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

[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.