Best food containing magnesium
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Best Foods Containing Magnesium
Magnesium is an essential mineral that plays a critical role in numerous bodily functions, including protein synthesis, energy production, and nerve transmission. Ensuring adequate magnesium intake is vital for maintaining overall health and preventing chronic diseases. This article synthesizes research findings to identify the best food sources of magnesium.
High Magnesium Foods: Bread, Cereals, and Chocolate
Research indicates that bread, cereal products, and chocolate are among the top sources of magnesium. These foods contain two to three times more magnesium per wet weight compared to milk, meat, or vegetable products1. This makes them excellent choices for boosting magnesium intake.
Vegetables: High Magnesium to Caloric Content Ratio
Vegetables generally have a higher ratio of magnesium to caloric content compared to meat, milk, and cereal products1. This means that vegetables can provide a significant amount of magnesium without adding too many calories to your diet, making them a healthy and efficient source of this essential mineral.
Whole Grains, Nuts, and Legumes
Whole grains, nuts, and legumes are also excellent sources of magnesium. These foods are not only rich in magnesium but also provide other essential nutrients and fiber, contributing to overall health and disease prevention2. Including a variety of these foods in your diet can help ensure adequate magnesium intake.
Top Magnesium-Rich Foods in Brazil
A study from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health identified beans, oats, nuts, white rice, orange, French bread, cooked fish, boneless meat, whole milk, and whole wheat bread as the top food sources of magnesium3. These findings highlight the importance of a diverse diet that includes both plant-based and animal-based foods to meet magnesium needs.
Seafood and Dairy Products
In Southeastern Spain, molluscs and crustacea were found to have the highest magnesium levels among seafood, while cheese had the highest magnesium content among dairy products4. Including these foods in your diet can significantly contribute to your daily magnesium intake.
Conclusion
To ensure adequate magnesium intake, it is beneficial to include a variety of magnesium-rich foods in your diet. Bread, cereals, chocolate, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, seafood, and dairy products are all excellent sources of magnesium. By incorporating these foods into your meals, you can support your overall health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases associated with low magnesium levels.
Sources and full results
Most relevant research papers on this topic
MAGNESIUM CONTENT OF SELECTED FOODS
Bread, cereal products, and chocolate and licorice candies have two to three times the magnesium per wet weight as milk, meat, or vegetable products, with higher ratios in vegetables than in meat, milk, and cereal products.
Magnesium in disease prevention and overall health.
Magnesium plays a crucial role in disease prevention and overall health, with low levels being associated with chronic diseases like migraines, Alzheimer's, and cardiovascular disease.
Highly CitedMagnesium intake in a Longitudinal Study of Adult Health: associated factors and the main food sources.
Magnesium intake is positively associated with female sex, age 60, black, indigenous, or brown skin colors, higher income, and moderate or vigorous physical activity levels in Brazilian adults.
Magnesium and calcium contents in foods from SE Spain: influencing factors and estimation of daily dietary intakes.
The daily intake of magnesium and calcium in the Spanish diet is 366.1 and 1266.6 mg/day per person, similar to recommended dietary allowances.
Highly CitedBioavailability of magnesium food supplements: A systematic review.
Organic magnesium formulations are more bioavailable than inorganic ones, but all supplements can maintain physiological levels in healthy individuals without prior deficit.
Systematic ReviewGoing to the roots of reduced magnesium dietary intake: A tradeoff between climate changes and sources
Climate change and a decline in magnesium content in fruits and vegetables contribute to reduced dietary intake, leading to various health issues.
Literature ReviewThe Contribution of Dietary Magnesium in Farm Animals and Human Nutrition
Magnesium supplementation in farm animals and humans improves performance, food quality, and prevents deficiency-related health conditions, with potential implications for bone development, muscle function, and overall health.
Very Rigorous JournalIntestinal absorption of magnesium from food and supplements.
Magnesium absorption from food and supplements is curvilinear, with less magnesium absorbed than calcium at higher intakes, and enteric coating can impair magnesium bioavailability.
Non-RCTHighly CitedINADEQUATE SUPPLIES OF POTASSIUM AND MAGNESIUM IN RELIEF FOOD— IMPLICATIONS AND COUNTERMEASURES
Relief food should contain sufficient potassium and magnesium to support protein synthesis, growth, and tissue repair, and can be achieved by using coarse cereals, supplementing with legumes, and avoiding cooking procedures that extract these salts.
Magnesium may mediate the favorable impact of whole grains on insulin sensitivity by acting as a mild calcium antagonist.
Magnesium may mediate the favorable impact of whole grains on insulin sensitivity by acting as a mild calcium antagonist, potentially reducing diabetes risk and improving insulin sensitivity.
Highly Cited