Application

Magnesium for daily intake

For daily intake, magnesium oil is applied to the skin and massaged in. The usual approach is about 2 millilitres morning and evening, which corresponds to roughly 400 milligrams of pure magnesium.

For daily use, the arms and shoulders have proved practical: they are easy to reach, and the concentrated magnesium chloride solution is generally well tolerated there. Thighs, lower legs or the abdomen also work. The underarm area is suitable too — there are many sweat glands there, which, given what is known about the transport routes, favours uptake.

How many sprays or drops are needed depends on the concentration of the solution and on how many sprays make up 1 millilitre of the product in question. Depending on the product, the recommendation falls between 5 and 20 sprays per application. Since uptake through the skin is self-limiting — saturated cells take up no more magnesium — being generous is less of a problem than being sparing.

Full baths and foot baths

Baths are usually prepared with magnesium bath flakes; magnesium oil can in principle be used as well.

Full bath. What matters is the magnesium concentration, the body surface covered by water, and the temperature and duration of the bath. Uptake rises disproportionately with concentration. Water temperature should be around 37 degrees Celsius, and the bath should not be shorter than 20 minutes. For a normal-sized bathtub, roughly 500 to 1,000 grams of bath flakes are used.

Foot bath. The practical and cheaper alternative. Because the body surface covered is considerably smaller and less absorptive area is therefore available, the concentration should be higher — between 2 and 5 per cent. The feet should be covered above the ankles, the temperature again around 37 degrees Celsius, and the contact time at least 20 minutes.

When oral intake is difficult

As far as absorption in the gut is concerned, magnesium is not a straightforward substance. Even an intact gut with a healthy flora takes up only part of the magnesium supplied — figures in the region of 30 per cent are cited in the literature. Absorptive capacity also changes over the course of a lifetime.

Some people therefore deliberately go without additional magnesium, because even small doses lead to discomfort, bloating or diarrhoea. External application does not involve the digestive tract — for this group, that is the decisive difference.

In later life there is a further factor: stomach acid production declines. Stomach acid is involved in converting magnesium into a form the body can absorb. That too explains why external application attracts interest in this group.

Sport and physical exertion

Physical exertion raises the magnesium requirement, and minerals are additionally lost through sweat. Magnesium contributes to normal muscle function, to normal energy-yielding metabolism and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. External application can be combined with oral intake.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding

Magnesium requirements are raised during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Intake through the skin is often chosen in this group because it does not involve the digestive tract.

Important: if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, discuss magnesium intake with your doctor or midwife. That applies to external application just as much as to oral intake. Questions about your own nutritional status can only be answered individually, with knowledge of your state of health — not by a website.

Where to obtain it

The Magnesium Health Institute does not sell products. Magnesium from the Zechstein deposit, a natural product of high purity, is frequently used for transdermal application. It is available as flakes, spray or gel from the Zechstein Magnesium shop — an external offer for whose content we are not responsible.