Anabolic hormones are the hormones we make to promote the synthesis and growth of organs and tissues. They include testosterone, growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1); these hormones in particular are important in athletes because they maintain muscle mass and bone growth.  As important as they are however, they decline with age…as soon as the third decade, or your late 20’s!

A new study showed that levels of magnesium in the bloodstream correlated with testosterone and IGF-1 levels, meaning that as levels of magnesium increased, testosterone and IGF-1 one levels increased proportionately. The researchers concluded that magnesium levels are strongly and independently associated with two major anabolic hormones, testosterone and IGF-1.

Magnesium is used in over 300 metabolic reactions in your body; it’s also a great natural muscle relaxer. We use it for many different things, and this study adds to that list. Supplementing with magnesium may be a good idea because magnesium is typically limited in many diets (although coffee and nuts & seeds are the highest magnesium containing foods). 

However this doesn’t mean that taking huge amounts of magnesium will boost your testosterone to crazy high levels...use caution, like all things just because it’s natural doesn’t mean you can take gobs of it and not have any problems.  

Reference:

Maggio M, Ceda GP, Lauretani F, et al. Magnesium and anabolic hormones in older men. Int J Androl. 2011 Jun 15.