Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Special Issue: Current evidence and perspectives for hypertension management in Asia
  • Published:

Associations between dietary magnesium intake and hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia

Hypertension Research volume 47, pages 331–341 (2024)Cite this article

Abstract

Hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia significantly impact chronic diseases and mortality. Magnesium is an essential nutrient for maintaining critical physiological functions, and magnesium deficiency is often associated with adverse health outcomes. In a cross-sectional study of US adults, we aimed to explore dietary magnesium intake and its association with the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia in US adults over 20 years of age in NHANES 2007–2018. We obtained data on 24,171 samples of hypertension, 9950 samples of diabetes, and 12,149 samples of hyperlipidemia. We used multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for multiple sociodemographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle factors, with participants subdivided into five groups based on quintiles of daily dietary magnesium. After adjusting for the major lifestyle and dietary variables, an independent and significant inverse relationship between dietary magnesium and hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia was observed. Compared with the lowest quintile of magnesium intake, the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia was significantly reduced in the highest magnesium quintile. The OR of hypertension in the highest quintile was 0.66 (95% CI: 0.51–0.87; P trend < 0.001), the OR of diabetes was 0.56 (95% CI: 0.39–0.81; P trend < 0.001), and the OR of hyperlipidemia was 0.68 (95% confidence interval: 0.53–0.86; P trend = 0.007). In the subgroup analysis, most of the inverse relationships persisted. Our findings highlight the potential of magnesium-rich foods to prevent hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia in US adults.

This article summarizes and discuss recent findings on: 1) A high dietary magnesium intake was associated with a lower prevalence of hypertension; 2) An inverse relationship between dietary magnesium with diabetes hyperlipidemia; 3) Monitoring and management of magnesium was important.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. King H, Aubert RE, Herman WH. Global burden of diabetes, 1995–2025: prevalence, numerical estimates, and projections. Diabetes Care. 1998;21:1414–31.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Olsen MH, Angell SY, Asma S, Boutouyrie P, Burger D, Chirinos JA, et al. A call to action and a lifecourse strategy to address the global burden of raised blood pressure on current and future generations: the lancet commission on hypertension. Lancet. 2016;388:2665–712.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Siri-Tarino PW, Krauss RM. Diet, lipids, and cardiovascular disease. Curr Opin Lipidol. 2016;27:323–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Paolisso G, Sgambato S, Gambardella A, Pizza G, Tesauro P, Varricchio M, et al. Daily magnesium supplements improve glucose handling in elderly subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. 1992;55:1161–7.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Saris NE, Mervaala E, Karppanen H, Khawaja JA, Lewenstam A. Magnesium. An update on physiological, clinical and analytical aspects. Clin Chim Acta. 2000;294:1–26.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Schwalfenberg GK, Genuis SJ. The importance of magnesium in clinical healthcare. Scientifica. 2017;2017:4179326 https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/4179326.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Zhao B, Zeng L, Zhao J, Wu Q, Dong Y, Zou F, et al. Association of magnesium intake with type 2 diabetes and total stroke: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2020;10:e032240 https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-032240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Kao WH, Folsom AR, Nieto FJ, Mo JP, Watson RL, Brancati FL. Serum and dietary magnesium and the risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus: the Atherosclerosis risk in communities study. Arch Intern Med. 1999;159:2151–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Weaver CM, Bailey RL, McCabe LD, et al. Mineral intake ratios are a weak but significant factor in blood pressure variability in US adults. J Nutr. 2018;148:1845–51.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Singh RB, Rastogi SS, Sharma VK, Saharia RB, Kulshretha SK. Can dietary magnesium modulate lipoprotein metabolism? Magnes Trace Elem. 1990;9:255–64.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Alawi A, Majoni AM, Falhammar SW. Magnesium and human health: perspectives and research directions. Int J Endocrinol. 2018;2018:9041694 https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/9041694.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. 2022-12-01; Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/Nchs/Nhanes/survey_methods.htm.

  13. Johnson CL, Paulose-Ram R, Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kruszon-Moran D, Dohrmann SM, et al. National health and nutrition examination survey: analytic guidelines, 1999–2010. Vital Health Stat. 2013;161:1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Ahluwalia N, Dwyer J, Terry A, Moshfegh A, Johnson C. Update on NHANES dietary data: focus on collection, release, analytical considerations, and uses to inform public policy. Adv Nutr. 2016;7:121–34. https://doi.org/10.3945/an.115.009258.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Bailey RL, Gahche JJ, Miller PE, Thomas PR, Dwyer JT. Why US adults use dietary supplements. JAMA Intern Med. 2013;173:355–61.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Martin-Moreno JM, Boyle P, Gorgojo L, Maisonneuve P, Fernandez-Rodriguez JC, Salvini S, et al. Development and validation of a food frequency questionnaire in Spain. Int J Epidemiol. 1993;22:512–9. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/22.3.512.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Alonso A, Beunza JJ, Delgado-Rodriguez M, Martinez-Gonzalez MA. Validation of self-reported diagnosis of hypertension in a cohort of university graduates in Spain. BMC Public Health. 2005;5:94 https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-5-94.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Williams B, Mancia G, Spiering W, Agabiti Rosei E, Azizi M, Burnier M, et al. 2018 ESC/ESH Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension: the task force for the management of arterial hypertension of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Society of Hypertension (ESH). Eur Heart J. 2018;39:3021–104. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehy339.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Expert committee on the diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus: report of the expert committee on the diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care. 1997;20:1183-97.

  20. McKeown NM, Jacques PF, Zhang XL, et al. Dietary magnesium intake is related to metabolic syndrome in older Americans. Eur J Nutr. 2008;47:210–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Guerrero-Romero F, Rodriguez-Moran M. Low serum magnesium levels and metabolic syndrome. Acta Diabetol. 2002;39:209–13.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Song Y, He K, Levitan EB, Manson JE, Liu S. Effects of oral magnesium supplementation on glycaemic control in Type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of randomized double-blind controlled trials. Diabet Med. 2006;23:1050–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Han H, Fang X, Wei X, Liu Y, Jin Z, Chen Q, et al. Dose-response relationship between dietary magnesium intake, serum magnesium concentration and risk of hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Nutr J. 2017;16:26 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-017-0247-4.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Dibaba DT, Xun P, Song Y, Rosanoff A, Shechter M, He K. The effect of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure in individuals with insulin resistance, prediabetes, or noncommunicable chronic diseases: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017;106:921–9. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.117.155291.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Witteman JC, Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Sacks FM, Speizer FE, et al. A prospective study of nutritional factors and hypertension among US women. Circulation. 1989;80:1320–7. https://doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.80.5.1320.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Dominguez LJ, Gea A, Ruiz-Estigarribia L, Sayón-Orea C, Fresán U, Barbagallo M, et al. Low dietary magnesium and overweight/obesity in a mediterranean population: a detrimental synergy for the development of hypertension. The SUN Project. Nutrients. 2020;13:125.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Jee SH, Miller ER III, Guallar E, Singh VK, Appel LJ, Klag MJ. The effect of magnesium supplementation on blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Am J Hypertens. 2002;15:691–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Lopez-Ridaura Ruy, Willett WalterC, Rimm EricB, et al. Magnesium intake and risk of type 2 diabetes in men and women. Diabetes Care. 2004;27:134–40.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Huang J, Hu L, Yang J. Dietary magnesium intake ameliorates the association between household pesticide exposure and Type 2 diabetes: data from NHANES, 2007-2018. Front Nutr. 2022;9:903493.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Huang W, Ma X, Liang H, Li H, et al. Dietary magnesium intake affects the association between serum vitamin D and Type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study. Front Nutr. 2021;8:763076.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Larsson SC, Wolk A. Magnesium intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis. J Intern Med. 2007;262:208–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2796.2007.01840.x.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Kim DJ, Xun P, Liu K, Loria C, Yokota K, Jacobs DR, et al. Magnesium intake in relation to systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, and the incidence of diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2010;33:2604–10. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc10-0994.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. He K, Liu K, Daviglus ML, Morris SJ, Loria CM, Van Horn L, et al. Magnesium intake and incidence of metabolic syndrome among young adults. Circulation. 2006;113:1675–82.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Bain LKM, Myint PK, Jennings A, Lentjes MAH, Luben RN, Khaw KT, et al. The relationship between dietary magnesium intake, stroke and its major risk factors, blood pressure and cholesterol, in the EPIC-Norfolk Cohort. Int J Cardiol. 2015;196:108–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2015.05.166.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Yamori Y, Sagara M, Mizushima S, Liu L, Ikeda K, Nara Y, CARDIAC Study Group. An inverse association between magnesium in 24-h urine and cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged subjects in 50 CARDIAC study populations. Hypertens Res. 2015;38:219–25. https://doi.org/10.1038/hr.2014.158.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Ohira T, Peacock JM, Iso H, Chambless LE, Rosamond WD, Folsom AR. Serum and dietary magnesium and risk of ischemic stroke: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study. Am J Epidemiol. 2009;169:1437–44. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwp071.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Jin H, Nicodemus-Johnson J. Gender and age stratified analyses of nutrient and dietary pattern associations with circulating lipid levels identify novel gender and age-specific correlations. Nutrients. 2018;10:1760–75.

  38. Itoh K, Kawasaka T, Nakamura M. The effects of high oral magnesium supplementation on blood pressure, serum lipids and related variables in apparently healthy Japanese subjects. Br J Nutr. 1997;78:737–50.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Rimm E, Ascherio A, Rosner BA, Spiegelman D, et al. Dietary fat and coronary heart disease: a comparison of approaches for adjusting for total energy intake and modeling repeated dietary measurements. Am J Epidemiol. 1999;149:531–40.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Dibaba DT, Chen C, Lu L, Bidulescu A, Fly AD, Xun P, et al. Magnesium intake is inversely associated with the risk of metabolic syndrome in the REasons for geographic and racial differences in stroke (REGARDS) cohort study. Clin Nutr. 2021;40:2337–42.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge all participants involved in the present study. The authors affirmed that human research participants provided informed consent for publication. All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations (Declaration of Helsinki). All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

Funding

This research work was conducted with financial support from the Liaoning Revitalization Talents Program (Grant #XLYC2007006). This research was supported by grants from the Key Laboratory of Intelligent Preventive Medicine of Zhejiang Province (2020E10004).

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors jointly supervised this work: Lina Jin, Zuyun Liu, Yanan Ma

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Environmental Stress and Chronic Disease Control & Prevention, Ministry of Education, China Medical University, Shenyang, China

    Mengying Han, Yixin Zhang, Ming Sun, Qitong Liu, Zhaoyu Ma, Daibao Hu, Xiaoyu Gong, Yang Liu & Yanan Ma

  2. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, China Medical University, 110122, Shenyang, China

    Mengying Han, Yixin Zhang, Ming Sun, Qitong Liu, Zhaoyu Ma, Daibao Hu, Xiaoyu Gong, Yang Liu & Yanan Ma

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jilin University, No.1163 Xinmin Street, 130021, Changchun, Jilin, China

    Jiaxin Fang & Lina Jin

  4. The Second Affiliated Hospital and School of Public Health, The Key Laboratory of Intelligent Preventive Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 310058, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Zuyun Liu

Authors
  1. Mengying Han
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yixin Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jiaxin Fang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ming Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Qitong Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Zhaoyu Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Daibao Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Xiaoyu Gong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Yang Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Lina Jin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Zuyun Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Yanan Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

MH: Data curation, Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Formal analysis, Validation, Writing - Original draft preparation, Writing - review & editing. YZ, JF, MS, QL, ZM, DH, XG and YL: Resources, Investigation. YM, ZL and LJ: Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision, Conceptualization, Project administration. YM, ZL and LJ contributed equally as the corresponding co-author.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Lina Jin, Zuyun Liu or Yanan Ma.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Han, M., Zhang, Y., Fang, J. et al. Associations between dietary magnesium intake and hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Hypertens Res 47, 331–341 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-023-01439-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41440-023-01439-z

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links