NightSky

By Dr. Edward F. Group

Calcium and magnesium are two macrominerals that are biologically intertwined at the cellular level — a sort of biological yin and yang, if you will. These minerals work together to promote optimal cell metabolism, and keeping them in balance helps ensure that you stay healthy. Both calcium and magnesium are considered macrominerals because the body needs more than 100 mg of each per day. While you can get these minerals from food, taking a calcium-magnesium supplement may help in certain circumstances.

What Is Calcium?

You likely know that calcium is important for healthy bones, but this mineral does a lot more. As the most abundant mineral in the human body, calcium enables cells to communicate with one another, helps build muscle tissue, and supports the production and secretion of the hormones used in growth and reproduction.[1] Low levels of calcium can cause weak bones, brittle nails, weakened grip strength, and fatigue. Calcium deficiency is usually caused by a medical issue, rather than a dietary lack.
What Is Magnesium?

Magnesium may not be as well-known as calcium, but this fellow mineral is also vital to your health and well-being. Magnesium is used in more than 300 enzymes, and it helps your body make DNA, RNA, and the antioxidant glutathione. It builds proteins for muscle, bone, and nerve cells, and helps the immune system.[2]

In addition, magnesium helps your body absorb calcium.[3] Hypomagnesemia, or magnesium deficiency, is usually diet-related, but can also be caused by alcohol abuse or certain kidney conditions. A deficiency in magnesium can cause mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, or physical symptoms like leg cramps, constipation, and heart palpitations. Low magnesium is a stronger predictor of heart conditions than high cholesterol and saturated fats, yet 48 percent of Americans do not get the recommended daily allowance.[4] This preventable deficiency — and the consequences — are so serious that one group of scientists called it “a public health crisis.”[5]
How Do Magnesium and Calcium Work Together?

Magnesium and calcium are both electrolytes that carry two positive electrical charges (Ca++ and Mg++); in other words, they are cations, which means positively charged ions. Processes in the body constantly work to keep the extracellular levels of these minerals — the amount outside of cells, and in the blood — in balance.

Magnesium and calcium ions can flow by diffusion through cell channels, but when they are bound to other compounds like orotate or citrate, they may need to be actively transported via a “protein transporter molecule.” Both get absorbed in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and distributed throughout the body and its organs through the blood.
How Does Magnesium Affect Your Calcium Level?

Magnesium is needed for the body to properly absorb calcium, and studies show it even helps dissolve calcium in the blood, deterring the formation of kidney stones.[6] When people are deficient in magnesium, it leads to “secondary hypocalcemia” — or calcium deficiency.[7] Thus, calcium and magnesium play an interdependent role in the body.

Some patients with both magnesium and calcium deficiency further develop resistance to vitamin D absorption, a nutrient that helps the body absorb these macrominerals.[7] You can see why taking enough of all of these minerals and nutrients is critical for having strong bones, a healthy heart, and a properly functioning nervous system.

While calcium and magnesium work together in many body processes, they sometimes have opposing effects. For example, calcium contracts muscle cells, while magnesium relaxes them. In certain situations, these minerals may actually compete with one another. Usually this happens when the blood has too much calcium and not enough magnesium. As a result, it’s important that you take these minerals in the correct ratio to prevent an imbalance.
What Is the Recommended Ca:Mg Ratio?

Most experts recommend a 2:1 calcium to magnesium ratio. In other words, if you take the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of 1,000 mg per day of calcium, you should take 500 mg per day of magnesium. Studies show that it is best to not consume more than 500 mg of calcium at a time, so split up your dose, or consume calcium in foods, which naturally spreads it out it up throughout the day.

Most people in the United States and the Western world get ample calcium — perhaps even too much given calcium’s prevalence in fortified foods. However, without enough magnesium, our bodies are unable to fully use the calcium we do consume. If you are consuming too much calcium or you are not getting enough magnesium, you might want to adjust your calcium to magnesium ratio closer to 1:1 by increasing your magnesium intake, ensuring that you do not exceed 1,000 mg per day of calcium.

Below are the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) set by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine. Your specific needs may vary, so contact your healthcare professional for advice.

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