Magnesium Has Been Linked To Better Sleep, But There's Still A Lot We Don't Know

09.03.2026 14:00

Huffingtonpost.co.uk

I have terrible sleep, and have tried everything from reading before bed to drinking passionflower tea, and addressing my vitamin D deficiency to tackle my sleep maintenance insomnia.

Should I add magnesium to that list?

After all, I’ve heard it’s a science-backed way to help you get (and stay) asleep. Here’s what we know for sure, and what we’re a little foggier about:

Why do people think magnesium will help sleep?

Magnesium is somewhat helpful to the production of the sleep hormone melatonin, which helps to regulate your body clock.

It also helps with the balance of your brain’s neurotransmitters, or the “messengers” your body uses to keep your mind and body in contact.

And because these can either calm you down or race your thoughts up, the balancing effect magnesium can have on neurotransmitters means it could help to lower your risk of racing thoughts at night.

Does magnesium definitely help sleep?

The jury’s still out.

In a systematic review of nine studies, magnesium appeared to help with sleep quality (specifically, it seemed to improve snoring, sleepiness, sleep duration, and reduce participants’ likelihood of falling asleep in the day).

But this was only the case in observational studies. That meant we couldn’t prove for sure that the magnesium itself was responsible for the connection; they only proved a correlation, and not causation.

However, in the randomised controlled trials – sometimes called the “gold standard” of effectiveness research, and are designed to tell whether the material researchers are studying directly creates an effect – the results were less impressive and less consistent.

This “uncertain association” has led the authors of the review to call for more randomised controlled trials with more participants and longer follow-up periods.

So, while some people have reported better sleep on an individual level, the science isn’t definitive yet.

Is magnesium right for me?

Whether you have sleep issues or not, all of us need magnesium to help turn our food into energy and maintain our bone health. But we can get enough from our food.

Some medications may interact with magnesium supplementation, including some antibiotics, some diabetes medications, and some blood pressure medications.

If you’re on any of these, it might be worth asking an expert whether magnesium is right for you.

People with kidney disorders, those with heart disease, and individuals with gastrointestinal disorders might be at higher risk of magnesium overdose, too.

That is sometimes the case because those with kidney issues often take medications which are already high in magnesium, like laxatives and/or antacids.