Magnesium Deficiency and Sleep Disturbance

We find none of these side effects when taking magnesium to help one relax and sleep. Animals placed on magnesium-deficient diets will commonly develop disorganized sleep and periods of wakefulness.[1] Sleep problems occur more frequently in adults as they age, making it increasingly difficult to deal with stress. Magnesium supplementation partially reverses age-related sleep abnormalities.[2] Magnesium is an essential mineral that plays a major role in the functioning of the muscular-skeletal system. Magnesium allows the muscles to relax, providing a calming effect that allows for deeper relaxation and better sleep.

We have already seen how magnesium deficiencies can cause cancer. Now we are looking at how those same deficiencies can cause sleep disorders, which then also can lead to cancer.

Insomnia is one of the central, or neurotic, symptoms of chronic magnesium deficiency. A number of parasomnias (night terrors, nocturnal verbal and motor automatisms, restless leg syndrome) are highly correlated to magnesium deficiency. When we lose magnesium we lose sleep and then we lose our balance emotionally and then depression or hyperactivity can set in.

In a study by Dr. W. Davis, MD, 99% of his patients who used magnesium chloride had rapidly induced sleep that was uninterrupted. Dr. W. Davis used magnesium chloride as a means of combating insomnia. The researcher reported that sleep was induced rapidly, was uninterrupted, and that waking tiredness disappeared in 99% of the patients. In addition, anxiety and tension diminished during the day.[3]

[1] Neuropsychobiology 27: 237–45, 1993

[2] Pharmacopsychiatry 35: 135–43, 2002

[3] W.H. Davis and F. Ziady, “The Role of Magnesium in Sleep”, Montreal Symposium, 1976