Tuesday Tip: Magnesium and sleep

There’s been lots of talk about the benefits of magnesium for improving sleep quality so what’s the evidence actually like?

Magnesium increases our gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels by binding to GABA receptors in the brain. GABA is the neurotransmitter responsible for quieting down nerve activity. When GABA levels are low, the brain feels like it is constantly switched on, which makes it very difficult to relax and can lead to increased stress and anxiety which can lead to poor sleep. Magnesium, in theory, helps you “wind down” and prepare for sleep.

Studies have shown a possible association between low magnesium and poor sleep but there are few studies actually testing the impact of increasing magnesium. Studies on insomnia found that on average people got to sleep 17.36 minutes quicker and had an increase in total sleep time of 16.06 minutes with increased magnesium intake. In terms of general sleep the results are less clear but they did find an association between higher magnesium intake and better sleep for those with very poor sleep but there wasn’t anything suggest that magnesium supplements help sleep in the average person. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence from people measuring their sleep who have found some level of improvement with magnetism supplements but these aren’t proper studies so need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

The standard recommendation is 300-400mg ~1hr before bed. You can get magnesium from dark leafy greens, nut, seeds, fish, bananas, oats and tofu etc. I’m a fan of a food-first approach but there may be a case for taking a supplement too. Most people don’t get enough magnesium from their diet and it may not be realistic to get it from food, in addition there is evidence that the acute dose of magnesium matters i.e. getting 300-400mg in one hit – hard to do from food alone. There are plenty of options of supplements but magnesium glycinate is recommended.

So in summary, whilst the evidence isn’t conclusive it could be worth increasing magnesium intake if you struggle with sleep as it’s relatively cheap and safe when used in appropriate amounts.

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx

Tuesday Tip: Aspartame and Cancer 🥤

You may have seen some headlines recently about the World Health Organisation cancer agency reclassifying aspartame, a key sweetener in diet drinks, as possibly carcinogenic. So is this a sign to panic and stop drinking diet drinks/eating foods with sweeteners? Well let’s just look at this a little closer.

The WHO cancer agency reclassified aspartame as a class 2B carcinogen, which means it’s “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” based on limited evidence, including animal studies. They’ve specifically said that it needs more research. For reference other substances in this category include pickled vegetables and aloe vera (coffee was, too, before being reduced to 3 in 2016.). Now this only considers whether something could cause cancer, but importantly not at what dose it’s dangerous.

Another WHO group, the JECFA, is an international scientific committee that evaluates the safety of, and the risks associated with, food additives, contaminants, and naturally occurring toxins in food. They concluded that the data evaluated indicated no sufficient reason to change the acceptable daily intake of 0-40 mg/kg body weight for aspartame. A 355 ml can of Diet Coke contains ~ 200 mg of aspartame. If you weigh 70 kg, you would need to drink ~15 cans of Diet Coke per day for it to even begin to have any negative effects.

Most notably if this info is concerning you and you’re worried about consuming aspartame as a result then you also need to consider the other foods in that category – pickled veg etc. More importantly the first thing you should do is stop drinking alcohol; an actual toxin the WHO has classified as a Group 1 carcinogen (“there is sufficient evidence the agent causes cancer in humans”). In fact, the WHO even states there is NO safe amount of alcohol consumption that doesn’t affect health : “We cannot talk about a so-called safe level of alcohol use. It doesn’t matter how much you drink – the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage.”

So if we’re talking about relative risk, you’re more likely to get cancer drinking even the smallest amount of alcohol than you are drinking a few cans of Diet coke or any other artificially sweetened drink/food a few times per week. So I’m summary – don’t panic and if you enjoy a diet beverage continue to do so!

Happy Tuesday 🤗xx