Magnesium is one of those minerals your body uses everywhere. It is involved in more than 300 enzyme systems and plays a role in energy production, muscle function, nerve signaling, blood sugar regulation, blood pressure, protein production, and the formation of DNA and bone.

Your muscles and nervous system rely heavily on magnesium. It helps regulate the movement of calcium and potassium across cell membranes, which is essential for nerve impulses, muscle contraction, and maintaining a normal heart rhythm. This is one reason magnesium is so closely associated with muscle function and relaxation.

Magnesium is also involved in how your body creates and uses energy. It participates in the processes that turn the food you eat into usable energy, including the production and use of ATP—the molecule your cells use to power pretty much everything they do. It also contributes to protein synthesis and the production of DNA and RNA.

Your bones contain roughly half of the magnesium in your body, and magnesium contributes to normal bone structure and mineral metabolism. It also plays a role in blood glucose regulation and the body's response to insulin.

And then there is the nervous system. Magnesium helps regulate nerve signaling and is involved in the balance of electrical activity throughout the body. When magnesium intake is chronically inadequate, symptoms can eventually include fatigue, weakness, muscle cramps, numbness, tingling, and abnormal heart rhythms.

The important takeaway? Magnesium isn't a one-trick mineral. It is a foundational nutrient involved in hundreds of processes that keep your muscles moving, your nerves communicating, your cells producing energy, and your body functioning normally.

Most people can get magnesium through foods such as leafy greens, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains. But dietary intake can fall short, and certain health conditions and medications can affect magnesium absorption or increase magnesium losses.