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Recommendations Summary

HTN: Dietary Magnesium 2008

Click here to see the explanation of recommendation ratings (Strong, Fair, Weak, Consensus, Insufficient Evidence) and labels (Imperative or Conditional). To see more detail on the evidence from which the following recommendations were drawn, use the hyperlinks in the Supporting Evidence Section below.


  • Recommendation(s)

    Dietary Magnesium

    If magnesium is proposed as a therapy to reduce blood pressure, advise that the effect of magnesium as a single nutrient on blood pressure in healthy or hypertensive adults is unknown. The effect of dietary patterns with magnesium intake above the DRI on blood pressure in healthy or hypertensive adults is minimal. However, some dietary patterns that contain magnesium lower than recommended levels (DRI) may be associated with elevated blood pressure.

    Rating: Fair
    Conditional

    • Risks/Harms of Implementing This Recommendation

      None.

    • Conditions of Application

      This recommendation applies to individuals asking about magnesium as a therapy to reduce blood pressure.

    • Potential Costs Associated with Application

      None.

    • Recommendation Narrative

      • Three cross-sectional studies of dietary patterns with magnesium intakes below recommended levels report an association with increased blood pressure, however, it is unclear if this association is confounded by other dietary factors (Liu et al, 2001; Hajjar and Kotchen, 2003; Zhao et al, 2004)
      • One randomized controlled trial of 35 patients with essential hypertension receiving combination therapy (potassium and magnesium supplementation 217.2 mg K and 70.8 mg Mg per day) for four weeks showed a significant reduction in blood pressure from baseline, but overall dietary intake of magnesium was not assessed (Wu et al, 2006).
      • One cohort study did not report significant differences between hypertensive and normotensive subjects, although both groups reported low magnesium intakes (Lancaster et al, 2004).
      • One cross-sectional study with magnesium intakes near recommended levels reported no statistically significant differences in blood pressure between hypertensive patients and controls (Silaste et al, 2000).
      • One meta-analysis of 253 studies of dietary patterns with magnesium intakes above recommended levels showed a minimal decrease in blood pressure (Geleijnse et al, 2004).

    • Recommendation Strength Rationale

      • Conclusion Statement is a Grade II

    • Minority Opinions

      Consensus reached.