In research, those of us with endo have been shown over and over to be critically low in certain nutrients. And, those deficiencies may be dramatically impacting our disease state. I talk about this at length in my endometriosis book (have you read it?)

Today I’m going to chat about one of those nutrients in particular: magnesium.

Magnesium and Endometriosis

endometriosis diet magnesium — Not enough magnesium? You may be *endo-ing* (the process of making endo worse)

Magnesium is a mineral used by the body to help muscles relax or contract, normally address stress, and send messages through the nervous system. Magnesium is important for endo-sufferers to understand because deficiency alone can prompt the body to release inflammatory cytokines, acute-phase proteins, and excessive free radicals—numerous components endometriosis requires to establish and progress. Deficiency is associated with increased levels of oxidative stress and a weakened antioxidant defense, more factors endometriosis requires to establish and progress. Magnesium is thus a vital supporting factor in anti-inflammation and antioxidant activity. Perhaps why low magnesium intake may increase your risk of developing endo in the first place. (1-3)

If you don’t have enough magnesium, consider yourself stacking the deck against your endo. Because without enough magnesium you will have more inflammation in your body, inflammation that can provoke your endo lesions to grow or progress into worse forms of disease, along with scar tissue development, adhesions, or organ damage, or simply provoke your immune system to behave more erratically. [I even invented a verb to describe the process of making endo worse: endo-ing].

Beyond contributing to your endo lesions behavior/inflammation, magnesium deficiency is related to many endo symptoms, especially painful periods and severe PMS. In fact, women with painful periods have been shown to be much lower in magnesium than those without period pain. And, by supplementing with magnesium at even just 250 mg/day, we may be able to significantly reduce or relieve painful menses as well as other PMS symptoms, including headaches, depression, muscle and back pain, anxiety, water retention, and cravings. One study found supplementing with magnesium significantly reduced pain in 21 out of 25 participants after only 6 months! Another large 2017 review article declared the “picture that emerges indicates that magnesium supplementation is effective in the prevention of dysmenorrhea, premenstrual syndrome, and menstrual migraine.” (4-7)

How Do I Know if I’m Deficient? [Psst, you probably are if you have endometriosis]

If you have endometriosis, PMS, painful periods, muscle cramps, and inflammation it’s probably safe to assume you’re deficient to some degree. Testing for magnesium deficiency is challenging since about 99 percent of it is stored in the muscles, bones, teeth, organs, and other tissues ... and only 1 percent is found in blood. Still, there are basic symptoms you can follow without official testing:

endometriosis diet endo diet — This might make your foot cramp if you’re low in magnesium.

Early signs of deficiency: fatigue and lethargy, anxiety, or weakness.
More advanced stages of deficiency: migraines, constipation, PMS, painful periods, and muscle spasms. Or heck, since a deficiency may be associated with having endo in the first place, we could also say just having endo is a sign of probable deficiency.
Fun fact: muscle/foot/leg cramps at rest are associated with magnesium deficiency (like, do your legs or feet cramp while you’re laying on the couch, or in bed?). Or, if you point your foot like a ballerina using all the muscle that wee foot has, does it feel like it might seize up?

Endometriosis Supplementation: Magnesium Food and Pills

Foods rich in magnesium include nuts, seeds, beans, vegetables, cacao, and herbs. This means if you switch from a diet based on processed fare to one based around whole foods plants choices, you will naturally start getting more!

Goal: eat more whole, unadulterated foods. Eat less ultra-processed foods.

endometriosis diet magnesium processed foods

But here’s a caveat… because soils have become so depleted of magnesium (perhaps why we consume less than half the amount our ancestors did 100 years ago!) (8), it may also be wise to supplement in addition to swapping out cheetos for almonds. Especially if you’re already running a deficiency, which can take some work to reverse.

Supplementation: If you talk to your doctor and decide to supplement, consider 500 mg of magnesium glycinate a day. It’s absorbed much better and doesn’t affect the bowel like the more commonly used magnesium citrate (read labels, they will say which type of magnesium they are). Take before bed for extra calming too boot. Choose a quality brand like Jigsaw Magnesium (one of my favs), Thorne, Biotics, Integrative Therapeutics, or Pure Encapsulations. Take everyday for at least 6 months. The more you can reverse your magnesium deficiency, the better you will feel, and the better your body can conquer inflammation.

1 Maier, J. A., Castiglioni, S., Locatelli, L., Zocchi, M., & Mazur, A. (2021). Magnesium and inflammation: Advances and perspectives. Seminars in cell & developmental biology, 115, 37–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2020.11.002

2 Zheltova, A. A., Kharitonova, M. V., Iezhitsa, I. N., & Spasov, A. A. (2016). Magnesium deficiency and oxidative stress: an update. BioMedicine, 6(4), 20. https://doi.org/10.7603/s40681-016-0020-6

3 Harris, H., Chavarro, J., Malspeis, S., Willett, W., Missmer, S. (2013). Dairy-Food, Calcium, Magnesium, and Vitamin D Intake and Endometriosis: A Prospective Cohort Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 177(5), 420–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kws247

4 Chhabra, S., Gokhale, S., & Yadav, S. (2017). Primary Dysmenorrhea and Serum Magnesium In Young Girls A Pilot Study. Nessa J Gynecology, 1(3).

5 Ebrahimi, E., Khayati Motlagh, S., Nemati, S., & Tavakoli, Z. (2012). Effects of magnesium and vitamin b6 on the severity of premenstrual syndrome symptoms. Journal of caring sciences, 1(4), 183–189. https://doi.org/10.5681/jcs.2012.026

6 Seifert, B., Wagler, P., Dartsch, S., Schmidt, U., & Nieder, J. (1989). Magnesium—eine therapeutische Alternative bei der primären Dysmenorrhoe [Magnesium—a new therapeutic alternative in primary dysmenorrhea]. Zentralblatt fur Gynakologie, 111(11), 755–760.

7 Parazzini, F., Di Martino, M., & Pellegrino, P. (2017). Magnesium in the gynecological practice: a literature review. Magnesium in the gynecological practice: a literature review. Magnesium research, 30(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1684/mrh.2017.0419

8 Gröber, U., Schmidt, J., Kisters, K. (2015). Magnesium in Prevention and Therapy. Nutrients. 7, 8199-226. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu7095388