Magnesium is a mineral and is one of the most important nutrients for us humans. Just like calcium, potassium, sodium, phosphate and chloride, it also belongs to the group of electrolytes.
What is magnesium?
Between 20–30 g of the vital mineral is stored in the human body. Approximately 59% of the total magnesium content is found in bone tissue and 40% in muscles and body cells. Only about 1% of the mineral is in the blood. This also explains why magnesium is referred to as a bone and muscle mineral. Unlike many other substances, the human body cannot produce the mineral magnesium itself, but depends on it being supplied regularly in sufficient form, because: magnesium is essential for life.
Every day we excrete 300–400 mg of the mineral through urine and sweat – especially when it is warm or hot in the summer. If not enough magnesium is available, it is removed from the body's own reserves, for example the bones or muscles.
Fortunately, magnesium is contained in almost all foods and also in drinking water, so with a balanced diet, meeting the basic requirement of about 300–400 mg should not normally be a problem.
However, in certain situations, there may be an insufficient supply of magnesium, which impairs the body’s performance. For example, pregnant and breastfeeding women or adolescents have an increased need for magnesium, as do physically active people.
Magnesium is never absorbed in its pure form as a metal, but always in the form of a compound.