Does magnesium really help with sore muscles? This is what experts say
Almost everyone knows the unpleasant feeling after intensive training or unusual physical stress: sore muscles. Although it is now known that Magnesium in sport is of great importance, the number of studies is comparatively low. The importance of magnesium in sore muscles is therefore controversial. Read what experts say here.
What is sore muscles?
Like specialist Sven Ostermeier from the Orthopedic joint clinic Explained in Freiburg, sore muscles arise when the maximum resilience of the muscles is exceeded. The pain is caused by small cracks in the muscle fibers. These micro -injuries trigger inflammation because the body repairs the tissue. There are also water retention, which stretches the tissue. Only this reaction of the body leads to the typical and noticeable complaints in the sore muscles.
Therefore, the symptoms usually only occur a few hours after the stress. Ostermeier advises the body to treat the body relaxation so that it can repair the micro -injuries. Warmth – a warm bath or a sauna session – can help because it promotes blood circulation.
Does magnesium help against sore muscles?
Although Magnesium has numerous advantages for the muscles, the scientific evidence for a direct effect on sore muscles is limited. According to Sven Ostermeier, Magnesium does not help against sore muscles: « The muscle pain creates tiny injuries in the muscle from the body’s reaction. At this point, minerals such as magnesium or other nutritional supplements are ineffective, » says the specialist. So if the muscles are already overdated, it does not help to take magnesium afterwards. The situation is different with the prevention.
Can magnesium sore muscles possibly prevent?
As the Society for Magnesium Research tells us on request is magnesium crucial for energy supply in every cell in the body. Of course, this also affects the muscle cells. ATP must be connected to magnesium so that the body can use the energy from the main energy supplier from the main energy supplier Adenosintriphosphate (ATP). Only in this bound form can ATP actually release energy. If the body has too little magnesium in the cells, there cannot be enough energy. This can lead to less physical performance and an increased risk of muscle damage and sore muscles.
“This connection makes it plausible that if there is a cellular Magnesium deficiency (which is not necessarily recognizable in the blood serum) with an increased tendency to damage muscular structures and thus for sore muscles, ”say the experts from the Society for Magnesium Research scientific review the conclusion was drawn that taking magnesium can lead to improved sporting performance and a rarer occurrence of muscle damage and sore muscles.
According to the Society for Magnesium Research, the following mechanisms can be responsible for the positive effects:
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- Improving the availability of glucose in the brain, muscle and blood during physical stress
- Less accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles, which means that they tire less quickly
- Lower oxygen consumption and improvement of the heart-lung function
« If the body is optimally supplied with magnesium, supplementation is not expected to result in an increase in performance or a lower appearance of sore muscles. However, studies show that athletes are often not sufficiently supplied with magnesium, » says the company for magnesium research. Due to sweat and urine, the body is lost a lot of magnesium. If you sweat a lot during sports, you should therefore pay particular attention to sufficient magnesium intake.
According to the Society for Magnesium Research, this is Taking magnesium preparations « Safe, harmless and inexpensive ». Nevertheless can Magnesium also side effects cause. Since magnesium extracts water from the large intestine, it can have a slightly laxative effect. Who too high quantities Magnesium takes in, so get diarrhea. As the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment reports, the risk increases from 300 milligrams. .
However, the Society for Magnesium Research explains that the diarrhea caused by magnesium has no disease value. A reduction in the daily dose usually allows the symptoms to subside again. This so -called « diarrhea » is individual and depends on the magnesium level in the blood, personal needs and tolerance. The usual dosage area is between 150 and 600 milligrams a day.