94. Magnesium After 40: Why It’s Not Working the Way You Expect

Share This!

Don’t Miss An Episode!

You’ve likely heard about magnesium being a miracle mineral and you’re probably taking a supplement to help with some of your perimenopause symptoms, but supplementing randomly often leads to frustration. In this episode, I unpack why so many women over 40 struggle to raise magnesium levels, why electrolytes matter more than you think, and how minerals like sodium and potassium determine whether your body can actually use the magnesium you take.

If you’re tired of guessing with supplements and want a smarter plan, this episode will help you understand what your body actually needs — without the hype. You’ll learn:

What magnesium does for hormones, mood, sleep, and metabolism after 40
Hidden drains on magnesium (i.e. stress, medications, alcohol, processed foods, etc)
Why many women don’t feel better on magnesium – and what cofactors are missing
The truth about electrolytes and why they may not be working for you
How HTMA (hair tissue mineral analysis) helps reveal whether you’re absorbing minerals or just guessing

Try my favorite topical magnesium for better absorption HERE!
Save 20% with code: healthcoachclaudia

Sources:

Magnesium Fact Sheet

Magnesium Deficiency and Alcohol Intake

Oral Contraceptive Lowers Serum Magnesium

Magnesium and Heart Palpitations

Magnesium and Mental Health Disorders

Magnesium and Hypertension

Migraines and Magnesium

Magnesium and Insulin Resistance

Today I’m talking about one of the most hyped supplements on the internet: magnesium.

You’ve probably heard things like:

“Everyone is deficient.”
“It fixes sleep, anxiety, constipation, headaches — basically everything.”

And yes, magnesium is incredible. But…

Taking magnesium alone isn’t always the answer.
For a lot of women, it doesn’t work the way they expect.
There are different forms and each has a different use; some aren’t as effective.
And testing can be inaccurate – so if your blood work looks normal, it most likely isn’t.

So let’s break this down…

Magnesium is a mineral involved in over 300 biochemical reactions in your body.

Yes, you heard that right.

So it’s kinda important. It helps with:

energy production
muscle relaxation
nerve signaling
blood sugar control
bone strength
mood and nervous system support
hormone metabolism and more

And yes — magnesium can absolutely support sleep, anxiety, cramps, and constipation when it’s being used properly in the body.

Research even shows low magnesium is linked with insulin resistance, migraines, hypertension, mood issues and even heart palpitations — did your ears just perk up? Good because these are things that often happen in perimenopause and menopause.

Why are so many women low in magnesium?

Short answer? What do I always talk about? Modern day living.

Stress
Whether it’s chronic, long term stress or a new stressor (like divorce, job loss, death in the family, illness, surgery) magnesium gets used up.

Highly processed diets
Ultra-processed foods are calorie dense, but mineral poor. Even whole foods today have lower magnesium than decades ago due to soil depletion.

Medications
Like acid blockers, some blood pressure meds, diuretics, and birth control — can lower magnesium.

Alcohol + caffeine
Both increase magnesium loss; caffeine acts as a diuretic, so if you consume a lot of caffeine, you’re likely losing a lot in your urine; and alcohol, also a diuretic, damages your gut, which impairs absorption.

Heavy sweating or exercise
We lose electrolytes, not just sodium, through sweat. That is not permission to stop working out.

But yes, magnesium deficiency or insufficiency is real.

A lot of women take magnesium — but they still don’t feel better…

They may notice a slight improvement in their stress, constipation, or sleep. But it’s often not enough. Sometimes it’s because they need more or are using a less preferred form, but magnesium doesn’t work alone. Minerals don’t work in isolation, they work as a team. Like hormones.

You have a sodium-potassium pump on basically every cell in your body. You may remember learning this in school.

That pump’s job is to:
• Move minerals in and out of cells
• Keep hydration inside the cell

Guess what happens when sodium or potassium are imbalanced?

Magnesium can’t get inside the cell to be used.

Your level may show up “normal” in blood work or you may be swallowing handfuls of supplements…but at the cellular level, your tissues are still struggling.

_____________________________________________________

I want to expand on that a bit – magnesium is an intracellular mineral.

That means the vast majority of your magnesium lives inside your cells and tissues — in your muscles, bones, brain, and organs — not floating around in your bloodstream.

Only about 1% of total body magnesium is in the blood, making a blood test alone a poor indicator of overall magnesium status.

Because the body tightly regulates blood levels, a normal serum test doesn’t always mean adequate total body magnesium

So when you run a standard serum magnesium test, you’re looking at a tiny fraction of what’s actually in the body.

That means you can be deficient at the tissue level and your provider may test your magnesium in blood and still say “your magnesium is normal.”

Another factor to consider is when you experience stress — which is what most midlife women experience — magnesium is pushed out of the cells and excreted more rapidly through urine. When that happens, you can actually see a temporary elevation of magnesium, not because you have plenty, but because your body is dumping it.

So blood can look:

Normal when you’re depleted
Or falsely high when you’re burning through it fast

You may be wondering: what about the RBC Magnesium marker?

Or red blood cell magnesium. It is a little better to test, because it reflects magnesium inside red blood cells. But it’s still limited because it’s only looking at red blood cells.

So it’s still:

A snapshot
Influenced by recent intake
Not a true reflection of long-term tissue storage or loss patterns

This is where Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) comes in and one of the many reasons this is the test that we use with all of our clients and have been for years. In addition to functional blood work, which is the gold standard.

Hair grows slowly and incorporates minerals as it forms. A 1.5-inch sample reflects roughly the past 2–3 months of mineral status at the tissue level.

So instead of a single moment in time, we get:

Trends
Patterns
Burn rates
Mineral ratios
Stress load
And how minerals are interacting with each other

HTMA doesn’t just tell us “low” or “high.” It tells us how the body is using, losing, retaining, or dumping minerals under stress.

That’s why I don’t rely on blood work alone for mineral assessment. Blood is still important — especially for hormones, lipids, glucose, thyroid markers, iron, B12, vitamin D, etc.

But for magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium, zinc, copper, and their ratios, HTMA gives us a comprehensive, more accurate overview.

And when you’re trying to rebuild a stressed, hormonally shifting nervous system in midlife, you want the whole story. So if you’re ready to dig a bit deeper, want testing and a personalized plan, apply to work with us in The Perimenopause Method.

Let’s talk about electrolytes for a second

A lot of women say “Claudia — I drink electrolytes!”

Great, but here’s the thing. Many popular electrolyte mixes contain around:

1,000 mg sodium
very little potassium
maybe a sprinkling of magnesium

They can be useful — especially if you sweat a lot or do fasted workouts. But they’re likely not optimized for your needs.

You may be even chugging them all day, yet notice you

Still feel thirsty all the time
You feel puffy
And your overall symptoms just haven’t improved much at all

Because too much sodium without adequate potassium makes it harder for the body to maintain that balance — and it can even push magnesium lower over time.

We need both sodium and potassium working together.

And potassium IMO is so overlooked.

Most people barely hit the recommended daily intake which is over 4000mg, because potassium lives in real food: fruit, potatoes, beans, leafy greens, coconut water and so on. Modern day living results in too many processed foods, not enough home cooked meals or fresh fruits & vegetables.

The other thing to consider is cofactors:

Magnesium also relies on:

Vitamin B6
Vitamin D
Protein intake
Adequate stomach acid

So if digestion is off, stress is high, estrogen is shifting, and minerals are imbalanced…
simply swallowing another capsule won’t fix the root issue. This is why you’ll hear me say over and over:

👉 Stop taking random supplements that your favorite influencer or midlife fitness guru is selling and get a personalized plan for your individual needs.

So…should you take magnesium?

Look, for many women, yes it can be incredibly supportive. The forms I typically recommend are:

Magnesium glycinate – calming, great for sleep/anxiety as it promotes GABA production
Magnesium threonate – known for its unique ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, it can help enhance cognitive functions like memory, learning, focus
Magnesium malate – can help with energy, muscle pain, cramps

But most on the market use magnesium citrate or oxide which are not great for absorption but they will certainly make you poop. Which is fine short-term, but you’re not getting the full benefits if you’re just pooping it out.

Quick recap

Magnesium is essential and most women don’t get enough.
Stress, medications, processed foods, and sweating deplete it.
Magnesium doesn’t work alone — sodium, potassium, calcium are key players.
Over-salty electrolytes without enough potassium may not be helping you.
HTMA testing helps us understand what’s actually happening at the tissue level.
Supplement wisely — not blindly.

And my biggest takeaway for you

Minerals are foundational.

Hormones, thyroid, adrenals, nervous system — they all depend on them.

So if you’ve tried “a bunch of supplements” and still feel off —it’s because you’re ignoring minerals – not your fault, but most providers aren’t looking at this like my team & I are.

You may need someone to zoom out, see the patterns, and personalize a plan for you.

And yes — magnesium can be part of that. But magnesium alone is not a miracle.

If this hits home and you’re curious about what your minerals are doing, I’d love to help you dig deeper. Check out our program, The Perimenopause Method which has helped hundreds of women — so we can make a plan that actually fits your body and needs.

That’s it for today. If this episode was helpful, share it with a friend and be sure to leave a rating and review so we can reach more women who need this information. See you next time.

Claudia Petrilli is a Functional Health Coach, Integrative Nutrition Coach, and creator of The Perimenopause Method — a high-touch program helping ambitious women 40+ support their hormones, restore energy, mood, and feel good in their bodies again.

After years of struggling with debilitating periods, thyroid issues, a pituitary tumor, and a rocky start to perimenopause, Claudia knows exactly what it’s like to be dismissed by doctors and overwhelmed by conflicting advice. Her own healing journey led her to a functional health approach — and now she helps women cut through the noise, advocate for themselves, and finally feel like themselves again.

When she’s not deep in client labs or recording her podcast Perimenopause Simplified, you’ll find Claudia hanging at home with her partner Mike and their rescue pup, Dawson — the real star of the show.

PRODUCTS WE LOVE:

Equip Prime Protein (Save 15% w/ code: healthcoachclaudia)

Ona’s Natural Progesterone Cream

Glow Below Vaginal Estrogen or DHEA

Symphony Natural Health Melatonin

BodyHealth Reds Powder

Microbiome Labs Total Gut Restoration (Save 15% w/ code: claudia123)

Eusari Menoplay Non-Hormonal Solution

For more products we recommend, click HERE.

Apple Spotify YouTube

Amazon Audible