How to Hit Your Daily Magnesium Target with Food

Quick Takeaway

  • Aim for 310–420 mg/day total
  • Prioritize food sources first
  • Use supplements only if needed

I’ve been a user of supplements for a while. I think they’ve helped me in many ways when I had some issues that required a little bit more nutrition. There are some nutrients that I continue to take just because I find that they’re hard to get in food or I’ve had difficulty finding them in food. But as I study foods and nutrition in regards to wellness, I’ve slowly started to wean off of supplements and try and find my nutrients in the foods that I eat.

Today I realized that I had run out of my magnesium supplement. I thought to myself, “What foods do I have available where I can actually get my nutritional needs met through real food?” So I went on a mission to do some research on that and this is what I found out.

First of all, how much magnesium do I really need on a daily basis? So I asked the question: How much magnesium do I need every day? 

It turns out the amount of magnesium you need each day depends mostly on age and sex. Here are the standard recommendations from the National Institutes of Health:

  • Women 19+: ~320 mg/day
  • Pregnancy: 350 – 360 mg/day
  • Men 19+: ~400 mg/day

The best discovery of the day was that I could reach my magnesium requirements with some of the foods that I already love:

  • pumpkin seeds (~150 mg per ounce)
  • Spinach (~150 mg per cooked cup)
  • dark chocolate (~65 mg per ounce per 1 ounce serving)
  • Legumes, like chickpeas (~40-80 mg per ½ cup serving)
  • Add in some whole grains like a cup of brown rice (~ 80 mg per cup), and you can easily hit daily targets for magnesium. 

How you can add magnesium to your meals:

Here’s an example of meals that can help you have a magnesium-rich day:

Breakfast

  • Oatmeal (1 cup cooked) → 60 mg
  • Pumpkin seeds (1 oz, 1/4 cup or ~3 tablespoons) → 150 mg

Subtotal: 210 mg

Lunch

  • Spinach salad (1 cup cooked spinach) → 150 mg
  • Chickpeas (½ cup) → 40 mg

Subtotal: 190 mg
Running total: 400 mg

Snack

  • Dark chocolate (1 oz, 70–85%
  • One large square (1 oz) or roughly 1/4 of a standard 4 oz bar) → 65 mg

Running total: 465 mg

Dinner

  • Salmon (3 oz) → 25 mg
  • Brown rice (1 cup cooked) → 85 mg

Daily total: 575 mg

Sources – For deeper exploration, check out the sources below from peer-reviewed research, trusted health institutions, or other evidence-based articles: