Magnesium Status and Stress: The Vicious Circle Concept Revisited.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review of preclinical and clinical literature with mechanism-based reasoning
PubMed 33260549 · doi:10.3390/nu12123672
What was done
The authors conducted a narrative review of pre-clinical and clinical literature to revisit the vicious circle model linking magnesium status and physiological stress. The review evaluated how magnesium interacts with mediators of the stress response and examined nutritional studies of magnesium status in subjects experiencing psychological stress.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative data, sample sizes, or effect estimates. It qualitatively reports that magnesium plays an inhibitory regulatory role in physiological stress neurotransmission, that low magnesium status is observed in individuals suffering from psychological stress, and that stress-induced magnesium loss paired with deficiency-induced stress susceptibility creates a bidirectional cycle.
Why it matters
The paper updates a conceptual framework proposed in the 1990s on the mutual interaction between magnesium deficiency and chronic stress. It frames magnesium status as a potential factor in stress regulation and associated health consequences.
Limits
The abstract describes a non-systematic narrative review with no defined search protocol, selection criteria, or study count. It provides no primary quantitative data or assessment of the quality of cited studies.
Cited by
- supports Chronic psychological stress and elevated cortisol levels lead to the depletion of magnesium in the body.