When it comes to your heart health, magnesium's job is to properly time the gates in your AV node. Too much magnesium, and the gates move slowly, which can mean your heart will beat more slowly. Too little magnesium and the gates open and close quicker. So, your heart speeds up.
Magnesium Helps Your Heart Keep the Beat
Electrolytes are all-important for nerve signals and the muscle contractions of a normal heartbeat. Research shows that magnesium deficiency, or restricted magnesium intake, increases irregular heartbeats known as arrhythmias.
Magnesium is an effective treatment for some types of palpitations, but not all. While I generally prefer to test the blood magnesium level before treatment, a supplement of magnesium at a reasonable amount such as 400 mg magnesium, (100% of the daily value) is unlikely to cause problems.
A recommended dosage is 600 mg-800 mg/day. (For example, 200 mg three times a day and 200 mg at bedtime.)
The most common electrolytes that can cause palpitations when they get low are potassium and magnesium.
Which magnesium is best for heart health? If heart health is the goal, you'll actually want a few different forms of magnesium in your supplement! Magnesium citrate is the form of magnesium that your body absorbs with the most ease. Magnesium oxide has a higher level of elemental magnesium in it.
Magnesium taurate -- Magnesium taurate is the best choice of magnesium supplement for people with cardiovascular issues, since it is known to prevent arrhythmias and guard the heart from damage caused by heart attacks.
People with diabetes, intestinal disease, heart disease or kidney disease should not take magnesium before speaking with their health care provider. Overdose. Signs of a magnesium overdose can include nausea, diarrhea, low blood pressure, muscle weakness, and fatigue. At very high doses, magnesium can be fatal.
Early signs of excessive magnesium intake can include low blood pressure, facial flushing, depression, urine retention, and fatigue. Eventually, if untreated, these symptoms can worsen and include muscle weakness, difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeat, and even, in very rare cases, cardiac arrest.
Stimulate the vagus nerve
The vagus nerve connects the brain to the heart, and stimulating it can calm palpitations. An individual can stimulate the vague nerve by: holding the breath and pushing down, as though having a bowel movement. placing ice or a cold, damp towel on the face for a few seconds.
A deficiency in vitamin D can cause an imbalance in Magnesium and Calcium, and contribute to heart palpitations. Vitamin D deficiency contributes to the development of both A-Fib and Dementia.
Medical research has linked magnesium to reduced anxiety. Magnesium helps you to relax by stimulating the production of melatonin and serotonin which boost your mood and help you sleep. Magnesium also reduces the production of cytokines and cortisol, which lead to increased inflammation and stress.
Based on the current data, magnesium taurate and magnesium glycinate are two of the better options that may help those with mental health conditions.
Magnesium has been hypothesized to have a beneficial effect on hypertension by interacting with calcium (1, 2), reducing peripheral vascular resistance (1, 3, 4), increasing nitric oxide release (5) and endothelial prostaglandin I2 secretion (2, 6), and enhancing the effect of antihypertensive medications (7).
The Link Between Magnesium, Potassium, and the Heart
This is the critical link between these two ions and the heart — magnesium is critical to transporting potassium into the heart cells and optimizing heart health.
Magnesium levels between 7 and 12 mg/dL can impact the heart and lungs, and levels in the upper end of this range may cause extreme fatigue and low blood pressure. Levels above 12 mg/dL can lead to muscle paralysis and hyperventilation.
A vitamin B12 deficiency can present itself with a quick pulse rate. The deficiency of this vitamin can lead to a lack of red blood cells in your body. This can create a lack of oxygen in the body, due to which the body has to push more blood around the body to compensate, speeding up the pulse rate.
Although palpitations are common, you may feel anxious and scared. Another vitamin deficiency that can lead to heart palpitations is vitamin B12. Similar to a folate deficiency, a lack of vitamin B12 can lead to anaemia and thereby result in heart palpitations, per the ODS.
Mild Side Effects
They include stomach discomfort, diarrhea, and drowsiness. If you experience more severe or ongoing symptoms like vertigo, decreased appetite, blurred vision, skin rash, or irregular heartbeat, discontinue taking the herb and see your doctor.
Low Blood Sugar: A rapid heartbeat could mean that your blood-sugar levels are too low. Anemia or Iron Deficiency: Anemia or iron deficiency negatively affect the flow of oxygen in your body.
Taking too much vitamin D is not good either, as it can lead to hypercalcemia, or high calcium levels, which can also cause irregular heartbeat.