Dietary Magnesium Intake Is Associated With Self-Reported Short Sleep Duration but Not Self-Reported Sleep Disorder

Abstract

Background: Sleep disturbances have become increasingly prevalent in modern society. Research suggests that a deficiency in magnesium (Mg) may contribute to sleep disturbances. This study aims to investigate the association between daily Mg intake and self-reported sleep duration and sleep disorders using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Methods: The study dataset includes participants from five cycles (2009-2018) of NHANES. The associations between Mg intake and sleep duration are analyzed using weighted logistic regression.

Results: Baseline characteristics of 21,840 participants were analyzed. Mg intake was independently associated with sleep duration (OR = 1.07, 95% CI (1.01-1.14), p = 0.024). Higher quartiles of Mg intake from food were associated with normal sleep duration. However, Mg intake from food in participants with self-reported sleep disorders did not differ from those without sleep disorders (OR = 0.96, 95% CI (0.90-1.03), p = 0.238). Among 3923 participants with Mg supplementation data, no significant differences were found between the top and bottom 50% Mg supplementary groups regarding sleep duration or disorders.

Conclusions: Dietary Mg intake is independently associated with self-reported short sleep duration but not with self-reported sleep disorders. Mg supplementation is not associated with either self-reported sleep duration or sleep disorders.

Keywords: magnesium; self‐reported sleep disorders; self‐reported sleep duration.