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Addendum 5/24/2012: New Research - Click Here
I watched a segment of the Dr. Oz program the other day, where he had as a guest Dr. Michael Breus, PhD.
Dr. Breus is also known as “The Sleep Doctor“, and I happened to be on a Twitter chat with him (and a few thousand others) later that week. He said something interesting on the TV program that caused me to think…
Why Calcium is Really Important
The show had a short section on supplements to help in your sleep, and Dr. Breus mentioned calcium and magnesium as the two minerals you want to make sure you have in abundance – either in your diet or through supplementation – every day.
They’re both important to our general health, and we’ll review why, one at a time. First, calcium is important because it’s:
- important for strong teeth and bones
- the leading prevention for osteoporosis
- needed for normal clotting of the blood
- involved in normal heart function
- used in the conduction of nerve impulses
- necessary for the contraction and relaxation of muscles and blood vessels
- required for the regulation of body fluids (including hormones and enzymes)
The symptoms of a calcium deficiency can be any of the following:
- back or neck pain – and this could be really serious if it’s a spinal bone fracture
- stooped posture (as in severe osteoporosis)
- loss of height
- bone pain or tenderness
- bone fractures with little or no pain
And How About Magnesium?
Magnesium is one of those minerals that your body cannot manufacture on it’s own – we need to consume it. Although it gets nowhere near the press that calcium does, it turns out that it’s just as essential for our health. It’s also the fourth most abundant mineral in our body. So, why is magnesium important?
- it’s used in the proper formation of bone
- it helps regulate body temperature
- it’s part of maintaining normal muscle and nerve function
- used for releasing energy from muscles
- helps manufacturing proteins
- aids in the absorption of calcium
It’s this last point that ties it all together with calcium. You need magnesium in order to absorb calcium. In fact, some of the cases of magnesium deficiency are actually caused by an excess of calcium – the magnesium just can’t “process” that much. If you get an insufficient amount of magnesium in your diet, these symptoms can occur:
- muscle weakness
- fatigue
- dizziness
- tremors
- hyperexcitability
- muscle spasms
- nausea and vomiting
- heart failure
- chronic insomnia
Calcium and Magnesium – Together To Promote Sleep
It’s now known that calcium and magnesium are both required for good sleep. James F. Balch, M.D. (author of Prescription for Nutritional Healing) has written that: “A lack of the nutrients calcium and magnesium will cause you to wake up after a few hours and not be able to return to sleep.”
Calcium levels in our body are markedly higher during REM sleep, and in cases of low REM or disturbed REM, researchers found calcium levels were lacking as well. Once normal levels of calcium were obtained again, normal REM sleep occurred. Calcium is used by your brain in the manufacture of melatonin (it actually helps absorb tryptophan, which is then converted into melatonin).
One of the leading symptoms of magnesium deficiency is chronic insomnia, usually characterized by frequent awakenings (if you’ve read anywhere else on this site, you’ll know that’s exactly the problem I suffer from). When patient magnesium levels are restored, their sleep is deeper with fewer interruptions (proven in a study by James Penland at the Human Nutrition Research Center in North Dakota).
What About Vitamin D – Often In The Same Supplement
The reason you’ll often find vitamin D in your calcium/magnesium supplement is that it is important in the absorption of both minerals from the intestine. Note that all of these three work together – and I’m sure there are several hundred more interactions taking place here as well, but these are the major ones we need to worry about for our purposes.
Some Common Food Sources of Calcium and Magnesium
Here is a partial list of where you might find calcium in your diet:
- milk or fortified soy drinks
- yogurt
- cheese
- tofu
- white/navy beans
- almonds
- sardines
- salmon
- oats
- turnip greens
- bok choy
- oranges
And some foods that you would find rich in magnesium:
- wheat bran
- almonds
- spinach
- cashews
- soybeans
- wheat germ
- nuts
- oatmeal
- peanuts
- potatoes
- rice
Note that these are both partial lists – for a more complete one, with the actual amounts per serving, go to the National Institutes for Health for magnesium and again for calcium.
The Recommended Daily Amounts (RDH) Of Calcium and Magnesium For Adults
Recommended Dietary Allowances for Calcium
| Age | Male | Female | Pregnant | Lactating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7–12 months* | 260 mg | 260 mg | ||
| 1–3 years | 700 mg | 700 mg | ||
| 4–8 years | 1,000 mg | 1,000 mg | ||
| 9–13 years | 1,300 mg | 1,300 mg | ||
| 14–18 years | 1,300 mg | 1,300 mg | 1,300 mg | 1,300 mg |
| 19–50 years | 1,000 mg | 1,000 mg | 1,000 mg | 1,000 mg |
| 51–70 years | 1,000 mg | 1,200 mg | ||
| 71+ years | 1,200 mg | 1,200 mg |
Recommended Dietary Allowances for Magnesium
| Age (years) |
Males (mg/day) |
Females (mg/day) |
Pregnancy (mg/day) |
Lactation (mg/day) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | 80 | 80 | N/A | N/A |
| 4–8 | 130 | 130 | N/A | N/A |
| 9–13 | 240 | 240 | N/A | N/A |
| 14–18 | 410 | 360 | 400 | 360 |
| 19–30 | 400 | 310 | 350 | 310 |
| 31+ | 420 | 320 | 360 | 320 |
Supplementation Recommendations for Calcium and Magnesium
So you think you may be a bit deficient with the two minerals in your diet. Then the question is how much do you take? I would recommend starting here:
- know that with calcium, you can only absorb about 500mg of it at a time, and I would think with a normal diet that’s about all you should be supplementing with per day (unless you have some specific reason for needing more) – you’re diet should at least make up for all the rest of the RDA – if it doesn’t, eat better
- take the 500mg dose (or whatever dose you choose) and cut it in half – take half in the morning and half in the evening – this helps level off blood levels of the mineral throughout the day
- calcium should be taken with magnesium in a 2:1 ration (twice as much calcium as magnesium) – again, so with a regular diet this should max out the magnesium to about 250mg – and again, split it in two
- if you take a supplement of calcium and magnesium, and if it also includes a dose of Vitamin D – it’s likely been calculated to give you enough Vitamin D to absorb the other two minerals – so don’t worry about it
Myself, I take a Jamieson supplement with:
- 333mg Calcium
- 167mg Magnesium
- 5mcg Vitamin D3
I take 1 tablet in the morning, and another in the evening. I eat a pretty well rounded vegetarian diet, with lots of fruits and vegetables – my “dairy” comes from a soy, tofu, banana, berry smoothie every morning. So I figure that this supplementation should be more than enough.
Please leave a comment and let me know what and how much you supplement!
Addendum
It’s now the end of March, and I’ve been using this Calcium/Magnesium/D3 supplement for over two months. At first, I noticed no difference in sleep – quantity, quality, fracturing. Now I notice a measurable difference:
- I now fall asleep right away most nights
- I fall asleep earlier than I used to – typical for me now is 10:30pm – I used to go to bed at 1am and still not be tired
- I still suffer from fractured sleep – waking several times a night (10-15 times)
- I can now, however, get back to sleep almost immediately – I used to frequently lie awake for hours on end after being awakened
- I haven’t had a night where I truly thought “I’ve gotten zero sleep” for several weeks now
Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the progress. This is the first supplement I’ve taken that has had a positive measurable effect (for the negative effects, see this post about Valerian Root Tea)
Addendum 5/24/2012: New Research – Click Here
Addendum to the Addendum – 7/12/12 – Click Here
Sure
Good day! Would you mind if I share your blog with my zynga group?
There’s a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your content. Please let me know. Thank you
Doug, interesting read with the calcium magnesium requirements.
For your sleep problems, try to grt 2-3 yoga sessions a week in. You get what you give from yoga. After I walk out of each yoga class, I have zero cares and I sleep extremely well.
I use the cal mag to keep my intestional system happy. Since I entered menopause, I started finding issues in maintaining fluids that interfered with my system operating properly. The cal/mag really balanced this out. I take 1/2 tsp with 8 oz water each nite.
Zzzzzzzzzz
Kathryn
Very good blog you have here but I was curious about if you knew of
any message boards that cover the same topics
talked about in this article? I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get advice from other knowledgeable people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Bless you!
I just happened across your site while looking at supplements.. I’ve been an insomniac my whole life. I have severely fragmented sleep. I wake up 60-70 times a night. I average 8 times an hour. I’ve had four sleep studies that were identical. No snoring, no apnea, no limb movement. I’ve tried every type of doctor, every prescription, every OTC, every combination of supplements, sleep routines and hygiene. On good nights, I always fall right back asleep. Bad nights for me are being awake all night. I’ve gone whole weeks with nothing more than a few minutes sleep. Although I still like to surf for new information, I’ve pretty much given in to it at this point and decided its just the way it is for me.
Doug,
I had the very similar problems with my sleep as you described above about two months ago. I saw a psychiatrist (more like a wellness ‘doctor’) and she told me I should take magnesium. I can confirm that it’s helped a lot. I was waking up 7-10 times a night and feeling miserable the next day. I’ve been taking 240mg of magnesium every night for about 2 months now and it’s helped a lot. I would also recommend to anyone with similar issues to not drink coffee or soda at all, not just in the evening. I only drink tea now in the mornings when I need it. My general physician also prescribed me a mild tranquilizer for the occasional night where I really need to get a good nights sleep. It’s Lorazepam .5mg and I take 1 right before bed. Knocks me out for the night and doesn’t make me drowsy at all the next day. I only take it once every few weeks though so as to not become dependent. Anyway, it was very interesting to read about the role calcium plays in achieving better sleep (I already take 1000IU of Vitamin D-3 daily). I’ll look into that some more. Great article.
Hi Mani;
And now I think getting it all through the food you eat is the right thing to do. Make sure foods high in magnesium are part of your diet…
Cheers,
Doug
Hello Doug,
Great article. I would just like to clear up one thing if you don’t mind. The previous norm was that cal/mag ratio needs to be 2:1 however now there are many studies emerging where it says the ratio should be 1:1 due to the high calcium/low magnesium diet.
Just a thought =)
Mani
Hi Holly;
I stopped taking the cal/mag supplements a couple of months ago (there’s a post about that), but have to say that although I thought it was helping the sleep I didn’t really feel all that much different in the morning. I’m like you – the last really restful sleep I had was three years ago (pre-stroke), and I long for those days of waking up completely refreshed. I wake up these days feeling OK – not great, just OK. The OK part is much, much better than it was just a few months ago – when I’d wake up every day feeling absolutely awful. I attribute most of this to re-thinking sleep, and not tied to any supplement or treatment at all (I’m now off everything except a baby-aspirin every day.
I’d love to hear more about your experiences. Ever thought about contributing a guest post???
Cheers,
Doug
hey, I’m curious about how you feel in the morning. Do you feel more refreshed than before you started taking the cal/mag supplements? I also have chronic sleep issues and it seems that no matter what I try, I never feel refreshed and not-tired in the morning. I’ve tried nytol, valerian, melatonin, 5-htp, etc. I haven’t tried cal/mag yet but will if it really works! Most nights I fall asleep quickly but sleep very lightly and restlessly, waking up in the night and waking up too early, before I’m ready. So I always wake up feeling tired. The last time I slept a full night and woke up feeling refreshed and energized was three years ago! And I have no idea what I did that night that was different, but I couldn’t believe how amazing I felt, and I thought to myself, “Is this how I’m supposed to feel EVERY day??” But I haven’t figured out how to get that again.
Donna Borie: just a note I hope this helps you…instead of trying to figure out all the different combinations of vitamins there is a company that has done all of the research and you will find energy and good health go to this website and look for Double X the sku is A4300 all organic and made in the USA.
Website: http://www.amway.com/healthtoday
Then you can get them delivered too!
Calcium Magnesium helps me sleep, I wake up a new man. My stress levels and moods also have changed significantly. I feel so calm and relaxed thought the day.
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I suffered from sleep maintenance disorder for about 20 years until I started taking Happy, Calm & Focused (HCF/Peta company). There is no supplement out there like it and I’ve tried everything for sleep. You get a free 30 day supply trial bottle & pay only $9.95 for s/h. I’ve been taking it for 2 years now and it’s a lifer supplemen for me.
Hi Donna;
Wow! That’s a lot of issues!
First, I need to disclaim that I’m not a doctor, and can’t give medical advice to anyone. So buyer beware.
On the other hand, I know that most people’s experience with the medical system leaves much to be desired – as I’ve said multiple times on the blog – you are your own healthcare advocate, and doing exactly as you are doing (seeking out advice and opinion anywhere you can find it, and then making a judgement call on what makes sense and what’s nonsense).
Because of the multiple issues you have, I wonder if many of them are inter-related. I know that I suffer from being “super-sore” first thing in the morning, and it lasts for about an hour. I still haven’t figured that one out.
Is there any way you could get checked out for multiple deficiencies in your diet? I’m reading a book about Captain Vancouver/Cook and they mention all the deficiencies you used to find on sailing ships – Vitamin C, Niacin, Riboflavin, Thiamine … it goes on and on, and the cure proved to be lots of fresh vegetables.
I was a strict vegetarian for 16 years, but suffered heart surgery and a stroke – something that’s never supposed to happen to vegetarians. Then I discovered (me, not any doctor) that perhaps it really was diet related. Seems I over-compensated for the lack of meat with carbohydrates – especially whole grains. Recent studies show that that diet is really flawed (read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes). I wonder if you took a look at your current diet that you would see it wanting in some area (too much processed food, too little protein, too many carbs, too much fruit, not enough veggies.)
If I were you (and I’m not) I’d check out two things – vitamin/mineral levels in my body (remember that calcium is a fickle thing to absorb), and overall diet.
My two cents,
Doug
I saw the exact Dr Oz show and I am so glad I found your blog. I have chronic Fibro, fatigue, (needless to say), arthritis, osteoporosis, degenertive discs in my back and nec and some big bad migraines a bit more often than I care to. I recently had catarcact surgery4 months ago. Can you believe I am only 57 – or will be in 5 days. Here’s the deal…Lately, I’ve been so dang tired I don’t even want to get out of the bed. I litereally MAKE myself get up and then sometimes I crawl back in the bed because my body hurts so bad I want to scream. Today we HAD to go buy groceries so I bought some B12-(sublingual) sp?, Calcium/D3 and Magnesim, and also some EsterC. I am already supposed to be taking Calcium with D, plus Vit.C but ran out and never went to the store. I am just couldn’t. My legs felt like they were weighted. My hubby says he’d go for me, but he knews he’d get the wrong thing for sure. (He would)
Do you have any suggesstions? I do not eat meat either and am allergic to milk. I am open to suggestions. Donna
i take mega man plus 50 2 a day.. wouldnt this provide needed calcium and magnesium?
This is nice information. I love it. If you need calcium supplement, used angstrom calcium magnesium. These are 99% absorbable form.
If you need calcium supplement, used angstrom calcium magnesium. These are 99% absorbable form.
Hi edy:
First off, calcium and magnesium actually REDUCE blood pressure, so I don’t see a conflict – but then again, I’m not a doctor… my advice would be to go to a good pharmacist and tell them what medication you’re on, and ask if there’s any problem with calcium and magnesium supplementation. I suspect there won’t be – but ask first!
Cheers!
can i took calcium & magnesium supplement if i have hypertension / highblood and gout…i took my medication almost 3 years now and im 40 years old…my medication consist of redusing uric acid , colestrol and hypertension. I need your advise on this case..thank you.
Doug,
Love the blog. Sleep is fascinating isn’t it?
I’ve also been experimenting with Zeo and supplements.
I began with D3 and multi vitamins with Iron in the mornings, then added ZMA at night.
I found that they really helped:
http://hypnagogia.squarespace.com/blog/2012/1/15/vitamins-minerals-breaking-the-rem-barrier.html
I’ve recently found a mix of Calcium, Zinc and Magnesium so I’m trying that instead of the ZMA at night, although I’ve only tried them for one night so far, so can’t make any assumptions about them.