Do these foods really have magnesium?
 

I have been trying to find magnesium rich foods I can eat because like most other Americans I'm low on that.

I read that black beans are a good source of it, so when I went to the store I looked on the back of the can of black beans, and it was not listed on the nutrition panel. None of the other beans had it listed either.

I read oat meal is a good source. I look on the back panel of my old fashioned Quaker Oats, magnesium is not in the nutrition facts at all. Only Iron is listed.

Edamame is supposed to be a good source. My package of Seapoint farms Edamame does not list any magnesium on the label.

Spinach is supposed to be a good source. Same thing. The can of spinach does NOT list magnesium as being in it.

The only foods that have magnesium on the label that I've been able to find are my almond butter and cans of nuts.

I can't eat nuts all day to get enough magnesium or I'll gain weight again.

Do these other foods have magnesium but it's just not listed? If it's in there why is it not on the label? How the heck am I supposed to track it?

I hope this helps. :)

Magnesium — Health Professional Fact Sheet

A friend of mine is a nutritionist, and she swears that prepared mustard is the answer to magnesium deficiency. 100g of prepared mustard has as much as 90% of the RDA, of course 100g is 5-10x more than you would put on a sandwich. However it's very easy to add to things throughout the day, deviled eggs, tuna salad, egg salad, sandwiches, sauces, etc. etc. And mustard greens are almost more beneficial than the seeds, so toss them in a salad, or throw them on your sandwich.

Yes they have Mg. It's not listed because it's not required by law. So they don't bother to put it on the label, I assume mostly due to the limited space they have in Nutrition Facts. But if you plug in raw spinach or carrots into your Food Journal you'll see that FD does indeed specify Mg.

So what about Custom Foods? How can you add Magnesium (and other ingredients) to a Custom Food if the nutrients aren't listed on the label?? Here's how I handle that:

How to Tweak Your Custom Food for Vitamins and Mineralsl

Thanks for the link Vito. I've been thinking I'm going to have to try to research the magnesium and other nutrient content of various foods to see how much I'm getting. For most of this last year I've been mainly focused on calories, which has, by default, resulted in better nutrition as I eat less calorie dense, more nutrient dense foods. However, I'd still like to make sure I'm getting as healthy a diet as possible as I move forward in my life, so tracking various nutrients is becoming a lot more important to me.

It's frustrating when I want to track something specific like this and it's not conveniently placed on the food label.

I was concerned today because according to Fit Day, I'm not getting enough Selenium. However when I looked up Selenium rich foods, tuna fish came up as one of them, and I've been eating tuna on a nightly basis when I have my lunch break at work. I'm going to probably be editing a lot of my custom foods to try to add in the missing information. I just hope that I can do so accurately so that I'm not overestimating the amounts of the nutrients.

Good deal, Rubystars. The way you're going about it really is the best way. It's tough enough to worry about macros when transitioning to a healthier diet, so worrying about micronutrients at the same time is not only overwhelming, but I think it would burn people out from tracking. I didn't concern myself with micronutrients for 3-4 months after I started tracking and carefully managing my macros.

Brazil nuts have a lot of selenium just in case you're looking for something else. Just a few of these in one day should supply you with the RDA.

And FYI. Since I've been monitoring micronutrients, of course I learned that Potassium is a tough one. But I eat a sweet potato almost daily so I no longer worry about it. Or if I don't want a sweet potato, I'll drink two 8 ounce glasses of low sodium V8 juice spiked with 1.3 grams of Potassium Chloride each and I'm getting a huge dose of Mg right there, with only having consumed 100 calories! The KCl is sold as "No Salt", a sodium substitute for table salt that can be found at Walmart.

And if you're watching calories (who isn't?) you may just wind up buying a Magnesium supplement. Magnesium Citrate is a good bioavailable form. If it weren't for worrying about calories, I'd just consume more peanuts, popcorn, and pumpkin seeds to get my daily amount of Mg. But there are days where I try to keep my calories down and only a supplement will do. And skipping Mg too often is a potential danger, as been already pointed out.

Summary: Potassium and Magnesium are the toughest! If you manage to get them on a daily basis, you'll probably find that you've got no problem getting any of your other nutrients and meeting your daily goals.

Foods highest in Magnesium, and lowest in Calories

nutritiondata.self.com has this screening tool that sifts through a huge database to find foods that fit the criteria you specify.

Hi there Rubystars

I am new to this site and this is my first post, hopefully I get off on the right foot and give you some helpful info :)

Seeds are a massive source of magnesium, and you don't need to eat an awful lot of them either.

Pumpkin and squash seeds - 1 oz gets you 151 mg, but there are 153 calories in this.

Black beans and spinach are both good sources, and will not bother your calorie intake at all.

Spinach - 100 g of boiled spinach gets you 87 mg of magnesium.

It's a pain about the nuts as there are so many of them that have a high volume of magnesium, amongst other nutrients. I would have to say eating these, pecans, peanuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, cashew nuts, cashew nuts, pistachio nuts, brazil nuts, in smaller doses to make a decent contribution to your magnesium intake, along with some seeds, the veg mentioned and even fish like halibut and haddock, is the best way to go.

My source for this info was a really helpful site I use for calories and nutrients: List of foods high magnesium

Rubystars...
Lot's of "Top 10 lists" here -- might help: Top 10 Foods Highest in Magnesium

Top 10 for Magnesium:
#1 at 230% DV -- Bran (Rice, Wheat, and Oat)
#2 at 174% DV -- Dried Herbs (Coriander)
#3 at 134% DV -- Squash, Pumpkin, and Watermelon Seeds (Dried or Roasted)
#4 at 125% DV -- Cocoa Powder (Dark Chocolate) [Yet another excuse to pound more chocolate!!]
#5 at 92% DV -- Flax, Sesame Seeds, and Sesame Butter (Tahini)
#6 at 94% DV -- Brazil Nuts
#7 at 81% DV -- Sunflower Seeds
#8 at 72% DV -- Almonds and Cashews (Mixed nuts, Pine Nuts)
#9 at 61% DV -- Molasses
#10 at 57% DV -- Dry Roasted Soybeans (Edamame)

Looks like nuts, seeds, and spices -- guess you wanna eat like a bird, literally.

Magnesium is an essential mineral for human nutrition. Magnesium in the body serves several important metabolic functions. It plays a role in the production and transport of energy. It is also important for the contraction and relaxation of muscles. Magnesium is involved in the synthesis of protein, and it assists in the functioning of certain enzymes in the body.
Green vegetables such as spinach are good sources of magnesium because the center of the chlorophyll molecule (which gives green vegetables their color) contains magnesium. Some beans, peas, nuts, seeds, and whole, unrefined grains are also good sources of magnesium. Some food rich in magnesium are broccoli.
Beans, black,
Broccoli, raw
Nuts, peanuts