What Foods Contain Magnesium? The Complete UK Guide to Magnesium-Rich Foods

The foods highest in magnesium are pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, almonds, spinach, cashews, black beans, edamame, dark chocolate and brown rice. A single ounce of pumpkin seeds provides around 156 mg, roughly 42% of the UK Nutrient Reference Value, making seeds and nuts the most concentrated everyday sources. Below is the full ranked chart, daily targets for UK adults, absorption factors, deficiency warning signs, and a one-day meal plan built entirely around food.

Magnesium is involved in more than 300 enzyme reactions in the body, supporting normal muscle and nerve function, energy production, blood glucose control, blood pressure regulation and bone structure. Despite how essential it is, national dietary surveys consistently find that a meaningful share of adults, particularly older men and teenagers, take in less than the recommended amount from food. The good news is that magnesium is widely distributed across plant and animal foods, so a varied diet built around wholegrains, legumes, nuts, seeds and leafy vegetables will comfortably cover most people's needs without a supplement.

Quick Answer: The 15 Foods Highest in Magnesium

The table below ranks common foods by magnesium content per typical serving, with the percentage of the UK/EU Nutrient Reference Value (NRV) each one provides. The NRV for magnesium used on UK food labels is 375 mg per day. Figures are drawn from USDA FoodData Central via the US National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements.

*NRV = Nutrient Reference Value (375 mg/day), the figure UK and EU food labels use to calculate percentages. It is not the same as the Reference Nutrient Intake used for dietary planning (see the next section). Source: USDA FoodData Central, cited via NIH Office of Dietary Supplements Magnesium Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.

Highest magnesium foods per 100 g

Because serving sizes vary so much between a handful of seeds and half a cup of beans, it's also useful to compare foods on a like-for-like per-100g basis. On that measure, nuts and seeds pull even further ahead:

Per-100g figures are calculated from the standard serving values in the table above (1 oz = 28.35 g); dark chocolate and pumpkin seed figures are consistent with published USDA per-100g values.

How Much Magnesium Do You Actually Need Per Day? (UK Guidelines)

In the UK, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition sets the Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) for magnesium at 300 mg per day for adult men and 270 mg per day for adult women. This is the figure dietitians use to assess whether someone's diet is likely to be adequate. Food labels, by contrast, use the EU-derived Nutrient Reference Value of 375 mg per day to calculate the "% of your daily value" figures you see on packaging. That's a single, higher reference point applied to everyone regardless of sex, used purely for label consistency rather than individual planning.

Requirements shift a little across life stages. Teenagers aged 14-18 need slightly more than adults of the same sex to support growth, and pregnancy modestly raises requirements as well. For most healthy adults, hitting the RNI through food alone is entirely realistic: two servings of nuts or seeds, a portion of leafy greens, a wholegrain side and a serving of legumes across a day will typically clear 270-300 mg without any deliberate calculation.

Magnesium-Rich Foods By Category

Rather than treating the chart above as the whole picture, it helps to know which food groups to reach for day to day. Below is a fuller breakdown by category, so you can build magnesium into meals you'd cook anyway rather than chasing a single "superfood".

Nuts and seeds

This is the single richest category. Pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flaxseed, almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts and sunflower seeds are all strong sources, and a small daily handful (roughly 30 g) added to porridge, yoghurt or salads is one of the easiest ways to move the needle. Peanut butter, being ground peanuts, carries a similar profile in smaller amounts per spoonful.

Leafy greens and vegetables

Spinach is the standout vegetable source, particularly cooked, since wilting concentrates the nutrients into a smaller volume. Other leafy greens (chard, kale), broccoli, and potatoes eaten with their skin on all contribute meaningfully, even if their per-serving numbers are lower than seeds and nuts.

Legumes and pulses

Black beans, kidney beans and edamame (whole soybeans) are excellent, inexpensive sources that also bring fibre and plant protein to the plate. Tofu, made from soybeans, follows the same pattern and is a useful option for anyone eating plant-based.

Wholegrains and fortified cereals

Brown rice, oats, wholemeal bread and shredded wheat all outperform their refined counterparts by a wide margin, because the milling process that produces white flour and white rice strips out the magnesium-rich germ and bran. Many breakfast cereals are also fortified with magnesium and other minerals, which is worth checking on the nutrition panel.

Magnesium-rich fruits

Fruit isn't a concentrated source of magnesium the way nuts or seeds are, but bananas, avocado, raisins and dried figs each add a useful few milligrams and are easy to eat daily. Avocado in particular pairs magnesium with healthy fats and fibre, making it a good addition to a wholegrain toast or salad.

Dairy, soya milk and magnesium in milk

A 250 ml cup of cow's milk provides around 27 mg of magnesium, about 7% of the UK NRV. It's a modest but steady contribution if you drink it regularly. Plain yoghurt provides a comparable amount per pot. Soya milk is somewhat higher, at around 61 mg per cup, making it a reasonable swap for anyone increasing plant-based intake.

Fish and meat

Oily fish such as salmon and white fish such as halibut both contain useful amounts of magnesium alongside their other nutritional benefits (omega-3s, protein, vitamin D). Chicken breast and lean beef contain smaller amounts, useful as part of the overall picture rather than a primary source.

Dark chocolate and other sources

Dark chocolate with a high cocoa percentage (70% or above) is a strong source of magnesium in its own right, alongside cocoa powder. Tap, mineral and bottled waters also contain magnesium, though the amount varies enormously by brand and source, from under 1 mg per litre to over 120 mg per litre. It's worth checking the label if you drink a particular mineral water regularly.

Why You Don't Absorb All the Magnesium You Eat

The magnesium content listed on a nutrition label or in the tables above isn't the same as what your body actually takes up. On average, only around 30-40% of dietary magnesium is absorbed in the gut, with the rest passing through unused. Absorption is also affected by what else is on your plate: very high intakes of supplemental zinc can interfere with magnesium uptake, and the phytic acid found in raw wholegrains and legumes can bind some magnesium, though cooking, soaking and sprouting reduce this effect substantially. This is one reason a food-first, varied diet tends to work better in practice than fixating on a single high-magnesium ingredient.

Signs You Might Not Be Getting Enough Magnesium

True magnesium deficiency caused purely by low food intake is uncommon in otherwise healthy people, because the kidneys are efficient at limiting how much magnesium is lost in urine when intake is low. Early signs, when they do appear, tend to be non-specific: reduced appetite, nausea, fatigue and general weakness. If a shortfall continues or is caused by an underlying condition rather than diet alone, it can progress to numbness or tingling, muscle cramps and contractions, personality changes, an irregular heartbeat, and in severe cases seizures. Because these symptoms overlap with many other conditions, a GP blood test is the only reliable way to confirm low magnesium status rather than self-diagnosing from symptoms alone.

Certain groups are more likely to run low regardless of how well they eat: people with Crohn's disease, coeliac disease or other conditions that cause chronic diarrhoea or fat malabsorption; people with type 2 diabetes, who lose more magnesium in urine as blood glucose rises; people with long-term alcohol dependence; older adults, whose gut absorption falls and kidney losses rise with age; and anyone on long-term proton pump inhibitors or loop/thiazide diuretics, both of which can deplete magnesium over time. If you fall into one of these groups, it's worth raising magnesium specifically with a GP or pharmacist rather than assuming diet changes alone will fix it.

Can You Get Too Much Magnesium From Food?

No. Excess magnesium from food and drink isn't a realistic health risk for people with normal kidney function, because the kidneys simply excrete what the body doesn't need. The risk profile changes with supplements and medicines, which deliver a concentrated, isolated dose rather than magnesium bound up in a wider food matrix. High-dose supplements can cause diarrhoea, nausea and cramping, and the UK Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals advises against exceeding 400 mg per day of supplemental magnesium; the equivalent US guidance (Tolerable Upper Intake Level) sets the ceiling for supplemental magnesium at 350 mg per day for adults. This is also why products like Milk of Magnesia work as a laxative rather than a nutritional supplement: a standard dose delivers around 500 mg of elemental magnesium, well above the supplemental safety ceiling. That's precisely the point of an osmotic laxative: most of it isn't meant to be absorbed.

If you take regular medication, it's worth knowing that magnesium can interact with a few common drug classes: it can reduce the absorption of oral bisphosphonates used for osteoporosis (take at least two hours apart), can bind with tetracycline and quinolone antibiotics, and diuretics and long-term proton pump inhibitor use can themselves affect magnesium levels. None of this is a reason to avoid magnesium-rich food, but it's a good reason to mention your diet and any supplements to a GP or pharmacist if you're on regular medication.

Food vs Supplements: When Magnesium Glycinate or Other Forms Come In

For most people, food should be the first port of call, and the NHS position is consistent with this: prioritise dietary sources, and use supplements only where diet clearly falls short. Where a supplement is appropriate, for example alongside a GP's advice for a confirmed low intake or a specific condition, the form matters, because different magnesium compounds are absorbed to different degrees. Forms that dissolve well in liquid, such as magnesium citrate, lactate and glycinate (magnesium bisglycinate), tend to be better absorbed than magnesium oxide or magnesium sulfate. Magnesium glycinate in particular is often chosen because it's gentler on digestion than other forms, making it a common option for people who've found other magnesium supplements caused loose stools. That said, this article focuses on food sources; if you're comparing supplement forms and doses in detail, that's worth treating as a separate decision made with a pharmacist rather than a straight swap for the food guidance above.

A Simple One-Day Meal Plan Built Around Magnesium

To show how easily the daily target is met through ordinary meals rather than supplements, here's a realistic day that comfortably clears the 270-300 mg UK RNI for most adults:

Swap in black beans, edamame or a square of dark chocolate on days you skip fish, and the total holds up just as well for a vegetarian or vegan pattern.

Frequently Asked Questions

What food has the most magnesium?

Pumpkin seeds top the list of everyday foods, at around 156 mg per 1 oz (28 g) serving, roughly 550 mg per 100 g. Chia seeds, almonds and cashews are close behind.

How much magnesium per day for a woman?

270 mg per day, per the UK Reference Nutrient Intake, rising slightly during pregnancy and the teenage years.

How much magnesium per day for a man?

300 mg per day, per the UK Reference Nutrient Intake.

Is milk a good source of magnesium?

It's a modest one: around 27 mg per 250 ml cup, about 7% of the UK NRV. Useful if you drink it daily, but not a concentrated source compared with nuts, seeds or legumes.

Can magnesium-rich food help with sleep?

Magnesium supports normal nervous system and muscle function, and some studies associate low magnesium status with poorer sleep. Evidence that increasing intake helps sleep in people who are already getting enough is limited, so it's best viewed as one factor among several rather than a standalone fix.

Is 500 mg of magnesium too much?

Not a concern from food. As a supplement dose, it exceeds the UK guidance ceiling of 400 mg/day and the US Tolerable Upper Intake Level of 350 mg/day for supplemental magnesium, and may cause digestive upset. Check with a GP or pharmacist before taking that much as a supplement.

What are the best magnesium-rich foods for vegans?

Pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, almonds, cashews, black beans, edamame, tofu, soya milk, oats, brown rice and dark chocolate all fit a vegan diet and are strong magnesium sources.

Featured Product: Wellgard Mag 1200 Magnesium Bisglycinate