Research Update - Low Magnesium Increases DNA Damage

Magnesium is an essential mineral and electrolyte involved in hundreds of critical biological processes. Unfortunately, deficiency in magnesium is rather common, which can lead to several adverse effects.

New research from Australia shows why a diet rich in magnesium is vital for our health and longevity.

Magnesium for Health & Longevity

Researchers measured the blood levels of magnesium, folate, vitamin B12 and homocysteine in 172 healthy, middle-aged adults. Their intent was to see if there was a strong link between low magnesium levels (magnesium deficiency) and high levels of homocysteine.

Homocysteine is a by-product of the metabolism of methionine (one of the nine essential amino acids, EAAs). Elevated blood levels of homocysteine can increase DNA damage (which accelerates aging) and are associated with increased risk for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, thromboembolic, and neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.[2,3,4]

Studies have previously shown that homocysteine is elevated in cases of folate and vitamin B12 deficiency due to the fact that both vitamins are required to convert homocysteine back to methionine.[5]

This latest study sought to see whether a deficiency in magnesium also impacted homocysteine levels since magnesium is involved in over 600 biological processes, including DNA replication and repair.[7,8]

After analyzing the blood samples, researchers found a direct correlation between low magnesium levels and increased DNA damage.[1] This leads to accelerated aging and an increased risk for several diseases and disorders (as we mentioned above). As you can probably guess, consuming enough magnesium each day is extremely important.

Recommended Magnesium Intake

The recommended daily intake for magnesium developed by the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) at the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies is[9]:

• Women 18-30: 310mg
• Women 31-50: 320mg
• Men 18-30: 400mg
• Men 31-50: 420mg

Unfortunately, significant portions of the population do not regularly consume enough of these foods, which is one of the major contributing factors to the high rates of magnesium deficiency.[9,10]

What Are the Best Sources of Magnesium?

The path to health and wellness begins with a nutritious diet. Foods high in magnesium that you may want to include in your diet are:

• Nuts
• Seeds
• Legumes
• Dairy
• Dark leafy greens
• Whole grains
• Avocados

What About Magnesium Supplements?

We all have those days when we’re on-the-go and can’t eat as well as we’d like. Supplements can help to fill in those macronutrient and micronutrient gaps. Even better, certain magnesium supplements have been shown to be highly bioavailable and increase men and women’s daily magnesium intake.

1UP Super Magnesium supplies 300mg elemental magnesium from a dual-action blend of two bioavailable magnesium supplements in:

• Magnesium Bisglycinate Chelate
• Magnesium Malate

Every serving of Super magnesium also contains Vitamin C and D3.

Vitamin C plays a key role in immune and antioxidant status while Vitamin D is necessary for the proper  absorption of magnesium in the body as well as countless other processes, including mood, immune function, hormone production, cardiovascular health and bone health.

We’ve even included 100mg of L-Theanine to promote calmness and relaxation.

Super Magnesium mixes easily, tastes delicious, and can be taken anytime of day to support your performance, recovery, and cardiometabolic health.

Don’t Forget About Betaine for Additional Homocysteine Conversion

Earlier we mentioned that homocysteine can be converted back to methionine through a process that relies on vitamin B12 and folate. The body has another means for converting homocysteine into methionine -- a betaine (trimethylglycine)–dependent reaction.

Betaine donates methyl groups to homocysteine, which in turn is metabolized back to methionine.[11]

This means that betaine isn’t only beneficial for performance, muscle gain, and body recomposition -- it supports cardiovascular health too!

1UP Pure Rebuild as well as Stim-Free Pre Workout contain a full 2,500mg of betaine anhydrous.

References

1. Varinderpal S. Dhillon, Permal Deo, Michael Fenech. Low magnesium in conjunction with high homocysteine increases DNA damage in healthy middle aged Australians. European Journal of Nutrition, 2024; DOI: 10.1007/s00394-024-03449-0
2. Son P, Lewis L. Hyperhomocysteinemia. [Updated 2022 May 8]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK554408/
3. Cecchini MS, Bourckhardt GF, Jaramillo ML, Ammar D, Müller YMR, Nazari EM (2019) Exposure to homocysteine leads to cell cycle damage and reactive gliosis in the developing brain. Reprod Toxicol 87:60–69.
4. Bossenmeyer-Pourié C, Smith AD, Lehmann S, Deramecourt V, Sablonnière B, Camadro JM, Pourié G, Kerek R, Helle D, Umoret R, Guéant-Rodriguez RM, Rigau V, Gabelle A, Sequeira JM, Quadros EV, Daval JL, Guéant J (2019) L., N-homocysteinylation of tau and MAP1 is increased in autopsy specimens of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. J Pathol 248:291–303. https://doi.org/10.1002/path.5254
5. Fenech M (2012) Folate (vitamin B9) and vitamin B12 and their function in the maintenance of nuclear and mitochondrial genome integrity. Mutat Res 733:21–33.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mrfmmm.2011.11.003
6. Bairoch A (2000) The ENZYME database in 2000. Nucleic Acids Res 28:304–305.https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/28.1.304
7. Wolf FI, Maier JA, Nasulewicz A, Feillet-Coudray C, Simonacci M, Mazur A, Cittadini A (2007) Magnesium and neoplasia: from carcinogenesis to tumor growth and progression or treatment. Arch Biochem Biophys 458:24–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.abb.2006.02.016
8. Shimizu N, Hamada Y, Morozumi R, Yamamoto J, Iwai S, Sugiyama KI, Ide H, Tsuda M (2023) Repair of topoisomerase 1-induced DNA damage by tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 2 (TDP2) is dependent on its magnesium binding. J Biol Chem 299(8):104988. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2023.104988
9. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium-healthprofessional/
10. DiNicolantonio JJ, O'Keefe JH, Wilson W. Subclinical magnesium deficiency: a principal driver of cardiovascular disease and a public health crisis. Open Heart. 2018 Jan 13;5(1):e000668. doi: 10.1136/openhrt-2017-000668. Erratum in: Open Heart. 2018 Apr 5;5(1):e000668corr1. PMID: 29387426; PMCID: PMC5786912.
11. McRae MP. Betaine supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine in healthy adult participants: a meta-analysis. J Chiropr Med. 2013 Mar;12(1):20-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jcm.2012.11.001. PMID: 23997720; PMCID: PMC3610948.