Ever wonder why people say to take magnesium before bed or b-vitamins for stress?

S-Adenosyl Methionine (SAM) is a compound found in nearly all tissues in the body that plays a critical role in breaking down catecholamines (neurotransmitters/stress hormones).

You need B-vitamins and magnesium to generate enough SAM. Thus if we are deficient in any of these we undermine our ability to degrade stress hormones that can keep us jacked up for longer.

If you’ve noticed over the years you’re more sensitive to anxiety and respond poorly to stress by taking a long time to calm down, it may be because of a B-vitamin/magnesium deficiency.

biochemical graph
Credit: Ben Lynch

As you can see in the diagram ‘MAO’ and ‘COMT’ are enzymes involved in dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine metabolism. When we experience acute or chronic stress COMT and MAO break down these hormones so they don’t build up for too long. But these enzymes need nutrients we get from our food like meat (clams, liver) and green leafy vegetables/pumpkin seeds. Let’s be honest, most people don’t get enough and are nutrient deficient.

  • NAD needs B3.
  • FAD needs B2.
  • SAM needs B12, zinc, magnesium.

If you can’t make SAM due to not having enough of its nutritional cofactors you will put pressure on other pathways like MAO and COMT and use a lot of B-vitamins in the process to compensate.

When there is a nutrient deficiency it’s like a road that becomes blocked, the traffic has to be distributed elsewhere. This causes traffic to build up (other nutritional resources get depleted) and car accidents are more likely to happen (adverse symptom, stress and illness).

Some people are naturally NOT good under high-stress situations and take a long time to calm down into a parasympathetic state. This is one probable common nutritional biochemical explanation why.

But let’s discuss and summarise some additional explanations…

#1 Sufficient Nutrient Cofactor Support To Support COMT/MAO Pathways

  • There are physiological reasons why some people may be predisposed to being able to handle stress and manage the surge of catecholamines like adrenalin.
  • When we have excess dopamine, noradrenaline or adrenaline COMT is the enzyme that degrades catecholamines. But COMT is depdendent on SAM and Mg. We need B3, B2, B9 and B12 to make SAM. If we are deficient in these B-vitamins and Mg we’re gonna have a really bad time at managing stress and getting into a parasympathetic state.
  • If you do not have adequate SAM resources you won’t be able to offload and metabolise the build of these catecholamines during high-stress situations.

#2 Fast Running COMT/MAO

  • Whether you’re a fighter or emergency responder you need to be able to stay calm under high sympathetic activity and stress.
  • Some people have fast MAO/COMPT which means they will metabolise these neurotransmitters like dopamine and catecholamines really quickly.
  • They may have a lower mood/temperament.
  • Thus giving them the co-factors the COMPT/MAO may be accelerating the offload of these neurotransmitters even further.
  • This explains how giving someone magnesium and B-vitamins can make people feel worse as it lowers mood, anxiety and even depression.
  • It may result in dopamine being metabolised really quickly thus they may struggle more than others to seek things out (reward and motivation)
  • Fast COMT/MAO metabolisers by default may have lower mood/temperament.
  • So giving these people more co-factors like B-vitamins and Mg may be the last thing you want to do because it could worsen mood and trigger apathy and lower motivation through enhancing the breakdown of dopamine, adrenalin etc.

#3 Slow Running COMT/MAO

  • This is the opposite of the above.
  • It’s analogous to choking the funnel for catecholamines and neurotransmitters to be metabolised.
  • The COMT/MAO enzymes are just running too slow.
  • In these cases giving these types of people, more of the co-factors for SAM (B-Vitamins & Mg) may help that sluggish enzyme normalise.
  • These people usually respond the most favourably to supplementation.

As you can see, indiscriminate supplementation without considerations of biochemistry can make some people worse.

Plant-based eaters are probable to be deficient in B-vitamins. Meat only eaters are probable to be deficient in magnesium with 50% of the US population not meeting adequate intake levels.

Magnesium and B-vitamins have radical effects on transforming someone’s ability to manage stress. It’s a good idea to pay attention to them.