Magnesium is the new Omega 3 of the internet. It is everywhere, right from Instagram reels to YouTube ads, and even at your local medicine shop in Kolkata.
Often marketed as fix-all products, lotions, sprays and capsules containing the mineral are recommended for relieving muscle cramps, insomnia and stress by many influencers and fitness coaches.
But none of this advice comes from doctors.
So, before you add another magnesium supplement to your Blinkit cart, here’s what you must know.
Side effects and benefits
Applying magnesium lotion on the neck for cervical spondylosis had Kolkata-based working professional Sourabh Ray worried about his overall health the next morning.
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“I applied the lotion on my neck at approximately 10.00pm. The next morning, I was dizzy, disoriented, and felt as if I was drunk. Driving was risky at that point. I was afraid I might have an undiagnosed health condition,” he said.
But entrepreneur Arkamitra Roy, who suffers from fibromyalgia, had a different take on magnesium lotion.
It helped her sleep better, treat severe pain.
“I have fibromyalgia. Which kind of means I am pretty much always in pain. Most nights it's difficult for me to fall asleep because of how much my legs hurt, which is unrelated to how much or how little I walked throughout the day. I found a natural solution that makes the pain at night a little easier to bear, a magnesium lotion. It's not a pain killer, but it does relax your muscles to some extent,” said Roy.
What doctors recommend
Dr Asis Patra, a senior consulting anesthetic at Woodlands Multispecialty Hospital in Kolkata’s Alipore, says he had never heard of magnesium being used for better sleep or pain relief.
“We use magnesium injection for hyperventilating pregnant women to calm them down. Magnesium injections in large dosage are used mainly to euthanise horses that have been injured beyond recovery. Large doses of magnesium cause heart attacks,” said Dr Patra.
Dr Suman Mitra, from CK Birla Hospitals’ Internal Medicine department, elaborates on what magnesium does to the human body.
“Like every other electrolyte in the body which is needed for physiological homeostasis, the most underused and often underappreciated electrolyte is magnesium which is essential for many functions of the body including that of normal muscle function, prevention of muscle cramps, neurological transmissions, function of the heart, maintenance of blood pressure,” said Mitra.
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“Overdose and prolonged use of magnesium can cause confusion, increase daytime sleepiness or somnolence, affect BP, and even cause renal failure or cardiac arrest,” warns Mitra.
Doctors advise against use of magnesium supplements in any form if you have a heart condition or kidney disease.
Magnesium is available online and over the counter without the requirement of a prescription, which makes it hard to regulate its usage, say doctors.