Brigid TitgemeierBeingBrigid Functional Nutrition · Transforming Women's Health Using Food as Medicine

Why More Than 50% of U.S. Adults Are Magnesium Deficient

26 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this video excerpt, Brigid Titgemeier explains that over half of U.S. adults fail to meet daily magnesium requirements, making magnesium deficiency one of the most common nutrient shortfalls she has observed in her 12 years of clinical practice. She outlines the primary contributors: a Western diet rich in processed foods and low in magnesium‑dense foods; heightened magnesium demand during chronic stress; gastrointestinal disorders that either increase need or impair absorption; common medications such as proton‑pump inhibitors, diuretics, and certain antibiotics that accelerate loss or hinder uptake; and loss through sweat for those who are highly active, use saunas, or otherwise perspire heavily. The segment emphasizes that these factors collectively raise the risk of deficiency and underscore the importance of monitoring magnesium status.

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More than half of adults in the United States don't meet the needs for magnesium, putting them at a greater risk for deficiency. So magnesium deficiency is extremely common, one of the most common nutrient deficiencies that I have seen in my 12 years of clinical practice. There's a few reasons for why people could be set up for higher levels of deficiency. One is that the Western diet as a whole tends to be low in magnesium-rich foods and high in processed foods. There has been studies that show that when we have higher levels of stress or we're chronically stressed, that it increases our our need for magnesium. Gastrointestinal conditions can also increase our need for magnesium or decrease the actual absorption of magnesium that's being consumed. Common medications like proton pump inhibitors, diuretics, certain antibiotics can accelerate magnesium loss, or it can also impair absorption. You also lose some magnesium through sweat, making it an important electrolyte to be replacing if you're sweating a lot, you're very physically active, you're in the sauna a lot, etc.