Magnesium rich foods

elmusho1989
elmusho1989 Posts: 321 Member
edited February 2021 in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone here had success adding more magnesium to their diet to reduce period pain. My clue app suggested it to me. Just wondering how easy it is to do without supplements or will I have to devote all my calories to nuts haha.

Any feedback appreciated.

Replies

  • icemom011
    icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
    edited February 2021
    I have muscle cramps and have not had any success with using food to replenish magnesium. Only supplements. Through trial and error i have narrowed down what works for me, which form of magnesium is the most helpful and it turned out to be magnesium carbonate. So i bought it in the pure form, without any additives and use it as needed. Meaning, I don't take it daily, only when i get the cramps, which usually happens at night, so next day i know to take some magnesium. Then I'm fine for a few days, sometimes a week. This way i feel like I'm not overdoing it, which is one of my concerns. I don't like to take unneeded pills and supplements. I try to get the most nutrition from food, just no success with magnesium. And i eat nuts every day, btw. My cramps seems to be from exercise. When I'm sick or injured and can't exercise they go away or minimal. I'm not sure if it's even applicable to period pain, but hopefully it helps. Looking forward for other replies to this thread.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    I take a supplement three times a week. I take it for other reasons...I don't think it's that hard to get enough from food though - it's not just nuts. Actually nuts are pretty far down on the list of things with a lot of magnesium.

    I guess with all supplements it's good to ask your doctor. Too much is never a good thing, either.
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    Onions are loaded :-) I eat at least half an onion almost every day
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    maybe I was thinking about some other nutrient I recently researched. I guess some nuts are indeed high on the list.

    mea culpa.
  • elmusho1989
    elmusho1989 Posts: 321 Member
    rosebarnalice wrote: »
    Onions are loaded :-) I eat at least half an onion almost every day

    Oh good, I love onions!

    Thanks for the reply everybody, I'm not anti supplements it's just I take a lot of stuff already including prescription strength folic acid so I feel a multivitamin would put me over on some stuff. I might try plain magnesium though.

    Glad to hear it's relieving you guys of various discomforts.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,152 Member
    edited February 2021
    Dark Chocolate (makes me feel a little less guilty about my choc cravings).

    Some mineral waters have higher magnesium content too, you can also buy drops. I use mineral drops in my water at home, more for taste than supplementation as I used to spend a fortune on sparkling mineral water but now have a sodastream to cut down on cost and plastic waste. It has pretty decent Magnesium content.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,053 Member
    I take a magnesium & potassium supplement. A serving = 2 capsules but just one per day is enough to eliminate leg cramps and reduce pre-menstrual cravings for me. I don't have menstrual cramps.

    https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XHD0W0/
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    edited February 2021
    https://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000120000000000000000.html

    Coffee, leafy greens like chard & spinach, mollusks...
    nutritiondata provides much more complete micronutrient information. Very useful.
  • elmusho1989
    elmusho1989 Posts: 321 Member
    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    https://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000120000000000000000.html

    Coffee, leafy greens like chard & spinach, mollusks...
    nutritiondata provides much more complete micronutrient information. Very useful.

    I'm veggie but good to know about the coffee, I'll find that easy haha

    I'll up my leafy greens too.

    Thanks for the info
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,374 Member
    If you do decide to go with a supplement, check the label and make sure you do not get a supplement based on magnesium oxide. That form of magnesium is the least bio-available to the human body and gets passed thru the digestive tract and expelled (or works as a laxative in larger doses).
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,934 Member
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    Dark Chocolate (makes me feel a little less guilty about my choc cravings).

    Some mineral waters have higher magnesium content too, you can also buy drops. I use mineral drops in my water at home, more for taste than supplementation as I used to spend a fortune on sparkling mineral water but now have a sodastream to cut down on cost and plastic waste. It has pretty decent Magnesium content.

    Varies a bit by source, but cacao powder has about 6-7mg magnesium per gram of powder. A tablespoon of it is 7g, so about 42mg, which is about 13% of the Magnesium USDA says I need daily, for around 25-30 calories.

    While that's a moderate amount, I mention it because @elmusho1989 said

    I'm veggie . . . . .

    Elmusho, I'm also veggie. If you haven't tried it, I find cacao powder a nice thing to add to some savory foods, such as hearty soups (like black bean), veggie chili, or similar. It adds an umami note, and some richness, along with useful micronutrients, not just vitamins/minerals but also other beneficial phytochemicals. Ideally, it's added during cooking, to take the edge off the raw taste.

    I've found I like about a tablespoon per (large) serving in soup/stew type stuff, but if you decide to try it, I'd maybe suggest starting with a teaspoon per serving, cook briefly, taste, add more if needed, until you find a good flavor point for your preferences.

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