Magnesium Shows Promise for Blood Pressure Health

by | Feb 20, 2012 | 2012, Cardiovascular Health, Magnesium

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. A review of 22 studies involving 1173 patients shows that magnesium supplementation appears to achieve a small but clinically significant reduction in blood pressure “ making it worthy of future prospective large randomized trials.”

High blood pressure is one of the most significant risk factors for cardiovascular disease (which cost $473 billion in 2009 (1). By increasing the heart’s workload and thickening the heart’s musculature, high blood pressure increases the risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and congestive heart failure (2, 3). High blood pressure has been deemed a worldwide epidemic (4), costing our healthcare system an estimated $73 billion in 2009 (5). The National Institutes of Health classify a healthy blood pressure as 120/80 mm Hg or less, a blood pressure between 120/80 and 140/90 as  “prehypertension”, and 140/90 mm Hg or higher as high blood pressure (6).

Now a new study (11) has found that magnesium, known from previous research to help benefit stroke health (12), lung health (13), and colorectal health in men (14) may also help maintain a healthy blood pressure. In the study, researchers reviewed 22 studies comprising 1,173 patients and lasting from 3 to 24 weeks with supplementation ranging from 120 to 973 mg per day. The combined data showed the optimal dose of magnesium to be at least 370 mg per day, which produced a decrease in the systolic (the top number) of 3-4 mm Hg while the diastolic (the bottom number) blood pressure experienced a decrease of 2-3 mm Hg.

These numbers help make sense of the emergence of high blood pressure as a worldwide epidemic (especially in the Western World) as magnesium intake among Westerner has decreased significantly from 500 mg per day in the 1900s to 175 mg per day today (15). This is significantly short of the current NIH recommendations of up to 420 mg per day for males at least 31 years of age and up to 320 mg per day for lactating females (16).

For the researchers, “magnesium supplementation appears to achieve a small but clinically significant reduction in BP” which makes magnesium “worthy of future prospective large randomized trials.”

Source: Kass, Lindsy, J. Weekes, and Lewis Carpenter. “Effect of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure: a meta-analysis.” European journal of clinical nutrition 66.4 (2012): 411-418.

© 2012 Macmillan Publishers Limited

Posted February 20, 2012.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.

References:

  1. “Cardiovascular Disease at a Glance” posted on the Centers for Disease Control website.
  2. “Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease” posted on the American Heart Association website.
  3. Casas JP. Homocysteine and stroke: evidence on a causal link from mendelian randomization. Lancet 2005; 365(9455): 224-232.
  4. “May is high blood pressure education month” posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
  5. “What Is High Blood Pressure?” posted on The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute website.
  6. Figueroa A. Oral l- Supplementation Attenuates Blood Pressure Response to Cold Pressor Test in Young Men. Am J Hypertens 2009 Oct 22. [Epub ahead of print].
  7. Block G. Vitamin C in plasma is inversely related to blood pressure and change in blood pressure during the previous year in young Black and White women. Nutrition Journal 2008, 7:35 (17 December 2008).
  8. Figueroa A. Oral l- Supplementation Attenuates Blood Pressure Response to Cold Pressor Test in Young Men. Am J Hypertens 2009 Oct 22. [Epub ahead of print].
  9. Wang S. Fish oil supplementation improves large arterial elasticity in overweight hypertensive patients. Eur J Clin Nutr advance online publication, September 5, 2007; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602886.
  10. Whelton, SP. Effect of dietary fiber intake on blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled clinical trials. J Hypertens. 2005 Mar;23(3):475-81.
  11. Kass L.  Effect of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure:a meta-analysis. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2012; 1-8.
  12. Larsson SC. Dietary magnesium intake and risk of stroke: a meta-analysisof prospective studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Dec 28. [Epub ahead of print].
  13. Kazaks AG. Effect of Oral Magnesium Supplementation on Measures of Airway Resistance and Subjective Assessment of Asthma Control and Quality of Life in Men and Women with Mild to Moderate Asthma: A Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial. Journal of Asthma, February 2010, Vol. 47, No. 1, Pages 83-92.
  14. Ma E. High Dietary Intake of Magnesium May Decrease Risk of Colorectal Cancer in Japanese Men.J. Nutr. (February 17, 2010). doi:10.3945/jn.109.117747.
  15. Altura BM. Importance of Mg in physiology and medicine and the need for ion selective electrodes. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 1994; 54(Suppl 217), 5 — 9.6.
  16. “Magnesium” – posted on The Office of Dietart Supplements website.