Magnesium Supplement Lowers Blood Pressure

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

ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS. A double-blind controlled trial was recently carried out by Dutch and Belgian researchers in order to determine if oral supplementation with magnesium is an effective way of lowering blood pressure in women suffering from mild to moderate hypertension. Their experiment involved 91 women between 35 and 77 years of age who did not take anti-hypertensive medication. All the women had a systolic blood pressure between 140 and 185 mm Hg and a diastolic pressure between 90 and 105 mm Hg. After a two-week period where all subjects received a placebo, the participants were randomly assigned to two groups. One group continued to receive the placebo while the other group received 485 mg per day of magnesium aspartate-HCl. Both the placebo and the magnesium supplement were supplied in the form of four packets of water-soluble powder per day to be taken with meals. At the end of the six- month trial period the systolic blood pressure in the magnesium supplementation group had decreased by 2.7 mm Hg and the diastolic pressure by 3.4 mm Hg when compared to the placebo group. The researchers conclude that oral supplementation with magnesium aspartate-HCl may be effective in lowering blood pressure in people suffering from mild to moderate hypertension who are not taking anti-hypertensive drugs.

Witteman, Jacqueline C.M., et al. Reduction of blood pressure with oral magnesium supplementation in women with mild to moderate hypertension. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 60, July 1994, pp. 129-35