Stress, Fear, Phobias, and PTSD: Stress can deplete magnesium, and a magnesium deficiency can also enhance a stress response. Complicating matters: Daily stress can cause people to increase their intake of alcohol, coffee, or caffeine, but these increase the elimination of magnesium in the urine. Magceutics pointed to a 2004 animal study in which animals receiving diets low in magnesium displayed increased anxiety-related behavior.
Studies suggest that enhancing the plasticity of certain brain regions may improve health outcomes for those suffering from stress, fear, and other phobias, Magceutics shared, but the key is getting magnesium to cross the blood-brain barrier. The company says two studies indicate that supplementing animals with a bioavailable form, magnesium L-threonate,reduces anxiety. By enhancing brain magnesium levels, magnesium L-threonate can enhance synaptic plasticity, and enhance the extinction of fear memory or stress, without erasing the original fear memory or flight-or-fight response, the company says.
Mood Improvement: Numerous case reports have found rapid improvements in mood with the use of magnesium supplementation, and a randomized trial showed that magnesium supplementation was just as effective as an antidepressant for improving mood, Magceutics said. Magnesium in the brain is needed to make the "feel good" neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline; individuals with depression have low cerebral spinal fluid magnesium. According to Magceutics, only magnesium L-threonate increases brain magnesium levels, and boosting brain magnesium levels with the use of magnesium L-threonate may have profound benefits on mood.
Focus:Magceutics pointed to a recent human clinical study in which 15 adults with ADHD received magnesium L-threonate up to 1 gram in the morning and 1 gram in the evening for 12weeks.Approximately half of patients were considered "responders" to the treatment by having a 25% reduction or more in ADHD symptoms. The researchers reported that certain measurements of executive functioning, visual scanning, and number sequence improved with magnesium L-threonate. The study also showed that traditional Full-Scale IQ on WASI-II and Matrix Scaled Score significantly improved by ~ 5-12% with magnesium L-threonatesupplementation.
Cognition: As Magceutics notes, studies have shown that people with Alzheimer's disease have lower magnesium levels in certain brain regions compared tocontrols. Increasing magnesium in neurons increases synapse density, function,and plasticity. A study looking at 15 patients with a clinical diagnosis of mild to moderate Alzheimer'sdiseasedetermined that Magnesium L-threonate caused a significant improvement in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score, which is used to measure cognitive impairment. Performance speed, reflecting executive function and cognitive processing, also improved by ~20%-- and four months after stopping magnesium L-threonate, the MMSE score was still elevated. The payoff: The researchers suggested that magnesium L-threonate reversed the equivalent of nine years of brain aging based on a standardized cognitive test measuring executive function.
