With heavy alcohol intake, there can be a loss of magnesium from tissues and increased urinary loss (Pasqualetti et al., 1987; Shane and Flink, 1991). Chronic alcohol abuse has been reported to deplete the total body supply of magnesium (Vandemergel and Simon, 2015).
Background. Magnesium (Mg) deficiency is common among alcoholics [1–3]. Even in cases with normal serum Mg levels marked intracellular deficiency may be present. Animal studies have shown that Mg deficiency aggravates the hepatic damage caused by alcohol [4].