Improving Sleep Health Through Magnesium Supplementation

Research has shown that there is a close relationship between sleep and diet. It has been shown that a vitamin and mineral rich diet is related to better sleep. This relationship can go both ways as poor sleep can also impact on your diet. Specifically, low magnesium levels have been associated with insomnia and adding magnesium to the diet of an individual with insomnia can help with their symptoms. Whilst this is known about insomnia, far less is known about the impact of magnesium on general sleep health. In other words, people who don't have a sleep disorder but could be sleeping better generally.

The aim of this study is to determine whether supplementing with Magnesium in those people who are deficient over a period of 8 weeks improves overall sleep health.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Sleep Health
• Intervention / Treatment: Dietary supplement: Magnesium 250 mg

Detailed Description

This study will be an open label trial 60 participants will consume 250mg of magnesium supplement daily over a 56-day period. During their participation in this study participants will visit the Sleep Lab on three (3) occasions to pick up or drop off an actiwatch and receive the supplement (visit 2).

Informed consent will be obtained online and be followed by an online demographic screener, sleep screener (SDSCL-25), chronotype screener (MCTQ, HO), standard health screener and 3-day food diary.

On visit 1 participants will receive an actiwatch and undergo a 7 night sleep monitoring period where remote assessment of sleep via Actigraphy watch will be completed (baseline).

On visit 2, 7-10 days following visit 1, participants will arrive at the lab return their actigraphy watch and be provided with a new actiwatch and the supplement. Participants will provide a detailed recall of their diet in the past 24 hours and complete a Gastrointestinal symptoms questionnaire - The questionnaire asks 11 questions, plus a 12th open-ended question, about gastrointestinal experiences, with 5 possible ratings: 'not at all' (score of 0), 'A little' (score of 1), 'a moderate amount' (score of 2), 'quite a lot' (score of 3) and 'a severe amount' (score of 4). Scores can range between 0-44 with a higher score indicating a more negative experience of symptoms.

On visit 3, 56 days following, visit 2, participants will return the actiwatch and any supplements left over then be debriefed and participant payment details will be taken to facilitate their participant payment (£50).

Note: Timings given here are approximates for illustrative purposes and may be subject to change due to unexpected delays.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 65
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Newcastle, United Kingdom, NE1 8ST
    • Northumbria Sleep Research, Northumbria University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy male or female adult between the ages of 18 and 39 years of age.
• Have a stable sleep/wake schedule (bedtime between 9pm and 1am and wake time between 6am and 10am at least 5 nights per week)
• Are a fluent English speaker
• Diet which is low in magnesium
• Self-identify as a poor sleeper (i.e. poor sleep quality or unrefreshing sleep).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Have symptoms of COVID-19
• Display evidence of current or recent sleep disorders (e.g. sleep apnea, insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders); an initial screening for sleep disorders will be conducted using the Sleep Disorders Screening Checklist - 25 (SDS-CL). Have a history of seizures or epilepsy
• Have recently (within the last 12 weeks) had an infection and/or used antibiotic medication
• Are pregnant, seeking to become pregnant or lactating
• Are a shift worker or a recent history of shift work in the previous 6 months
• Are participating in other intervention research trials
• Have experienced travel across multiple time zones within the last three months or will be experiencing travel across multiple time zones during the study.
• Have recently been diagnosed and/or treated for a mental health or substance use disorder.
• Are currently unwell with anything that impacts sleep.
• Are taking any medication which has a sedative effect
• Are currently using medication which affects the central nervous system.
• Are currently misusing alcohol or drugs.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Magnesium 250 mg; Participants will consume 250mg of magnesium supplement daily over a 56-day period.	Dietary supplement: Magnesium 250 mg; Participants will consume 250 mg of magnesium once a day preferably with a meal

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Actigraphy - Sleep onset latency	recorded minutes taken from intention to sleep to sleep initiation	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption
Actigraphy - Wake after sleep onset (WASO)	recorded minutes awake during the entire sleep period following sleep onset	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption
Actigraphy - Sleep efficiency	ratio of the total time spent asleep (total sleep time) in a night compared to the total amount of time spent in bed (percentage)	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption
Sleep Diary -Sleep Latency	how long, in minutes, the individual felt it took them to fall asleep after intending to sleep	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption
Sleep Diary - Wake After Sleep Onset (WASO)	how long, in minutes, the individual reports being awake during the night after sleep initiation	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption
Actigraphy - total sleep time	recorded minutes asleep over entire sleep period	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption
Sleep Diary - total sleep time	how long, in minutes, the individual reports being asleep during the night between initiation and termination of sleep, accounting for nocturnal wake periods	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption
Sleep Diary - Sleep efficiency	Total Sleep Time divided by Time in Bed x 100, expressed as a percentage	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption
Dietary assessment- 7 day dietary recall	Participants will complete 7 day dietary recall questionnaire	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption
Gastrointestinal symptoms questionnaire	When completing the assessment, participants will answer in relation to their experiences in the previous 7 days. The questionnaire asks 11 questions, plus a 12th open-ended question, about gastrointestinal experiences, with 5 possible ratings; 'not at all' (score of 0), 'A little' (score of 1), 'a moderate amount' (score of 2), 'quite a lot' (score of 3) and 'a severe amount' (score of 4). Scores can range between 0-44 with a higher score indicating a more negative experience of symptoms	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption
Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7- Item Scale scores (GAD-7)	The GAD-7 is a self-reported questionnaire for screening and severity measuring of generalized anxiety disorder. It contains 7 items with answers ranging from "Not at all" to "Nearly every day".	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9)	The PHQ9 will screen for depression symptoms. It is a multipurpose instrument for screening, diagnosing, monitoring and measuring the severity of depression: It incorporates DSM-IV depression diagnostic criteria with other leading major depressive symptoms into a brief self-report tool.	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ)	Self-rated scale to assess individual phase of entrainment on work and work-free days, developed in ages 6 to > 65 years; tool to collect primary sleep times, such as bed- and rise-times, plus the clock time of becoming fully awake as well as sleep latency and inertia, in addition to other time points and rate themselves as one of the seven chronotypes.	Change from baseline following 56 days of supplement consumption

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Northumbria University
• Collaborators: Unilever R&D

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 15, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 14, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 14, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): January 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 22, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 14, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: nutrition, sleep, magnesium
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Inorganic Chemicals; Elements; Metals, Light; Metals; Metals, Alkaline Earth; Magnesium
• Other Study ID Numbers: 54246

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No