Depression is a common form of mood disorder characterized by low energy, a feeling of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, low energy, and loss of interest in activities you’ve once enjoyed. It can affect your sleep, studies, work, eating behaviors, exercise habits, social life, family life, and other daily activities.
One of the often overlooked support options for improving depression is magnesium. Magnesium is important for your brain and mental health. Magnesium deficiency has been linked to depression, anxiety, headaches, migraines, muscle pains, sleep issues, fatigue, high blood pressure, and other health issues. Magnesium supplementation may help to improve depression, mental health, and brain health.
What is Depression
Depression is a common yet often serious mood disorder. Depression affects how you feel and how you think. It may affect your eating behavior, sleep, work or school work, exercise habits, family life, social life, daily activities, and other areas of your life.
There are different types of depression:
- Major depression: This is a form of depression that presents symptoms for 2 weeks or longer and interferes with your sleep, study, work, and eating.
- Dysthymia or persistent depressive disorder: This form of depression is long-term that lasts for at least two years with less severe symptoms.
- Perinatal depression: Perinatal depression can affect women during pregnancy, and postpartum happens after delivery.
- Seasonal affective disorder (SAD): SAD affects people during late fall and winter during darker months and goes away during spring and summer, the lighter months.
- Depression with symptoms of psychosis: This form of depression is severe and accompanied with symptoms of psychosis such as hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that don’t exist) or delusions (disturbing, false beliefs).
- Bipolar disorder: Bipolar disorder is a different mental health condition, however, it is also characterized by depressive episodes followed by manic periods.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, 1 in 5 adults experiences one form of mental illness each year. Depression is one of the most common mental health issues. According to the National Institute of mental health, 21 million adults in the US had at least one episode of major depression.
These statistics don’t include children or teenagers, people with other forms of depression, and undiagnosed depression. Depression can co-occur with other mental health issues, including anxiety, eating disorders, social anxiety, and phobias.
Causes and Risk Factors of Depression
Depression may develop at any age. There is no one specific cause of depression. It’s usually a combination of a number of factors, including genetic, biological, psychological, and environmental factors. A personal or family history of depression, chronic stress, major life changes, trauma, physical illness, other mental health issues, and certain medications may all increase your risk of depression.
Brain inflammation and certain nutritional deficiencies may play a role in depression. Improving magnesium levels may help.
Conventional Treatment for Depression
Conventional treatment for depression is usually treated with therapy, medication, or a combination of both (1). Unfortunately, many people do not have a good experience with anti-depressants and these medications have many side effects as well as addictive properties that create a dependency.
The role of nutrition is rarely explored in a conventional setting. Yet, mental health and nutrition are connected. Magnesium may help with brain inflammation and depression.
Magnesium Deficiency and Depression
Magnesium is an essential mineral that’s involved with countless biochemical reactions and health processes in your body. Magnesium is essential for brain health, mental health, muscle health, healthy blood sugar levels, relaxation, sleep, heart health, and exercise performance. It may help with depression, anxiety, migraines, muscle tension, and sleep. Research has found that magnesium deficiency may play a role in depression and supplementation may help.
A 2010 review published in Medical Hypotheses has found that poor magnesium may reduce serotonin and magnesium may help to improve serotonin levels and symptoms of treatment-resistant depression. A 2011 book, Magnesium and Major Depression, published by the University of Adelaide Press has also discussed how magnesium deficiency may lower serotonin and contribute to depression.
Findings of a 2013 systematic review published in Nutritional Neurosciences has also found that magnesium metabolism and poor magnesium may contribute to depression. Improving magnesium levels may help.
Studies on Magnesium Supplementation and Depression
Research has shown that magnesium supplementation may benefit depression. This is probably not surprising considering the brain health benefits of magnesium we just discussed. A 2017 randomized clinical trial published in PLoS One has found that magnesium supplementation may help depression. The study looked at 126 adults at the mean age of 52, 38 percent male.
They received 6 weeks of treatment with 248 mg of elemental magnesium while the control group received no treatment. Researchers assessed the depression symptoms and treatment of participants bi-weekly. Researchers found that after the 6 weeks, 112 participants improved their scores on depression and generalized anxiety disorder. 61 percent of participants felt confident that they would use magnesium for their depression again. You can view the charts below put together by Grassroots Health.
A 2020 systematic review published in Nutrients has also found that the use of magnesium may be beneficial for mental health. Magnesium levels are generally lower in people with mental health issues, especially depression. This systematic review looked at 32 scientific articles on magnesium and psychiatric disorders between 2010 and 2020.
They found that 12 studies show a correlation between magnesium levels and depression. Some studies have found a link between low magnesium and ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as well. Researchers found that taking magnesium may be beneficial for people with depression and urge more research on the topic.
Best Magnesium Forms For Brain
Not all magnesium is made equal. Different forms of magnesium have different benefits, some are better for mental health or sleep, others may have digestive benefits. Some are not bioavailable to your body and are effective in most cases.
Here are the best forms of magnesium for your brain, mental health, and depression.
Source: Dr. Jockers, edited