05.01.2015

Does magnesium boost testosterone?

A interesting study published in the 2011 issue of “Biological Trace Element Research” found out that by taking around 10 mg of magnesium per kg of body weight even with or without exercise made testosterone levels increase. The study found that magnesium supplement used together with exercise caused a higher level of testosterone increase compared to those the  subjects who took supplementation without exercise. Why is that Magnesium increases testosterone levels?

You see your organs such as your heart, muscles and kidneys need magnesium to be able to properly function, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Magnesium supplements are sometimes necessary to ensure you get enough amounts of magnesium. It is estimated that adult and adolescent males need about 270 to 400 milligrams of magnesium daily. Adult and adolescent females need between 280 and 300 milligrams per day.

The idea that athletes react very good to magnesium supplements is not new. Nutritionists estimate our magnesium requirement at 4 mg/kg/day if you are at 100kg = 220lbs equals approximately 400mg you need this to reach the top testosterone increasing result from Magnesium alone. Cells need magnesium to produce the energy molecules ATP and protective enzymes. But according to American surveys, about seventy percent of the population does not get enough of the mineral. Why is that? Probably because people no longer consume sufficient amounts of whole grains, spinach, nuts and beans – all good sources of the testosterone increasing mineral magnesium.

Epidemiological studies of elderly people has also shown that the more magnesium they consume, the greater their muscular strength. A possible mechanism is that magnesium causes testosterone to attach itself less easily to the binding protein SHBG, and as a result the concentration of free testosterone level in the blood rises and increases, this makes Magnesium and essential mineral for boosting testosterone levels.

Researchers at Selcuk University did an experiment with 30 male students aged between 18 and 22. Ten had a sedentary lifestyle; twenty did taekwondo five times a week for between ninety minutes and two hours in each session.

The ten sedentary students took 10 mg/kg bodyweight magnesium in the form of magnesium sulfhate every day for four weeks [Group 1]. For a person weighing 100 kg that amounts to one gram of magnesium daily. Among the martial arts practitioners, half received the same dose of magnesium [Group 2], and the other half took nothing [Group 3].

Before starting up the supplementation, the researchers measured the students’ testosterone concentration in their blood. This was done at rest [Rbs] and after running at high intensity until exhaustion [Ebs]. After four weeks of taking the supplements, the researchers once again measured the testosterone concentration at rest [Ras] and after physical exhaustion [Eas].

The Results

Free testosterone is not attached to transport proteins and is therefore known to be active, which is not always the case for testosterone that is attached to proteins( SHBG binding)

Most noticeable is the rise in the free testosterone level of Group 2 at rest: 24 percent. In Group 3, those who didn’t take magnesium, the rise is ‘only’ 15 percent. According to the researchers, the testosterone enhancing effect of magnesium is enough to improve athletes’ performance just because of thetestosterone boostingeffect.

why does it raise the T-levels?

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