Magnesium supplements have gone viral in social media wellness circles. The mineral is the “key ingredient in #sleepygirlmocktails”, in which a powder is “stirred into tart cherry juice and prebiotic soda”, creating a “wellness cocktail for anxious millennials”, said Wired. And some people are “popping magnesium glycinate before bed instead of melatonin”, because it “allegedly cures insomnia, constipation and existential dread”.

Why is magnesium so popular?
Magnesium is needed to “regulate our nerves, bones, immune system and blood sugar levels”, said The Independent. It’s responsible for “more than 300 biochemical reactions”, including keeping the heartbeat steady and assisting in the production of energy and protein. The body does not naturally produce magnesium, so we need to get it from food or supplements. Magnesium glycinate capsules are commonly used for sleep issues and anxiety, while magnesium citrate usage is used for constipation relief. 

Nutrients come “in and out of vogue in our society”, a spokesperson for the US Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics told Parents. Magnesium is “having a moment right now”, perhaps because it is an “important nutrient in supporting common health concerns” including sleep, anxiety and PMS. 

Should we be taking the supplements?
For people struggling with “migraines, insomnia or other conditions where research suggests health benefits”, supplements may be worth trying, said Wired, but “first talk to a healthcare professional”. Otherwise, unless you have a magnesium deficiency, “supplements aren’t essential”. Instead, focus on consuming magnesium-rich foods such as legumes, leafy greens, whole grains, nuts, fruits and soy products. Dark chocolate is also a good source.

“Western diets typically have a greater proportion of processed food, where numerous products are mostly refined”, which strips away up to 80% to 90% of the magnesium content, Louise Dye, a professor of nutrition at the University of Sheffield, told the BBC. Supplements can be risky, however. While the kidneys can eliminate excess magnesium from food, high doses from supplements can result in diarrhoea, nausea and abdominal cramping. Other symptoms may include low blood pressure, thirst, drowsiness, muscle weakness and slow or shallow breathing. Extremely high doses can lead to irregular heartbeats or even cause the heart to stop altogether, according to experts.

There are three “all-time difficult gigs”, said Jonathan Maitland in The Spectator: prime minister, England football manager and director-general of the BBC. The final role may just be “The Most Impossible In The World”. And unlike the other two, there are no “potential big wins”, only “potential catastrophes”.

Now, the next person to be handed the poisoned chalice has been named: Matt Brittin. The former president of Google in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, who is also a former Great Britain rowing bronze medallist, is set to take the reins following Tim Davie’s resignation. 

‘Knows diddly squat’
Just what the BBC doesn’t need, another leftie, said Robin Aitken in The Telegraph. Brittin was appointed non-executive director of The Guardian Media Group last year. Twenty years ago, he was director of strategy and digital at The Mirror. You don’t end up in senior positions at Britain’s leftist publications without sharing “left-wing sympathies yourself”. Given that government-commissioned research by Ipsos found last year that 52% of people don’t trust the BBC to be impartial, that should have “counted heavily against him”.

The appointment is “baffling to the point of idiocy”, said Jawad Iqbal in The Times. The BBC is “besieged” by “seemingly endless rows”. The “root cause” of every crisis is its journalism and programming – things that Brittin “knows diddly squat about”. The board seems to think the answer to this “calamitous” run is to give control to a “tech bro” who, just like Davie, has “no relevant broadcasting experience”.

‘Naturally competitive and steely’
People within Google have “only good things to say about Brittin”, said the BBC’s culture and media editor Katie Razzall. They describe him as an “inspirational leader and a great team player”, and have “no concerns” about his lack of editorial or broadcasting experience.

Brittin always seems “positive and cheerful”, said Anne McElvoy in The Independent, and certainly “less arrogant” than the stereotypical tech bro. That might be one reason he impressed the BBC’s board, “browbeaten after an annus horribilis”. As a former champion rower, he is also “naturally competitive and steely”. But the challenges aren’t abating. Brittin won the job from a “depleted field” from which “many industry players absented themselves”. As one leading broadcast figure reportedly said, “the pay is not that good for the blood pressure damage”.

King Charles and Queen Camilla slice into a street party-themed cake at Cornwall’s Eden Project. The royals launched The Big Lunch and The Big Help Out, a national celebration of community taking place in June, during a visit to mark the ecological centre’s 25th anniversary.

Toby Shepheard / WPA Pool / Getty Images

Louis Theroux is back with a deep dive into the shadowy world of online misogyny. His latest documentary, “Inside the Manosphere”, has met with mixed reviews. Whatever your opinion, Theroux has an impressive back catalogue of documentaries, in which he tackles a wide range of thorny topics with his signature faux naivety and awkward charm. Here are some of the best.

The Most Hated Family in America (2007)
Before the explosion of “endless true crime and cult documentaries”, this “jaw-dropping” film about a “family church in Kansas who love to picket the funerals of dead soldiers” caused quite a stir, said The Guardian. In it, Theroux meets a family at the heart of the Westboro Baptist Church – a virulently homophobic group known for its hateful protests.

Extreme Love: Dementia (2012)
This “heart-wrenching” documentary sees Theroux travel to Phoenix, Arizona, to spend time at a residential institution for those suffering from dementia, said The Standard. During his visit, he meets not only the patients but also the families “coming to terms with losing one version of their loved ones, and getting used to another”. It’s one of his “sweetest” and most tender films, delving into the pain of the people whose lives are impacted by the cruel disease.

Drinking to Oblivion (2016)
In this “staggeringly moving watch”, Theroux embeds himself in the specialist liver centre at King’s College Hospital, London, where he meets patients whose “alcoholism is so severe that it has put them at death’s door”, said The Independent. It’s an “astonishing film that gives a face to an addiction suffered by half a million people in England”.

Starmer’s press tormentors are merciless. He either needs to fight back or bypass them
Jane Martinson in The Guardian
It “was striking” how the press attacked Keir Starmer for refusing “to follow a US president blindly into war”, writes Jane Martinson, but the hostility has “been building” since the election. “Labour prime ministers have rarely been popular in news organisations owned by wealthy men”, and “the media are never going to appreciate a man whose soundbites sound wooden”. Starmer “needs better stories to counter” the negativity, and “a cannier plan to make sure the public sees and hears” them.

The world needs JD Vance right now
James Ball in The i Paper
The Iran war needs to end, “and soon”, writes James Ball. Should the US vice president lead negotiations with Tehran, he might be our “best chance”. J.D. Vance knows that the “Maga base hates overseas conflict” and that he has “no hope of being selected as the Republican nominee for president” if the war drags on. He’s “almost nobody’s idea of a hero”, but we are in “the uncomfortable and unfamiliar position of rooting for his success”.

Abortion numbers are soaring – and that is not a sign of a healthy society
Annabel Denham in The Telegraph
Britain’s fertility rate is “cratering”, termination rates are “historically high” and the “upcoming decriminalisation of abortion” may make things worse, writes Annabel Denham. While the cost-of-living crisis has made “starting or expanding a family more daunting”, there’s an “uncomfortable possibility that abortion has morphed from a last resort to the first line of defence”. “Sex is cheap entertainment in a miserable world, but with consequences.” We mustn’t “pretend those consequences don’t exist”.