I have been participating in this blog since 2010, and after fourteen years, I hit my 345th post and I still seem to have an endless supply of articles. I can thank Facebook for most of them. Pseudoscience is forever emerging. Today’s article was referred to me, and I have to admit, I had never heard of magnesium oil until I saw this:
Facebook won’t let me embed the reel itself, but just the guy rubbing his foot. There’s a lot to take away here – even ignoring the antiperspirant/aluminum angle. The main claims seem to be:
- Body odor is a sign of magnesium deficiency
- 3/4 of the waste in your lymph drains through your left armpit
- rubbing magnesium oil will eliminate body odor
- magnesium oil will help your body “detox properly”
- magnesium oil will restore your magnesium levels
A quick internet search and TikTok browsing suggests that magnesium oil is being sold as a sort of panacea. Not only does it help with sleep, it also apparently helps with muscle tone, skin conditions, and yes, detoxification.
The Role of Magnesium
Magnesium is the most abundant mineral in the body and is essential for hundreds of cellular functions, including DNA and RNA synthesis, muscle contraction, blood pressure, insulin metabolism, and more. We get magnesium from our food. Normal absorption is about 24%–76% of what is ingested, varying depending on whether the body is deficient. The main sources of magnesium in food are water (especially if you have “hard” water), chlorophyll from leafy vegetables, then nuts, whole grains, and vegetables. In general, foods high in fiber tend to be good sources of magnesium. Nutritional research suggests that many “Western” diets provide lower than recommended intakes of magnesium.
Our bodies contain about 24-25g of magnesium, which is evenly distributed between bones and tissues. Magnesium on the surface of the bone can be released quickly to maintain magnesium levels throughout the body. The elimination of magnesium is done by the kidneys.
Magnesium supplements, in contrast, are often poorly absorbed. Because these products often cause diarrhea, magnesium products such as magnesium citrate are used primarily for this reason. Its use as a laxative is one of the medical conditions where magnesium supplements are visibly effective. That and treating low magnesium levels. Even conditions where magnesium supplements are widely taken, such as muscle cramps or insomnia, are not supported by convincing evidence. As a result, there is little role for supplementation where there is no documented deficiency, or in cases where a medical condition (eg, celiac disease) or medication (eg, proton pump inhibitor) may interfere with the absorption of magnesium from food.
Topical Magnesium’s Achilles’ Heel: Absorption
Although there may be some health benefits to taking magnesium supplements by mouth, there is a lack of evidence to show that magnesium is absorbed to any meaningful degree when applied to the skin. This makes sense, because the skin is an excellent barrier against radiation, chemicals and diseases, while protecting against the loss of water and electrolytes. For magnesium to be absorbed, it will have to enter the stratum coneum – 15-20 layers of water cells. Drug absorption can only occur with fat-soluble drugs – not ionized chemicals such as magnesium chloride solution (the standard form found in topical products). The only way magnesium can be absorbed is through sweat glands or hair follicles. But that’s not the case. Most evidence shows that magnesium is not absorbed through the skin. The one study that seems to be widely cited to “prove” that topical magnesium is effective for fibromyalgia had no control group and did not measure magnesium levels, so it can be discounted as evidence. Another study that looked at neuropathy also lacked a placebo control – so it’s also not misleading.
Another popular source of topical magnesium is epsom salts or magnesium sulfate heptahydrate. The effectiveness of epsom salts has been analyzed extensively by friend-of-the-blog Paul Ingraham, and I encourage you to read his very long article about them. In short, everything you think you know about epsom salts is probably wrong.
Facebook Fact Check
With the above information, it is easy to distinguish this video. In fact, body odor is caused by bacteria on the surface of the skin that break down protein molecules in sweat. Low magnesium is associated with muscle tremors, convulsions, seizures, heart palpitations, and conditions such as low calcium and low potassium. It is not compatible with body odor. The lymphatic system is a network in the body that collects plasma and fluid that has left the capillaries back into the blood. This fluid, called lymph, travels through tubes to one of two main channels where it returns to the bloodstream: the lymphatic channel, and the thoracic channel. Although there are lymph nodes in both armpits, there is no lymph drainage in the left armpit, which is a must-see for anyone with armpits. Given that magnesium oil is not absorbed to any degree, rubbing it on your feet will not have any negative effects on your body or its “detoxifying” abilities. If you have normal functioning kidneys and liver, then you have a well-functioning detoxification system.
Conclusion: No evidence of efficacy
All the anecdotes and videos about the magnesium of the articles cannot contradict physics – magnesium is not absorbed by the skin, so any effects attributed to magnesium oil are placebo. Striving to eat magnesium-rich foods is a good idea, however, and there are some cases where magnesium supplements are medically appropriate.
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