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Top 5 Food Sources of Magnesium
Looking to get more mg of magnesium in your diet? Look no further! My team and I have crunched the numbers and did all the math to determine the top 5 common food sources of magnesium, per serving. Overall, there’s very few foods that provide half of the daily value of magnesium per serving, so it’s important to choose a variety of magnesium rich foods that deliver smaller amounts, like 10 or 20% of the daily value per serving, and and sprinkle those throughout the day, foods such as leafy greens, nuts and seeds, and legumes to name a few. Getting magnesium from our diet is important since a large collection of studies show that getting nutrients from dietary supplements doesn’t improve health outcomes compared to getting nutrients from foods!
| Rank | Food | Nutrivore Score | Serving Size (Raw) | Magnesium (mg/serving) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soybeans, Mature Seeds | 326 | 1/2 cup | 260.4 | 62 |
| 2 | Hemp Seeds, Hulled | 415 | 1 oz / 28 g | 198.4 | 47 |
| 3 | Pigeon Peas (Red Gram), Mature Seeds | 211 | 1 oz / 28 g | 187.6 | 45 |
| 4 | Pumpkin Seeds, Shelled, Dried | 271 | 1 oz / 28 g | 165.8 | 39 |
| 5 | Cocoa Powder, Unsweetened | 1024 | 1 oz / 28 g | 139.7 | 33 |
Want to know more about this important mineral including what magnesium does in the body, how much magnesium we need, what happens if we have low magnesium levels or if we get too much, and even more awesome food sources of magnesium? Keep reading to learn all there is to know!
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What Is Magnesium and What Does It Do?
Magnesium is an essential mineral that’s highly abundant in the human body! In fact, it has direct structural functions in forming muscle tissue, skeletal tissue, cell membranes, and chromosomes. As an electricity-conducting electrolyte, it’s needed for regulating fluid balance, blood pH, neurotransmission, and muscle and nerve function. It’s also involved in over 300 metabolic reactions, serving as a cofactor for enzymes involved in DNA and RNA synthesis, cell signaling, ion transport, protein synthesis, carbohydrate and fat synthesis, and energy production. In fact, ATP—the energy currency of cells—only becomes biologically active after binding to a magnesium ion.
Getting enough magnesium is important for skeletal health, both due to its structural role in bone tissue and through its interactions with other nutrients (especially calcium and vitamin D). Research suggests it has a protective effect against cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome (including high blood pressure, obesity, insulin resistance, and dysregulated blood lipids), hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis. There’s even some evidence it could help prevent migraine headaches and asthma.
Learn more about magnesium here.
Magnesium Deficiency
A 2011 study evaluated American’s usual nutrient intake including nutrients that are naturally-occurring in foods, from fortified and enriched foods, and from supplements. The results indicated that 66.3% of American adults usual diet falls short of the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) for magnesium intake.
Groups At Risk
Those at high risk of magnesium deficiency include people with:
- gastrointestinal disorders (including celiac disease and Crohn’s disease),
- chronic diarrhea,
- kidney disease and long-term diuretic use,
- proton pump inhibitor use,
- alcoholism,
- diabetes and other endocrine or metabolic disorders, and
- older adults.
Learn more here.
Symptoms of Deficiency
Symptoms of deficiency are not overt at first. Once symptoms do manifest, the earliest ones tend to be fatigue, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and body weakness. As magnesium deficiency progresses, symptoms can worsen to include numbness, spasms, cramps, tingling, tremors, abnormal heart rhythms, personality changes, and seizures.
Learn more here.
Problems From Too Much Magnesium
While no adverse effects of magnesium have been observed when getting magnesium from whole-food sources, high-dose magnesium supplements can cause gastrointestinal upset and diarrhea.
In some cases, very high intakes of supplemental magnesium can lead to hypermagnesemia (elevated blood concentrations of magnesium)—which can cause toxicity symptoms like low blood pressure, confusion, lethargy, and disturbed heart rhythm. In severe cases, hypermagnesemia can even cause cardiac arrest. Because healthy kidneys are typically able to excrete excess magnesium when intake is high, people with existing kidney disorders are at the greatest risk of magnesium toxicity.
Learn more here.
How Much Magnesium Do We Need?
The following table summarizes the current recommended amounts of magnesium, based on age, gender, or situation. However, these guidelines are calculated based on what’s needed for avoiding deficiency, not necessarily what’s needed for optimal health and disease prevention—so, more may very well be better.
It’s also important to note that magnesium has some interactions with other nutrients. It’s important for the metabolism of phosphorus, calcium, potassium, sodium, B-complex vitamins, and vitamins C and E. High-dose zinc supplements have been shown to interfere with magnesium absorption, while dietary protein intake also appears to influence magnesium absorption. Learn more here.
| 0 – 6 months | |||||
| 6 months to < 12 months | |||||
| 1 yr – 3 yrs | |||||
| 4 yrs – 8 yrs | |||||
| 9 yrs – 13 yrs | |||||
| 14 yrs – 18 yrs | |||||
| 19 yrs – 50 yrs | |||||
| 51+ yrs | |||||
| Pregnant (14 – 18 yrs) | |||||
| Pregnant (19 – 30 yrs) | |||||
| Pregnant (31 – 50 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (14 – 18 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (19 – 30 yrs) | |||||
| Lactating (31 – 50 yrs) |
Nutrient Daily Values
Nutrition requirements and recommended nutrient intake for infants, children, adolescents, adults, mature adults, and pregnant and lactating individuals.
More Food Sources of Magnesium
Other foods with higher levels of magnesium that didn’t make the top 5 include green leafy vegetables such as Swiss chard and spinach, nuts and seeds such as flaxseed, Brazil nuts, sesame seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, and cashews, fish, legumes such as lima beans and edamame, whole grains such as buckwheat and quinoa, dark chocolate, avocados, and spices. Low-fat dairy products (like milk and yogurt) are also good sources of magnesium.
Best Food Sources of Magnesium
The following foods have high magnesium content, containing at least 50% of the recommended dietary allowance per serving, making them our best food sources of this valuable mineral!
Good Food Sources of Magnesium
The following foods are also excellent or good sources of magnesium, containing at least 10% (and up to 50%) of the daily value per serving.
Top 5 Common Food Sources
If you’re looking for top 5 common food sources of other important nutrients check out these posts!
cITATIONS
Expand to see all scientific references for this article.
Fulgoni VL 3rd, Keast DR, Bailey RL, Dwyer J. Foods, fortificants, and supplements: Where do Americans get their nutrients? J Nutr. 2011 Oct;141(10):1847-54. doi: 10.3945/jn.111.142257. Epub 2011 Aug 24. PMID: 21865568; PMCID: PMC3174857.
What Is Dietary Diversity?
