The 300mg target (270mg for women)

According to the NHS, men aged 19 to 64 need 300mg of magnesium a day; women in the same age range need 270mg. These are the UK nutrient reference values, and unlike some nutrients, they're not especially difficult to reach. A reasonably varied diet, one that includes wholegrains, nuts, and leafy greens in any quantity, usually gets there.

The shortfalls that do turn up correlate with two patterns: a diet that's very low in vegetables, with processed and fast food making up most of the day, and heavy or regular alcohol intake. The NHS notes that alcohol increases how much magnesium the body excretes, which is a quieter drain than most people realise.

Magnesium isn't routinely tested in standard NHS blood panels, so there's rarely a number to point to. Most of the time it's tracked through diet rather than diagnosis.

Two foods that punch above their weight

If you're looking for the most efficient route to the daily target, two foods stand out for what they deliver relative to their portion size.

The standouts Pumpkin seeds, a 30g handful, contribute a meaningful chunk of the daily target and are easy to scatter over porridge, yoghurt, or a salad without thinking much about it. They're one of the more reliable single-food sources available in a standard weekly shop. Dark chocolate at 70% cocoa or above, even a small square or two, does decent work for its size. The higher the cocoa percentage, the more magnesium it carries, which is one of the few things that genuinely distinguishes high-cocoa dark chocolate from the ordinary kind.

Neither of these needs to become a habit you think about. The point is that if you already eat them, they're carrying more than you might assume.

The everyday heroes

These are the foods that form the actual backbone of daily magnesium intake for most people, because they show up reliably across the week.

Where the regular intake comes from Cooked spinach, an 80g portion, is a solid source. The NHS lists spinach alongside nuts and wholemeal bread as good sources of magnesium. Worth noting: it needs to be cooked to count as an 80g portion in the usual sense. A raw spinach salad at the same weight contains considerably more water and rather less magnesium. Almonds and cashews, a 30g handful of either, sit in a similar range to pumpkin seeds. Wholegrain bread, a couple of slices, adds up more than most people expect over the course of a day. Brown rice, a standard cooked portion, contributes a useful amount and most people eat it in portions large enough for it to matter.

"A varied day's eating, with wholegrains and a handful of nuts somewhere in it, usually clears the target before you've tried."

What doesn't move the number much

This is the honest part. Lettuce, cucumber, and many of the watery salad greens that look like healthy choices don't contribute much magnesium. They're genuinely good to eat, but they're not the route to the daily target. The water content dilutes the mineral density, and portions rarely get large enough to compensate.

The same applies to many foods marketed as superfoods for general health. Blueberries, for instance, are a worthwhile food, but their magnesium contribution per typical portion is small. If someone told you to eat more spinach to boost magnesium and left the portion guidance out, that's where the advice breaks down. A raw spinach side salad at 30g is a different thing from 80g of cooked spinach. The serving size matters more than the food choice in many cases.

On the "magnesium for sleep" question

The supplement market is particularly loud on this one. You'll see magnesium supplements positioned as a sleep remedy with considerable confidence. It's worth separating the food side of the conversation from the supplement side.

What the food evidence does support is that meeting your daily magnesium target through a varied diet is sensible, and that some people who feel restless or crampy at night are genuinely short on it. Whether a supplement adds anything on top of a diet that already clears the target is a different and less settled question.

If you want to try the food side for a couple of weeks before considering a supplement, the foods in this piece are the place to start. If you do consider a supplement, the NHS notes that taking up to 400mg a day of magnesium from supplements is unlikely to cause harm, but doses above that can cause diarrhoea. A pharmacist is the right first conversation, not a blog.

A short, honest note

This page is about food sources, not clinical guidance. If you think you have a magnesium deficiency, or you're experiencing symptoms that concern you, speak to your GP. They can give you a proper assessment. We're a food tracking tool, not a dietitian.