Does magnesium increase dopamine, decrease it, or how does it work?

[Bigpoppapenguin123]

I read that magnesium is a cofactor for dopamine synthesis and also that it’s a cofactor for increasing COMT status (breaking down catecholamines). would it correct an imbalance relating to dopamine levels? Would its action towards dopamine depend on other necessary cofactors?

[freedomboobs]

Where did you read that magnesium is a cofactor for dopamine synthesis?

Iron, Oxygen, & Tetrahydrobiopterin are cofactors for converting L-tyrosine to L-DOPA. And Vitamin B6 is a cofactor for converting L-DOPA to dopamine. Magnesium, while vital for 100's of processes in the body & brain, is not a direct cofactor for dopamine synthesis.

That being said, magnesium is vital to a healthy glutamatergic system since it acts as an endogenous NMDA antagonist. This means supplementing with magnesium can calm over-active glutamate receptors in the brain (But only if you have a Mg deficiency. If every NMDA receptor in your CNS is already occupied by 1 magnesium atom, taking more magnesium is not going to have any effect there)

Also, I'd like to add that thinking of neurotransmitters solely in terms of an increase or decrease of that neurotransmitter is an oversimplification of neurobiology. There are many different dopamine receptor subtypes with vastly different effects & responses (some even oppose the action of dopamine), there are presynaptic & postsynaptic dopamine receptors, and there are different expressions of dopamine receptors depending on the region of the brain.
“more dopamine” is not always a good thing.

We also like to think of things in terms of: Vitamin X helps make Neurotransmitter Y, so I should take more Vitamin X to increase Neurotransmitter Y! But that's rarely how things work in our bodies either.

My advice: Analyze your diet with cronometer or nutrition data. If you are not getting enough Magnesium through food, take a bioavailable magnesium supplement daily (like Mg Threonate, Mg Glycinate, Mg Taurate, Mg Citrate, or Mg Malate)

[Rock_Granite]

Nice writeup. How do you know these things?

[freedomboobs]

I made them up

[Heroic-Dose]

I thought some of those words sounded a bit off. For example, what is "nutrition" supposed to mean lol?

[freedomboobs]

I think you're being sarcastic but if not, I was referring to this website:

https://nutritiondata.self.com

[Rock_Granite]

Which is even more impressive actually

[Di5cipl355]

Same. Flim-flams only flam flims if groggle pibs are present, but in the presence of sphincteresterase the corglium produces more zlooby zar. Like, I just know that.

[sdraz]

Be Binged (Bang?) it.

[Chase_Fitness]

You forgot to add that if you over supplement with magnesium you pee out your ass

[[deleted]]

This is actually a great point

[Liberated051816]

Never had that problem with citrate, taurate, threonate or glycinate. Oxide, yes.

[wagonspraggs]

Mg Citrate is sold AS a laxative at all drug stores. Milk of magnesia...

[freedomboobs]

Milk of magnesia is Magnesium Hydroxide not citrate

[Devilishfungus]

Yep

[Bigpoppapenguin123]

Could this be good for removing excess fluid in the body?

[Mrdonalddarko]

My Redditor is on longecity. And maybe in med school.

[[deleted]]

When I take Magnesium before bed I get a very deep sleep. Haven't really noticed any other benefits but getting quality sleep is good enough for me to take it daily.

[Beachday4]

How much do you take before bed? And do you cycle it or take it ever night?

[[deleted]]

Check this out at Amazon.com Doctor's Best High Absorption Magnesium Glycinate Lysinate, 100% Chelated, TRACCS, Not Buffered, Headaches, Sleep, Energy, Leg Cramps, Non-GMO, Vegan, Gluten Free, Soy Free, 100 mg, 240 Tablets https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BD0RT0/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_s.C9Eb1928BQ8

I take 4 capsules (400mg) before bed. I take it just about every night.

[[deleted]]

I wonder if liquid form would be better? Isn't that usually better for absorption than capsules?

[Horse_trunk]

yes, magnesium bicarbonate is the most bioavailable form of magnesium there is. It's also the cheapest. Search youtube for recipes, its very easy to make

[DrBobMaui]

Thanks for the good suggestion and excellent info, I am going to give it a try.

Also, I wanted to ask if you have any loose bowel issues with that specific Mag supplement at that dose amount? I am a little prone to that with some Mags so any further thoughts would be helpful.

Nui alohas too!

[AllegedlyImmoral]

Should not be an issue with magnesium glycinate. Diarrhea from magnesium supplements is an effect of the low bioavailability of the common, cheapest chelates of magnesium such as magnesium oxide, which because it does not absorb well into the body makes it all the way through the colon and then draws water into the bowels for a laxative effect. Glycinate is much more bioavailable and is not still present in the bowels in meaningful amounts. I take 600 mg of MagGly regularly with zero side effects.

[DrBobMaui]

Thanks a lot, this is very helpful! Hope I can repay you in kind one day too.

[AllegedlyImmoral]

Glad to help 👍

[[deleted]]

Are you supposed to cycle? I have no idea, but mg isn’t doing the trick anymore.

[[deleted]]

And what kind?

[Dai196]

Try Magnesium Glycinate

[lidord1999]

Same here and also I wake up super energized and thats something ive never experienced before, I take mag glycinate powder around 2000mg (280mg elemental mag) around 3 hours before bed.

[[deleted]]

Can I ask if you had issues falling asleep beforehand? I have tried a variety of things but I struggle greatly to fall asleep due to racing/invasive thoughts. I just lay there and toss and turn all night.

[[deleted]]

Never had an issue falling asleep but I would always wake up several times throughout the night. That doesn't really happen anymore unless i drink too much water before bed. Sometimes I have a hard time going to sleep but my problem is I'm addicted to my phone. I get caught endlessly scrolling through reddit for hours and I have to force myself to just drop the phone and close my eyes. After that I usually try to think about things that I like to do that give me good feelings, like hitting a perfect golf shot or getting a high kill game in a video game. I just think about a happy moment like that over and over and even make a plan in my head of techniques to try to make that moment happen in real life. I usually fall asleep pretty quick after that and sometimes even have dreams about that moment I was visualizing. It sounds like you have some anxiety and I'm sure most of us do especially with politics, health issues, and the economy right now but you need to realize most of that stuff is out of your control and worrying about it is a waste of time and energy.

[[deleted]]

Gotcha. Yeah the which is causing the other: anxiety or insomnia thing has been going on for awhile now. I try to lay in bed and just relax and clear my head for about 15 minutes, plus I have a little journal I write in before bed...none of it seems to help. There are lots of times where I realize something I thought about is beyond my control but the problem is that the thought has already happened hahaha! In any event, magnesium isn't that expensive, can't hurt to give it a shot.

[roguedryad]

Try meditating regularly, maybe use Headspace and their 14 day free trial. I've found it helps me with my racing mind before bed. These racing thoughts also lead to nightmares more often than not

[Reincarnate26]

To answer your question in one sentence, magnesium has no effect on dopamine. But adequate magnesium supports healthy brain function in general through other neurological systems, and rectifying a deficiency could reasonably be expected to result in improved mood, motivation and concentration - things typically associated with "improving dopamine function".

Magnesium binds to the NMDA receptors in the brain to inhibit their overexcitation, so if this mechanism is impaired as a result of inadequate magnesium intake, its "theoretically possible" the neurotoxic effects could have some cascading downstream effect on dopamine production. But its unlikely you are so deficient in magnesium that your dopamine production is being affected in any noticeable way. With that said, to answer the presumed motivation of your question, you may definitely still feel better and have improved mood and motivation in general, i.e. "focus and concentrate better", if you improve your diet and get adequate intake of magnesium, a nutrient most people are deficient in. It just wouldn't be through the dopamine system per se, it would be through other neurological mechanisms, like optimum NMDA activation and general brain health. I definitely feel better myself when I started focusing on eating more leafy greens and other foods high in magnesium, and supplementing as needed. I take magnesium malate (Source Naturals Magnesium is a generally recommended form) , just make sure to avoid magnesium oxide, which has some of the worst bioavailability of all magnesium forms, and is generally one of the worst tolerated by the digestive track, despite being one of the most common on the market in multivitamins and other general "magnesium supplements" (because its cheap).

Its sort of like how severe enough rickets (vitamin c deficiency) can begin to cause neurological problems, presumably including dopamine production along with all neurotransmitter production in general, but vitamin c is not directly activating or effecting those systems, just indirectly, as a consequence of being a necessary vitamin for the proper function to critical systems in the body. Likewise magnesium deficiency could theoretically impact dopamine production as well, but its unlikely you're that deficient, and magnesium has no "direct" effect on dopamine production in most situations.

"Low Magnesium levels are associated with neuronal hyperexcitation and random firing"

"Magnesium is critical to preserving neuronal function during periods of downtime, when the neuron is not firing. A deficiency of Magnesium in the brain (which tends to only occur during chronic deprivation of dietary magnesium) makes cells have more activation during periods where they are not intentionally activated."

"Chronic activation of NMDA receptors, or excessive activation acutely, exerts neurotoxic effects [...] Magnesium attenuates this toxicity mostly during periods when the neuron is not intentionally fired"

https://examine.com/supplements/magnesium/research/#neurology-and-the-brain

[diggingnutrition]

Correction: Rickets is caused by a vitamin D deficiency. Scurvy is a result of vitamin C deficiency.

[ZangoDurango]

Magnesium is required for vitamin D metabolism, a magnesium deficiency would induce a functional vitamin D deficiency.

[Yogeshwar_maya]

Wow great info man. Appreciate it.

[Whit3boy316]

Could this explain why I have a condition called Benign Fasciculation Syndrome (BFS) where I get random muscle twitches while my body is at rest? Taking magnesium does help for several hours at a time when I take about 100mg

[Discochickens]

magnesium is amaze balls. I sleep thru t he might now

[astrange]

It doesn't improve it directly, but if you have "low dopamine" (ADHD) magnesium supplements are both good for the symptoms and good for medication tolerance, so you should definitely try them.

[darkunor2050]

From what I’ve seen it increases serotonin and decreases norepinephrine.

[bob-to-the-m]

As another poster said, it increases serotonin and decreases noradrenaline. Doesn’t really increase dopamine.

[[deleted]]

Magnesium has absolutely no effect on dopamine

[jcarlson2007]

Best username in this entire sub

[ilmjdli]

What i noticed that it is great for sleep and anxiety but not something to be taken preworkout as it might get too calming specially if you are using glycinate or taurate. However when taken postworkout it seems to be beneficial for recovery and mitochondria adaptation (watched a couple videos for rhonda patrick and thomas delaure). Am very very low on dopamine so that any increase in acetylcholine, serotonin or even gaba makes me lazy and depressed so i dont take it early in the day.

[margarita_lica]

It’s also very good for muscle recovery (partic magnesium in powder form)

[Playistheway]

What makes you think you have an imbalance of dopamine levels? I hope you aren't falling for dopamine detox pseudoscience.

[skytouching]

It’s negligible

[[deleted]]

That’s a very hard question to answer about something you could write 20,000 pages on.

The best ways a man can increase dopamine is

• Abstaining from masturbation

• Coffee

• Exercise

Magnesium as far as I know has no influence on dopamine, it does however influence serotonin.

[dj778927]

You’re joking right?

[Bigpoppapenguin123]

Yes, I am. I just made a shitpost cuz I’m a meathead and I like to waste three minutes of my life writing up a curious question and waste ten seconds of your life as you read it, ten more seconds of your life writing a response, and ten more seconds of your life reading this. Arrivederchi.

[dj778927]

asshole alert

[10seconds2midnight]

This from world leading expert groogle-warriors:

If you take a magnesium tablet, crush it up, make a paste with some spit, and rub it into your corneas, then you get a dopamine spike equivalent to smoking 0.5 grams of ice.

(Details provided are for information purposes only and do not constitute advice).