Magnesium | Stress locks your nervous system in high alert

After shifts, stress has locked your nervous system into high alert. It stays activated even when the shift is over. Magnesium tells your nervous system when to switch back to relaxed mode.

Your nervous system has two settings: activated and relaxed. During service, stress burns through magnesium. When it runs low, your nervous system stays activated even when the shift is over. Muscles stay tight even when sitting still. Your brain races at night. You cannot fall asleep even though you are exhausted. Not anxiety. Just your nervous system stuck in one mode.

Muscles need magnesium to relax between contractions. Without it, they stay partially tight. Stretching does not help. Sleep does not help. Your muscles literally cannot get the signal to loosen up. People under sustained stress benefit more than those who are not.

Magnesium alone works. L-taurine makes magnesium work faster and more completely. The combination calms your nervous system better than magnesium by itself.

How to take it

270mg to 400mg daily with food. Take after your shift or before sleep. It takes about a week to start working. Magnesium is not a sedative. It is helping your nervous system do what it naturally should do.

Research sources

Held, K., et al. (2002) Oral magnesium supplementation improves sleep quality in Journal of Internal Medicine on nervous system activation and sleep

Abbasi, B., et al. (2012) The effect of magnesium supplementation on primary insomnia in Journal of Research in Medical Sciences on stress recovery

Tardy, A.L., et al. (2020) Vitamins and minerals for energy, fatigue and cognition: a narrative review in Nutrients on mineral depletion from sustained stress and muscle function