Magnesium Nutrition and Blood Pressure

Summary By Hans R. Larsen MSc ChE – http://www.afibbers.org/magnesium.html

ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS. Medical researchers at the Erasmus University Medical School have discovered a natural mineral salt which significantly lowers blood pressure in people suffering from mild to moderate hypertension. The salt, “SagaSalt” (Akzo Nobel, Netherlands) occurs naturally in Iceland and contains 41 per cent sodium chloride, 41 per cent potassium chloride, 17 per cent magnesium salts and 1 per cent trace minerals. The researchers tested the salt in a randomized double blind placebo controlled trial involving 100 men and women aged 55 to 75 years. The participants had systolic blood pressures between 140 and 200 mm Hg or diastolic pressures between 85 and 100 mm Hg. Half the group used the mineral salt in food preparation and at the table while the other half used common table salt (sodium chloride). Blood pressures were measured at the start of the experiment and after 8, 16 and 24 weeks. After eight weeks the average blood pressure in the mineral salt group had fallen significantly. The systolic blood pressure (mean of measurement at weeks 8, 16 and 24) fell by 7.6 mm Hg and the diastolic pressure by 3.3 mm Hg in the mineral salt group as compared with the control group. After 24 weeks all participants went back to using common table salt and at week 25 there was no longer any difference in blood pressures between the two groups. The researchers conclude that replacing common table salt with a low sodium, high potassium, high magnesium mineral salt is an effective way of lowering blood pressure in older people suffering from mild to moderate hypertension. NOTE: Systolic pressure is the first (highest) reading given in a blood pressure measurement, diastolic is the second (lowest) reading, i.e. 120/80.
Geleijnse, J.M., et al. Reduction in blood pressure with a low sodium, high potassium, high magnesium salt in older subjects with mild to moderate hypertension. British Medical Journal, Vol. 309, August 13, 1994, pp. 436-40