Magnesium is key for your muscles, nerves, heart, and overall health, and supplements can help fill in any gaps. But some foods and drinks can make it harder for your body to absorb magnesium or even increase magnesium loss, so timing and pairing matter.

1. Spinach

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Spinach is packed with nutrients, but it's also high in oxalates. Oxalates bind to magnesium in your gut, so less is absorbed into your body. Studies show magnesium absorption from spinach is lower than from low-oxalate greens, like kale.

Spinach also has phytates, which may slightly interfere with magnesium absorption, though they affect minerals like iron and zinc more strongly.

Cooking or fermenting spinach can reduce these compounds, but to get the most out of it, it’s still best to take your sup

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