Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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The biochemical importance of magnesium has been already well-described. Many here are familiar with the difficulties of getting sufficient magnesium from natural sources (i.e. not supplements). That of course makes me wonder how it is that our ancestors ever got "enough" magnesium. Some have mentioned that water sources historically had more magnesium. But given just how little magnesium there is in rivers (4 ppm), this seems hard to imagine.

Is there any evidence of hunter-gatherers today consuming 350-400mg or more per day? If so, what are their sources? (Bonus points if you can find evidence that our ancestors consumed at least that much.)

flag	asked Mar 10 2012 at 11:27 dav 1,356●1●14

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Awesome question! I hear magnesium everywhere, but I think, in the context of a diet low in anti-nutrients, a normal level of magnesium is fine. I guess, if you swim in the sea a lot, you will never be deficient. After all, epsom salt baths have been shown to work. – Korion Mar 10 2012 at 13:37

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I don't have a link but I remember one explanation was that soil is now depleted of magnesium compared to back then. – DFH Mar 10 2012 at 13:49

Korion, I've only seen one study that found transdermal Mg to be effective, and it only had something like 10 participants. Are you familiar with any others? – dav Mar 11 2012 at 0:24

Joshua · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-10 15:55:16Z UTC

How much soil do you eat in a day, compared to say, a person who's dinner plate was/is the ground?

Also, I personally believe that Paleolithic man probably did not get anywhere near the amount of absorbable calcium that we get today (if we eat dairy). Calcium requires magnesium for absorption, and therefore depletes it. This is why I suggest athletes who get much of their protein from dairy sources (protein powders, specifically) to supplement with additional magnesium before bedtime, at least an hour outside of consuming dairy products (or any other food, preferably). I would probably suggest the same for most "Primal" dieters as well as most Paleo folks who need some help sleeping.

Pre-Migratory Homo Sapiens also ate a very varied diet, many trash pits around coastal areas include oyster shells, fish bones, etc along with their normal fare... seafood being quite a good source of magnesium. It wasn't until migration towards ice-age paleolithic europe that seafood (and tubers, green veggies, etc) started making their way out of the diets, and the low-carb craze began.

cliff · Answer 2 · 2012-03-10 13:47:28Z UTC

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Hunter gatherers eat fruit and tubers both are very rich in magnesium.

answered Mar 10 2012 at 13:47

cliff
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Which is why it makes good sense to include them in a real paleo diet, right? – gydle Mar 10 2012 at 14:01

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yes not just for magnesium too. Fructose and potassium are really good for you too. – cliff Mar 10 2012 at 14:56

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and seeds too. There is robust evidence for consumption of mg-rich seeds in the Paleolithic. – Bread-Eating Beelzebub Mar 10 2012 at 15:57

you make too much sense – Paul Mar 10 2012 at 17:32

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This. I could easily get lots of magnesium consuming tubers and fruit. – ROB Mar 10 2012 at 23:35

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killerbee · Answer 3 · 2012-03-10 13:34:09Z UTC

Just throwing this out there, but maybe our modern lifestyle has upped our need for magnesium? Things like coffee and alcohol can deplete magnesium, and I believe stress and grain consumption can as well. Part of the reason we have trouble getting enough could be because we've so chronically depleted it out of our systems in recent history.

One other thing to throw out there is that we used to eat a lot more dirt. We didn't clean stuff well throughout history, and I'm sure we picked up loads of minerals in our diet through accidentally eating dirt. (But also I have no idea what kind of magnesium levels are in dirt, so that might not be it at all.)

Prove that consuming more magnesium is paleo

3 Answers