A neurologist has shared the one supplement you should be taking daily to ensure you’re taking care of your brain health and potentially lower your risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Magnesium supplements have a number of health benefits (Image: Getty Images )
A neurologist has spilled the beans about what might just be the “best” daily supplement for your brain health, and it comes with promising potentials to lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Magnesium, according to Buenos Aires Institute of Neurology’s director, neurologist Alejandro Andersson, is crucial for maintaining peak cognitive function, offering benefits like signal regulation between the brain and body, suppressing neuroinflammation and preventing the death of neuronal cells.
According to Dr. Andersson’s not all magnesium supplements are created equal, reports Daily Express UK.
READ MORE: Discover the magnesium-rich fruit that boosts heart health and lowers blood pressureREAD MORE: Reduce kidney damage risk by cutting five common drinks from your diet
Dr. Andersson vouches for magnesium threonate considering its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier—a feat other forms struggle with—thus providing direct benefits to the central nervous system.
Citing more reasons why the medical community is hopping on the magnesium bandwagon, research suggests some rather encouraging findings.
Magnesium can be introduced into the body through diet, supplements and lotion (Image: Getty Images )
For our furry friends in the lab, studies show magnesium threonate has ramped up brain magnesium ions and amplified cognitive prowess. A 2020 study published in BMC Neuroscience highlighted how this mineral backs up brain cell vitality and cognitive preservation in fish.
Fast forward to 2024, another piece of research points to magnesium-L-threonate scaling back “clinical manifestations” associated with Alzheimer’s in mice.
Before incorporating any supplement like magnesium L-threonate into your regimen, it’s critical to follow safety guidelines. There isn’t a determined recommended daily allowance for this specific type of magnesium as of now.
The NHS cautions against exceeding 400mg of magnesium per diem, alerting users to the potential side effect of excess intake: “Taking high doses of magnesium (more than 400mg) for a short time can cause diarrhoea.”
Additionally, they acknowledge that evidence is insufficient to understand the long-term impact: “There’s not enough evidence to say what the effects might be of taking high doses of magnesium for a long time.”
Emphasizing diet over supplements, the Department of Health and Social Care asserts you can get all necessary magnesium through diverse food intake. Moreover, they assure that consuming up to 400mg of magnesium from supplements daily should be “unlikely to cause any harm”.