Can Magnesium help with PMS discomfort?

I've often talked about Magnesium, and how the majority of people in the modern world are deficient in Magnesium.

Magnesium is an essential nutrient for optimal health, and is involved in hundreds of biochemical processes in our bodies, from muscle contraction (including heart muscles), nerve signaling, to hormonal regulation.

However in this post I wanted to discuss the benefits of Magnesium supplementation on PMS-driven anxiety and pain.

Many women dread those days before menstruation when unbearable physical pain may arise. In some, the hormonal cascade which takes place also leads to anxiety and depressive symptoms.

This is where Mg can help.

A study published in 2012 compared the effect of Mg, Mg+Vitamin B6 and placebo on PMS symptoms in women.

The study revealed that both Mg as well as Mg+B6 significantly improved symptoms of PMS.

In addition, Mg has been shown in numerous studies to help to anxiety. It can calm the nervous system by downregulating the activity of the HPA axis (Hypothalamic, Pituitary, Adrenal axis), the hormonal system responsible for generating "adrenaline" and "cortisol", your "stress hormones".

How much to take? Well that depends on the type of Mg you take. Some (e.g. Citrate, Malate, Taurate) have high bioavailability, so you only need to take the dosage on the bottle (I recommend taking it daily since most people are deficient anyway).

Other types (e.g. Oxide) have lower bioavailability, and as such would require a higher dosage (back off the dosage if you feel GI problems - aka diarrhea - arising).