Almonds are the top nut for magnesium, delivering 80 mg per one-ounce serving (about 23 nuts). Cashews come in close behind at 72 mg per ounce, and peanuts provide 49 mg. If you’re willing to count seeds alongside nuts, pumpkin seeds blow them all away at 150 mg per ounce.
Magnesium Content by Nut, Ranked
Here’s how the most common options stack up per one-ounce (28-gram) serving:
- Pumpkin seeds (hulled, roasted): 150 mg
- Almonds (roasted): 80 mg
- Cashews (roasted): 72 mg
- Peanuts (dry roasted): 49 mg
To put those numbers in perspective, most adult women need 310 to 320 mg of magnesium per day, and most adult men need 400 to 420 mg. A single ounce of almonds covers roughly 20 to 25 percent of a woman’s daily requirement. A handful of pumpkin seeds gets you close to half.
Brazil nuts also contain meaningful magnesium, but they come with a caveat. Each Brazil nut packs 68 to 91 micrograms of selenium, and the safe upper limit for selenium is 400 micrograms per day. That means eating more than four or five Brazil nuts daily could push you into risky territory for selenium toxicity. If you’re eating them regularly for magnesium, keep the count low.
Raw vs. Roasted: Does It Matter?
Not for magnesium. The mineral is highly stable during processing, and roasting (whether dry or oil-roasted) doesn’t reduce magnesium content in any meaningful way. Minor weight changes from moisture loss during roasting can technically shift the numbers per gram, but those differences fall within the normal variation between individual nuts. Buy whichever form you prefer and you’ll get the same magnesium benefit.
Why You Don’t Absorb All of It
Nuts contain phytic acid, a compound that binds to minerals like magnesium, iron, zinc, and calcium in your digestive tract and reduces how much your body actually takes in. This binding only happens when phytic acid and these minerals are present in the same meal, so it’s not a blanket problem across your whole diet.
If you want to get more magnesium out of your nuts, preparation methods can help. Soaking nuts overnight in water, sprouting them, or fermenting them all break down phytic acid and free up more of the minerals for absorption. Cooking has the same effect. That said, nuts still deliver plenty of magnesium even without these steps. The phytic acid reduces absorption somewhat, but it doesn’t eliminate it.
How Much Magnesium You Actually Need
The recommended daily intake varies by age and sex:
- Women 19 to 30: 310 mg
- Women 31 and older: 320 mg
- Men 19 to 30: 400 mg
- Men 31 and older: 420 mg
Most people don’t hit these targets through diet alone, which is part of why magnesium-rich snacks like nuts are so useful. Magnesium plays a role in over 300 enzyme reactions in your body. It’s essential for muscle and nerve function, blood sugar regulation, and blood pressure control. Low intake over time is linked to higher risks of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis.
Building a Magnesium-Rich Snack Habit
One ounce of nuts is a small handful, roughly what fits in a cupped palm. That’s a realistic daily snack, not an ambitious dietary overhaul. Mixing almonds and cashews gets you about 150 mg of magnesium in two ounces, which is a meaningful dent in your daily target for around 330 calories.
Pumpkin seeds are worth adding to the rotation even though they’re technically seeds, not nuts. At 150 mg per ounce, they’re nearly twice as magnesium-dense as almonds. Toss them into yogurt, salads, or oatmeal, and you’ve turned a light meal into a significant magnesium source without changing what you eat in any dramatic way.
Pairing nuts with other magnesium-rich foods makes reaching your daily target easier. Dark chocolate, spinach, black beans, and whole grains all contribute. A trail mix of almonds, pumpkin seeds, and dark chocolate chips is one of the most magnesium-dense snacks you can assemble from grocery store ingredients.