The impressive health perks of magnesium

"Magnesium is one of the most important nutritional minerals in our diet," says Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., author of From Fatigued to Fantastic.

- Kelsey Kloss and Cailey Griffin

“It’s critical for over 300 different bodily functions.” The RDA for women is 310 to 320 mg per day, and most of us don’t get enough from diet alone. Four benefits of this superstar mineral:

It deepens sleep

“Magnesium essentially takes the body from ‘fight or flight’ to ‘rest and digest’ mode,” explains Uma Darji, M.D., a board-certified family medicine physician. A study in Sleep Medicine: X looked at adults taking magnesium L-threonate (which crosses the blood-brain barrier) daily 2 hours before bed for 21 days. Not only did study participants notice better sleep quality, they also experienced improved mood, energy, alertness and productivity.

It soothes stress

The mineral may help calm the nervous system and regulate stress signals, suggests a review in Nutrients. And research in the journal