder which of these benefits make sense, and why. So we thought we’d do a bit of a deep dive.

If you find yourself pacing around or working some muscles over with a foam roller, read on because this is exactly that kind of thing that might be of interest to you.

The challenges of researching the impact of nutrients on wellbeing

The gold standard for medical research involves taking a group of people who have a specific health problem, and giving half of this population a drug and the other half a placebo. When neither the researchers nor the participants know who is getting the placebo and who is getting the actual drug, this is called a double blind trial. Then the impact on each group is measured and compared.

Many studies use cross-sections of society likely to include both deficient subjects and people who generally get enough magnesium in their diet already. Such subjects would of course not show much, if any, benefit from supplementation. It is worth bearing this in mind when looking at seemingly conflicting research findings.

Some ‘observational studies’ rely heavily on self-reported data such as diet, from which the baseline intake is estimated. Similarly, research that evaluates the impact of magnesium supplementation on sleep quality, may rely on reporting subjective experiences. Even as part of standardised tests, such data can be questionable.

As the renowned wellness podcaster, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, PhD, put it: ‘I am not going to say that magnesium supplementation will not improve sleep. But I will say that there is not strong evidence that magnesium supplementation will improve sleep’. It is also worth highlighting the most regularly cited fact about magnesium: it plays a role in over 600 metabolic and enzymatic processes in the human body (c). Some of these directly relate to sleep patterns while others indirectly impact sleep quality. This is where we would say that, based on a little common sense, it is fair to hold on to hope that magnesium can support the deep, restful sleep that everyone knows is key to physical and mental wellbeing.

How magnesium supplementation benefits sleep

Magnesium can help relax restless legs

Magnesium makes muscles relax more easily, which could be due to magnesium’s ability to block calcium, which helps regulate nerves and muscles, rather than allowing calcium to activate nerves [28]. If magnesium is low, calcium is not blocked and nerves become overactive, causing muscle contractions. (a)

Regulating neurotransmitters involved in the sleep cycle

There is a chicken-and-egg relationship between magnesium and stress levels. Sleep deprivation worsens the effects of magnesium deficiency just as low magnesium levels can impact the quality duration of sleep. Both physical and psychological stress can result in magnesium being ‘pulled’ from the bones where it is stored. Elevated magnesium is also found in urine as a result of such stress. Over time this can lead to true (total bodily) magnesium deficiency unless addressed through diet and supplementation.

It can be useful to think of magnesium’s role relating to some neurotransmitters as ‘hitting the off switch’ for glutamate – the most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter in your brain and central nervous system. And the ‘on switch’ for GABA – a calming chemical messenger in the brain. Thus it is useful to reduce anxiety.

Form and Function

When choosing a magnesium supplement, one is suddenly confronted by a host of choices, and many different forms of magnesium. One form seems particularly well suited to supporting restful sleep: Magnesium glycinate. When the mineral is bonded to glycine, it – the glycine – also offers some benefits associated with this non-essential amino acid. Plus this form is more gentle on the digestive tract.

Conclusion

While more research is always valuable to deepen our understanding, there is enough reason to consider magnesium to support overall wellbeing and the rejuvenating night’s rest everyone needs to perform at their full potential.

Is it right for me?

Understanding magnesium levels and how it is measured in the human body is a topic with enough substance to warrant its own blog post. We’ll link back to that topic here, so that you can understand how it works, where magnesium is stored and what a sensible course of action is if you are concerned about your total body magnesium.