Not getting enough sleep? Your body may have magnesium deficiency leading to insomnia

After a long, tiring day, what our body really needs is a good 7-8 hours of sound sleep, without any disturbance. But even after trying all the new as well as old techniques to get some sleep, you may find it difficult to get some sleep, making you cranky the next morning. 

According to the National Sleep Foundation, they recommend that adults should sleep seven to nine hours per night. However, sleep-related problems are common in workers or corporate employees who work mostly in night shifts. According to the findings, 37.6 percent of the respondents reported short sleep duration, representing 54.1 million US workers. 

A lot of factors come into play when it comes to understanding why people are turning insomniac. Whether it is because of high caffeine intake, spending a long time surfing on the internet, staying up to finish your work or any kind of physical pain that's been constant for a while are some of the reasons that you find if difficult when you want to sleep.

There are two types of insomnia that people experience one being, where you cannot sleep at all, and the other, where you are able to sleep but you wake up often in the night, which is worse. 

Researchers have found that one of the reasons for such sleep disorder could be the deficiency of magnesium. It is found that magnesium significantly decreases serum cortisol levels in comparison to placebo. 

Cortisol is a steroid hormone which is responsible for the body's stress response. Deficiency of magnesium can lead to depression, stress, and anxiety. Signs that show you might have magnesium deficiency are:

1. Poor quality sleep

If you are experiencing issues while sleeping, then it might be an indication that your body is lacking magnesium. Getting up in the middle of the night and further finding it hard to sleep or sleeping in installments can happen because of magnesium deficiency. You might be turning into an insomniac because your body might not be getting enough of magnesium.

2. Poor concentration levels, bad mood, anxiety

If you find yourself unable to concentrate, and if you have to struggle a lot to focus while you are doing your work, then it might be because of a lack of magnesium in your body. It could also be the reason behind your constant low mood. It is important to be attentive. 

You might be experiencing anxiety problems or even depression because of a lack of magnesium in your body. Because of this, you might find it hard to find your mental balance. Therefore, getting a thorough check-up by going to a doctor should be the first thing to do.

3. Joint discomfort and muscle pain

You might be having discomfort in your joint or might be experiencing muscle pain very often the reason for that could be lack of calcium, magnesium or your body might not have gotten any rest. However, it is always advisable to see a doctor before jumping to any conclusion.

4. Headaches and migraines

Since magnesium is an important nutrient that helps your body fight stress, depression, and migraine, if your body lacks magnesium in a large amount, it can make things worse for you. Magnesium is mostly found in your tissues, brain, bones, and muscles. Therefore, magnesium is very important to keep your body stress free and healthy.

It is believed that a migraine and constipation are connected with each other. When serotonin is present in the brain it causes a migraine, whereas if it is present in a large amount in intestines, it leads to constipation. 

If you are wondering how does magnesium help in curing insomnia or any sleep-related issues, then you must know that magnesium is responsible for reducing levels of cortisol and adrenaline that are the reasons behind keeping you up or causing erratic slumber. 

Magnesium interacts with neurotransmitters called gamma-aminobutyric acid present in your body, which helps in improving sleep quality. Magnesium when reacts with the molecule of GABA receptors in the brain, it relaxes the body and brain, making a person feel sleepy. 

There are a lot of studies that prove that taking magnesium in the form of tablets is less effective than taking it via the skin. A study conducted in 2017, found that magnesium if applied on skin, boosts the magnesium level in blood.

To make sure that your body has an abundance of magnesium in your body, you should eat food and fruits that are rich in magnesium. Unknowingly, you might be eating things that are draining magnesium from your body. High intake of coffee, alcohol, salt, and sugar may be draining magnesium from your body. Therefore, it is always a good idea to avoid these things. 

Food items like brown rice, soy milk, almonds, cashews, buckwheat, brazil nuts, dulse, filberts, millet, pecans, walnuts, rye and more are rich in magnesium is. However before changing food habits consult your medical professional to understand how to go about the changes in food.

Disclaimer: The article does not do any medical diagnosis. Please consult a medical professional if you face any sleep issue.