By Ollie Cooper, live news reporter
Welcome to the first part of my series on fitness supplements – where I aim to discover whether they helping you get ripped, or ripping you off.
I’ve enlisted the help of performance nutritionist Andrew Petts and Arj Thiruchelvam, personal trainer and head coach at Performance Physique, to analyse 12 different supplements every lunchtime over the next two weeks – starting with magnesium.
Magnesium
I was sucked into marketing that suggested a supplement of the mineral magnesium would help me sleep better.
Its cost varies wildly depending on where you buy it and in what form – with tablets costing as little as 1p each and drops costing £2.70 per 1ml.
What does it do?
“Minerals such as magnesium are responsible for cellular reactions that can help muscle function, brain health/function, mental health, immune function, recovery, help break down sugars and aid with sleep so is important to consume,” Andrew explains.
He adds that its intake is undoubtedly important, but that no supplement is required.
“Real food always wins,” he explains.
“Nearly everyone should be getting [magnesium] from food sources like nuts, seeds, dark chocolate, avocados, leafy greens, unrefined grains and some fish,” he says.
To put things into context, most females need 270mg and males need 300mg a day, though some estimates suggest you need more than that.
“30g, or a handful of almonds gives you around 80mg of magnesium, half a cup of cooked edamame beans gives you around 50-60mg – notice I’ve not mentioned a supplement yet?”
If tablets, drops or sprays must be used (ie, you hate every single food with magnesium in naturally), Andrew rates it a score of just 6/10 – with a further note that we as humans have a generally low absorption rate of the mineral via supplements.
Personal trainer Arj is harsher with his score, saying the average person gets little to no value for their money – 3/10.
“Most people consume magnesium for muscle relaxant and sleep purposes, but this isn’t an area with strong supportive evidence and therefore I’d recommend you absorb magnesium from your daily meals instead,” he says.
One important note here is that women are far more likely than men to suffer from magnesium deficiency – and if you are deficient, you really should be supplementing.
If you think you may be magnesium deficient (symptoms here), go see a doctor, who can diagnose you with a blood and/or urine test.
The verdict: A miss, unless you really, really hate dark chocolate et al
Here are 10 examples of foods naturally high in magnesium:
- Whole wheat
- Spinach
- Quinoa
- Almonds, cashews and peanuts
- Dark chocolate
- Black beans
- Edamame
- Avocado
Alternatives to help you sleep
We’re not here to point you in the direction of more products to buy.
If you, like our experts, have decided that magnesium isn’t the answer to solving your poor sleep, here’s a sleep expert’s top tips for improving its quality without spending a penny.
Alison Cullen, sleep expert and nutritional practitioner at avogel.co.uk, recommends the following:
Start early: Getting daylight exposure in the morning is a very effective way of setting your circadian clock, so that your body is aware of when you are likely to be powering down for sleep. Daylight and dark act as “zeitgebers” (literally, “time givers” or “time cues”) that instruct our internal scheduling, regulating our sleep and wake cycles. A small window of daylight exposure in the morning will inform your body as to when you are likely to want to sleep. You can strengthen this message by dimming lights in the evening, and ensuring that you are not exposed to harsh screen light in the hour before bed.
Eat to sleep: Eating a light dinner, as early as possible in the evening, reduces the negative impact of digesting a heavy meal during the night. Digestive discomfort can be very noticeable at night, affecting our sleeping position, and acid reflux is more likely when lying down. In addition, the heat generated by metabolising a heavy meal interferes with the temperature drop that is associated with good quality sleep. Have a larger lunch and daintier dinner, and aim for a three-hour gap between dinner and bedtime.
Gut goodness: Another gut-related factor in sleep is the quality of the microbiome. When the gut is full of healthy microorganisms, communication between gut and brain is better and sleep improves. A simple way to support your microbiome and the microorganisms it hosts is to eat prebiotic foods. Onions, garlic and leeks are excellent to add to meals, and mushrooms, asparagus, cabbage and bananas are also helpful, as are artichokes and oats.
Back off the booze: Strange as it may seem, when an immoderate alcohol intake is associated with excessive drowsiness, even moderate alcohol consumption has been shown to lower restorative sleep quality by 24%, and high alcohol intake can affect sleep by up to 39.2%. These effects are similar in men and women, and hold true whether you’re active or sedentary. However, the effects seem to be stronger in young people compared with elders. There is, as the researchers note, a big difference between “going to sleep” and “passing out”, with alcohol-affected sleep being of poorer quality and less restorative.
Chill: The body naturally cools before sleep, and assisting this process is helpful in ensuring a healthy, satisfying sleep. Temperature dysregulation will impair good sleep, and one way of “setting the thermostat” for the body in the evening is to have a warm bath one or two hours before bed. It can be for as little as 10 minutes, but it’s been shown to cause blood perfusion to the palms and soles, which allows the body to cool down nicely once you’re out and heading for bed.
Get grateful: Counting your blessings may be a concept associated with your granny or your nanny, but research shows that gratitude positively influences sleep. Spending a few moments before sleep in thinking of everything for which you can be grateful makes a very positive end to the day, and also beneficially affects the quality of your sleep.
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