Magnesium Study: BIOGENA Good Health Study

The BIOGENA Good Health Study (GHS), involving 1,377 Austrian participants, confirms what previous studies had already suggested: the importance of an optimal magnesium intake for mental well-being cannot be overestimated.

When you talk about stress, you have to mention magnesium too. A deficiency in this all-rounder can exacerbate the stress spiral and fuel a vicious circle. A magnesium deficiency thus increases susceptibility to stress, whilst stress in turn contributes to a magnesium deficiency. The Good Health Study revealed, however, that an optimal intake helps you cope better with stress. The results* confirmed that magnesium levels of 35.0 mg/l or higher were associated with a 6% higher ability to cope with stress (= resilience).

* collected using the internationally renowned RS-11 questionnaire

An optimal supply of magnesium can do more than just bolster our body’s natural defences against stress. When it comes to our well-deserved night’s sleep, that ‘extra’ magnesium translates into a ‘boost in well-being’.

As early as 2021, a meta-analysis concluded that taking magnesium has sleep-inducing properties and reduces the time taken to fall asleep – compared with a placebo – by an average of 17 minutes. This observation was also reflected in the results of the BIOGENA Good Health Study. For example, difficulty falling asleep was reduced by 3 per cent in women with magnesium levels of 35 mg/l or higher.

Resilience, stress and sleep are closely interlinked; improving these factors can make a significant contribution to mental well-being and to the prevention of depression.

Magnesium is notable for its ability to promote a sense of well-being – even when mental balance has already been disrupted. Thanks to previous studies and existing literature, a number of links can be drawn between magnesium and depression. For example, a cross-sectional study involving 402 participants showed that magnesium intake is associated with the occurrence of depressive symptoms – and indeed, in an inverse relationship. Meanwhile, targeted magnesium supplementation appears to have positive effects on the clinical presentation of mild to moderate depression – according to the results of a 6-week clinical trial. Incidentally, patients responded particularly well when they were also taking SSRI-type antidepressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors).

If we look at the magnesium levels of participants in the Austrian Good Health Study from the ‘normal’ perspective of a standard laboratory, the situation appears to be one of adequate intake (-> 90 per cent of men and 89 per cent of women have ‘normal’ levels). However, this fallacy obscures the great potential that the GHS study has brought to light. This is because, when considering the target magnesium level of at least 35 mg/l, around 74 per cent of all women and around 49 per cent of all men fall short of the optimal intake.

Whilst nearly half of the study participants (47.6 per cent) did not take any additional magnesium, taking a magnesium supplement was associated with a clinically significant reduction in blood pressure (systolic: 3–4 mmHg, diastolic: 2–3 mmHg).

• Around three-quarters of all women and almost half of all men fell short of the target optimal magnesium level of at least 35 mg/l whole blood

• When it comes to magnesium intake, there is therefore certainly room for improvement – particularly from the perspective of the associated ‘mental potential’

• Thanks to its blood pressure-lowering properties, magnesium can also help maintain a healthy blood pressure

The BIOGENA Good Health Study 2021, involving 1,377 participants, aimed to provide an up-to-date picture of the state of health and healthcare provision amongst the Austrian population and to demonstrate that improved micronutrient intake is associated with greater physical and mental wellbeing.