Quick Takes: Magnesium supplementation, and the evidence for its role in sleep, stress, bone health, migraines, and cramps.
Community Buzz: An app to gamify your run, parkour for seniors, and the soleus pushup to activate muscles after a meal.
Company Updates: Our CHCH Morning News feature, new brand video, and a peak into our latest Expert Talk + Q&A.
Quick Takes
Why You Keep Hearing About Magnesium
Magnesium is a small mineral with a surprisingly big job. It helps your body create energy, build DNA and proteins, regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and keep your bones, muscles and nervous system working properly.
But many of us aren’t getting enough. In fact, more than 45% of Canadian adults consume less dietary magnesium than their bodies require, according to national dietary intake data.
Before we dive into how much magnesium you should be getting, let's discuss what it does for us.
Why Magnesium Matters
Sleep Quality and Stress Regulation
Magnesium plays a role in the nervous system and the body's response to stress. It interacts with neurotransmitter systems involved in calming brain activity and relaxation. Magnesium supplementation may help improve sleep quality, particularly for those with lower baseline levels.
Bone Density and Mineral Balance
About 60% of the body’s magnesium is stored in your bones. Working alongside calcium and vitamin D, magnesium helps support bone formation and mineral balance. It also plays a role in how the body uses vitamin D. In other words, magnesium is one piece of the bigger nutritional picture when it comes to long-term bone health.
Migraine Relief and Prevention
Magnesium has a well-established role in migraine prevention, and clinical guidelines support its use in certain situations. Studies suggest that daily supplementation may help reduce migraine frequency, often at doses as high as 400–600 mg of elemental magnesium. Higher-dose supplementation should be discussed with a healthcare professional.
Muscle Function
Magnesium helps muscles contract and relax properly by regulating calcium within muscle cells. A true magnesium deficiency can contribute to muscle cramps and spasms, but taking magnesium isn’t a guaranteed fix for everyday nighttime leg cramps. Research has found limited benefit in many people, particularly older adults. If cramps are persistent, it’s worth looking beyond magnesium for other possible causes.
How Much Magnesium Do We Actually Need?
Daily magnesium needs vary by age and sex; standard guidelines for food and supplements combined are:
Women 19–30: 310 mg
Women 31+: 320 mg
Men 19–30: 400 mg
Men 31+: 420 mg
For context, a handful of almonds provides about 80 mg of magnesium, while a cup of cooked spinach provides around 150 mg. A diet that regularly includes leafy greens, nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains can make a meaningful contribution toward your daily needs.
For adults, 350 mg is considered the tolerable upper intake level for magnesium from supplements and medications. This limit does not apply to magnesium naturally present in food. Higher doses may be appropriate for specific medical indications under professional guidance, but more is not necessarily better.
Getting Magnesium Through Food
Many diets simply don’t include enough magnesium-rich whole foods.
Some of the best sources include:
Leafy greens: spinach, Swiss chard, kale
Nuts and seeds: pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashews, chia seeds
Legumes: black beans, lentils, edamame
Whole grains: oats, quinoa, brown rice
Other sources: avocado, fatty fish and dark chocolate
As always, it’s best to aim for variety. Adding a few of these foods to your regular rotation can go a long way toward meeting your needs.
Magnesium Deficiency and Evaluating Our Levels
Some people are more likely to run low on magnesium, including those with certain gastrointestinal conditions, type 2 diabetes, regular alcohol use, or medications such as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and diuretics. Very intense or prolonged exercise can also increase magnesium losses.
Symptoms of deficiency can be subtle, including fatigue, weakness and muscle twitching. More significant deficiency can cause numbness, abnormal heart rhythms and neurological symptoms.
Can We Measure Magnesium?
Magnesium can be measured through a blood test. However, because less than 1% of the body's total magnesium is found in the blood, serum magnesium levels do not always reflect total body stores. A normal blood result does not necessarily rule out inadequate magnesium status, particularly in someone with risk factors or low dietary intake.
At Benchmark, we believe magnesium should be considered in context, taking into account dietary habits, symptoms, medications, medical history, and lab results. A single number rarely tells the whole story.
Which Magnesium Supplements?
At Benchmark, our preferred form for general supplementation is magnesium bisglycinate, also called magnesium glycinate. It’s well absorbed and tends to be easier on the stomach than forms such as magnesium citrate or oxide, making it a good option for regular use.
Other formulations provide options for different purposes.
Magnesium citrate is a well-absorbed option that may be particularly useful for individuals who experience constipation, as it draws water into the intestines to soften stools and promote bowel movements, although higher doses can cause loose stools or diarrhea.
Magnesium threonate has attracted attention for potential brain and cognitive benefits, but research is limited, and it provides relatively little elemental magnesium. For most people looking to meet their everyday magnesium needs, a well-tolerated form such as magnesium bisglycinate is a practical place to start.
The Benchmark Takeaway
Start with food, understand your individual needs, and supplement thoughtfully when appropriate. Magnesium may work quietly, but its impact is anything but small. Load your plate with greens, nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains, supplement with magnesium when needed, and give yourself another reason to enjoy dark chocolate.
Community Buzz
Run to Rule the World 🗺️
Remember when Lenny Maughan drew Frida Kahlo with a map of his run in Strava? And then Duncan McCabe created animations with his runs through the streets of Toronto? If art isn’t your thing, we found another great way to gamify your run: the quest for world domination. INTVL turns your runs into a battle for territory that you can only claim by running (or biking) the route. Imagine a mashup of Strava + Foursquare + the game of Risk. When you run or ride a loop, the territory inside it becomes yours. Other people can take it, so you have to return to reclaim your turf, or cover new ground to expand your empire. It adds some fun and competitive energy to your run, and it seems to be hitting its stride; INTVL reports 2.4 million users across 182 countries.
Map your route to claim territory and gamify your run with INTVL
Parkour? Pourquoi pas! 🥷
Mary shared a great story about a group of seniors in Singapore who meet weekly to do parkour. If you’re not familiar with parkour, it looks a lot like ninja training. It’s involves using the obstacles in your path to help you move more efficiently; think vaulting over railings, climbing walls, or jumping between ledges. For this group of seniors, it also involves practicing how to fall safely. The goal is to help them build agility, balance, and confidence to handle everyday obstacles and reduce the risk of serious injury. For anyone, parkour can be a great way to build power, balance, and coordination. If you’re curious, check out this guide to parkour for beginners that explains the movements to learn and progress gradually.
The Soleus Pushup 🦵
Noah shared a small pilot study on the benefits of a “soleus pushup,” or a calf raise performed while seated. Ten people with prediabetes performed the exercise during a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test. Compared with sitting, their post-meal glucose excursions were reduced by about 32%.
The broader evidence supports a strategy of moving after meals. A systematic review and meta-analysis found that exercise, such as walking, after a meal reduced glucose excursions more than remaining inactive or even exercising before the meal.
The pilot study raises a couple of interesting points. First, participants performed the soleus pushup for two hours without reporting fatigue. The soleus, which we use when standing and walking, is made up predominantly of slow-twitch fibres that are particularly efficient at producing energy (rich in mitochondria) and resisting fatigue. Second, unlike walking, the soleus pushup can be done just about anywhere, anytime. Next time you’re stuck in a meeting or sitting on a plane, give it a try. You can activate your muscles without drawing attention, and with very little effort.
Company Updates
CHCH Morning News Feature! 📺
Did you catch us on TV? Benchmark was featured in the Out & About segment, which tours businesses worth buzzing about. Shelly Marriage came to meet the team and learn about what we do. Watch the full 16-min. video.
Benchmark Proactive Health featured on CHCH Morning Live
Roll It 🎥
We had a blast shooting new marketing content in August, featuring a few Benchmark members and friends. We’re thrilled with the results, thanks to stars, Loralee, Ryan, and Connor, and the teams at The Collective Photo Co and Creatr Wave Studios. Check out our new brand video!
Expert Talks + Q&A 💬
Benchmark memberships include access to monthly Expert Talk + Q&A, a group video call that starts with a topic overview, followed by open Q&A. Last month, Dr. Kaitlin Link discussed the effects of chronic stress on our health. Check out the excerpts here to see what it’s all about, and join the next one Tuesday, October 6th at noon. Find details in your Benchmark Dashboard (requires membership).
New Brand Video
Measure. Understand. Improve.
Benchmark Proactive Health gives you data-driven insights and expert guidance to take control of your health.
Monthly Expert Talk + Q&A
Chronic Stress
In the latest monthly Expert Talk and Q&A, part of Benchmark Proactive Health memberships, we discussed the effects of chronic stress.
This newsletter is for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Any third party products, brands, or services mentioned are shared for informational purposes; Benchmark has no financial interest in the products or brands we highlight.
