How much magnesium should i take to lower blood pressure

(Reuters Health) - Magnesium supplements taken daily for three months may result in slightly lower blood pressure, according to an analysis of more than 30 existing studies.

Previous evidence has suggested that magnesium deficiency may be related to cardiometabolic disorders, including high blood pressure, said lead author Yiqing Song.

“Taking oral magnesium supplements regularly can help lower blood pressure and can be considered as an inexpensive, safe, and adjuvant antihypertensive therapy,” said Song, of the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University in Indianapolis.

But magnesium supplements can cause gastrointestinal symptoms, and may interfere with medications, he told Reuters Health by email.

“Patients with heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease or other critically ill conditions should not take magnesium supplements without their doctor’s consent and supervision,” Song added.

The researchers combined data from 34 clinical trials that included a total of more than 2,000 people. Based on those results, they found that taking daily supplements of about 368 milligrams of magnesium for about three months seemed to reduce blood pressure measurements by between one and two millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).

Normal blood pressure readings are 120 mm Hg systolic (the top number) or less, and 80 mm Hg diastolic (the bottom number) or less. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is usually defined as a systolic reading of 140/90 mm Hg or higher.

About 70 million adults in the U.S., or one in three, have high blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Finding safe ways to lower blood pressure, even modestly, could have significant public health impact, the study authors write in Hypertension.

People taking these supplements also had higher levels of magnesium in their blood than those taking placebo, which suggests - but doesn’t prove - that the magnesium is responsible for the slight lowering of blood pressure readings in the group taking the supplements.

The U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance for magnesium is 310 to 320 milligrams per day for women and 400 to 420 mg per day for men. Half a cup of boiled spinach contains almost 80 mg of magnesium, and beans, nuts and other leafy greens are also good sources of the mineral.

People can get as much magnesium as in the supplements in these studies from adhering to a healthy diet, American Heart Association spokesperson Penny Kris-Etherton said in a statement.

“This study underscores the importance of consuming a healthy diet that provides the recommended amount of magnesium as a strategy for helping to control blood pressure,” said Kris-Etherton, a distinguished professor of nutrition at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia who was not part of the analysis.

The supplements were well-tolerated, Song said, but some people experienced non-serious side effects like mild abdominal pain, diarrhea, soft stool, nausea, and vomiting.

It’s still not clear how magnesium lowers blood pressure, he noted.

SOURCE: bit.ly/29Em2BY Hypertension, online July 11, 2016.

Around one third of adults in the United States have high blood pressure, only half of whom have their high blood pressure under control. New research, published in the American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension, identifies magnesium as a potential remedy.

With high blood pressure affecting around 70 million people in the U.S. and increasing the risk of two of the leading causes of death for Americans – heart disease and stroke – preventing or controlling blood pressure is an essential healthcare objective.

Labeled the “silent killer,” due to often having no warning signs or symptoms, high blood pressure is a common and often dangerous condition.

A meta-analysis, funded by the Indiana University School of Medicine Strategic Research Initiative, details positive results that show an association between a daily intake of magnesium and a reduction in blood pressure.

Magnesium is already recognized as essential for over 300 biochemical reactions in the body.

While there has been ongoing research into whether magnesium has a significant effect on high blood pressure, it has been widely documented to maintain normal nerve and muscle function, maintain a steady heartbeat, support a healthy immune system, and help bones to remain strong.

The new research includes data from 34 clinical trials, with a total of 2,028 participants.

The researchers found that those participants who had a median of 368 mg of magnesium daily for an average of 3 months recorded a decrease in systolic blood pressure of 2.00 mm Hg and a decrease in diastolic blood pressure of 1.78 mm Hg.

“With its relative safety and low cost, magnesium supplements could be considered as an option for lowering blood pressure in high-risk persons or hypertension patients.”

Yiqing Song, M.D., Sc.D., lead author, Indiana University, Indianapolis

Song and colleagues also observed that patients who had an intake of 300 mg of magnesium per day had elevated blood magnesium levels and reduced blood pressure within a month.

Elevated blood magnesium levels were associated with an improvement in blood flow, which has been named as a factor linked to lowered blood pressure.

Although 82 percent of the magnesium supplement dosages in the study were equal to or greater than the U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for adults, the American Heart Association (AHA) say that magnesium, as a supplement, may not be necessary for the desired effect of maintaining blood pressure.

AHA spokesperson Penny Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., Prof. of Nutrition at the University of Pennsylvania, says, “This study underscores the importance of consuming a healthy diet that provides the recommended amount of magnesium as a strategy for helping to control blood pressure.”

She adds, “Importantly, this amount of magnesium (368 mg/day) can be obtained from a healthy diet that is consistent with AHA dietary recommendations.”

Yiqing Song notes, “Consistent with previous studies, our evidence suggests that the anti-hypertensive effect of magnesium might be only effective among people with magnesium deficiency or insufficiency.”

“Such suggestive evidence indicates that maintenance of optimal magnesium status in the human body may help prevent or treat hypertension,” he concludes.

The researchers additionally discovered that magnesium supplementation might only decrease blood pressure in people who have a deficiency in magnesium.

Limitations of the meta-analysis include the small number of participants in each study and significant dropout rates. However, the studies with lower dropout rates expressed a higher reduction in blood pressure.

Magnesium is found in green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, some breakfast cereals, and other fortified food.

Read all about the health benefits and health risks of magnesium.