Magnesium for depression

Magnesium for depression

Questions:
Dear Dr. McLeod,
I have a history of atypical depression and I have read your book with great interest. There is so much information about nutritional supplementation and depression that it a little overwhelming. For example, I’ve also read about magnesium supplementation for treatment-resistant depression. What is your view about the importance of magnesium, or have you recommended a chromium-only approach to your clients? Thanks for sharing your work with the general public.
D. C.

Answer: My short answer is: I don’t have any solid evidence that magnesium helps with mood. But some trace metals, of which magnesium is one, do have effects on mood, so it would not surprise me to learn that magnesium does as well. We know, for example, that the trace metal, lithium, is clinically efficacious in the treatment of mania, depression, and there is some evidence that it prevents suicide. (See Dr. Frederick Goodwin’s book Manic Depressiove Illness.) And, I accidentally discovered that the transitional metal, chromium, exerts mood effects.

I am positive that lithium and chromium help mood. I suspect that magnesium might help mood as well, but at this time I’m only guessing about magnesium. I hope future research will shed some light on this topic.

Thank you for contacting me with this most interesting question.

Malcolm McLeod, MD