Best Magnesium For High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a common issue for many adults. Unfortunately raised blood pressure has been labeled ‘the silent killer’ due to its usually symptomless state, but potentially devastating health outcomes.

Luckily, there are so many evidence-based dietary and lifestyle interventions proven to reduce your blood pressure to a healthier level.

Here, we explore how magnesium can help you to lower your blood pressure, and reveal which type of magnesium is best for treating high blood pressure.

What Is Magnesium And Where Do You Find It?

Magnesium is a mineral that’s involved in many different bodily processes. Magnesium is found in foods such as dark green leafy veg, almonds, and cashews.

You can also find it in smaller quantities in dark chocolate and peanut butter. But unfortunately, soil mineral levels have declined in recent years, which means it’s now harder to gain sufficient intake through foods alone.

And most people don’t eat enough magnesium-rich foods regularly either. So, many people choose to supplement with magnesium to ensure they get optimal intakes.

What Are The Benefits Of Magnesium?

Magnesium is pretty impressive where health benefits are concerned. The body has lots of magnesium receptors which indicates just how many different roles magnesium can play.

Below are some of the main advantages of regular magnesium supplementation:

1. It Can Help You With Blood Sugar Control

Amazingly, studies have found that just under 50% of people with metabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes have less than ideal blood magnesium levels. (Source)

This could be perceived as a coincidence, but, scientists believe that low magnesium stores may worsen insulin resistance – a key driver of diabetes. (Source)

So, if you want to reduce your risk of diabetes type 2, and increase your insulin sensitivity, topping up on magnesium is likely to be a good strategy. (Source)

Remember that type 2 diabetes is the gateway to many other conditions, such as heart disease, dementia, and other vascular complications – so it’s better to reduce your risk of getting a metabolic condition in the first place.

2. It Can Promote A Healthy Heart

Magnesium is key for heart health. In fact, it is actually administered in the emergency room when people are experiencing a particular type of irregular heartbeat. Ideally, though, we want to prevent developing heart issues in the first place.

One way to do this is through regular magnesium supplementation. How does magnesium help to keep your heart healthy?

Well, it starts by keeping your blood pressure in check. We know that raised blood pressure (over a long period of time) can increase your risk of heart disease. (Source)

Helpfully, magnesium can help to keep your blood pressure within healthy limits, which in turn can reduce your risk of heart issues. But magnesium doesn’t stop there. It also improves your cholesterol levels and helps to keep your heartbeat regular. (Source)

3. Can Reduce Inflammation

Having low levels of magnesium can put you at risk of increased inflammation. We now know that chronic levels of unmanaged inflammation can put you at risk of a range of chronic diseases such as heart disease, dementia, cancer, and more.

So, doing everything we can to reduce inflammation is key. Magnesium supplements, when taken regularly may reduce your levels of inflammatory markers such as  C-reactive proteins and interleukin 6. This could be because magnesium lowers oxidative stress – which over time, can reduce inflammation too.

4. May Improve PMS Symptoms

PMS isn’t fun. It’s a common syndrome that affects between 20-40% of women of reproductive age. Symptoms include mood swings, abdominal cramps, cravings, insomnia, and more. (Source)

Helpfully, magnesium has shown potential for symptom alleviation. Studies show regular supplementation can help with PMS-associated bloating, depression, and anxiety. (Source)

For these effects, women took 300mg daily over several weeks. It also appears as if magnesium can reduce cramps and headaches associated with hormonal fluctuations. (Source)

5. Can Improve Sleep

Poor sleep affects many facets of health – and mental health is inextricably linked to sleep quality. Besides sticking to regular sleep/wake cycles, reducing caffeine, and winding down before bed, it can be beneficial to add magnesium to your sleep-optimizing regime.

Studies have shown magnesium can reduce the amount of time it takes you to drift off by around 20 minutes. This can make bedtime a less stress-inducing experience and can improve the overall quality of your rest. (Source)

There is other evidence to suggest that women report a reduced risk of falling asleep during the day when they supplement with magnesium. (Source)

How Does Magnesium Help Reduce Blood Pressure?

There are a number of different mechanisms involved here. Magnesium has multiple effects on different parts of the body that are related to blood pressure management. For example.

Magnesium can relax blood vessels which can lead to improved blood flow. This happens through an increase in nitric oxide (a vasodilator), which magnesium promotes.

But magnesium’s role in blood pressure maintenance doesn’t stop there. Magnesium can also act as a natural calcium channel blocker. For reference, calcium channel blockers are commonly used blood pressure medications. So,  magnesium works in a very similar way to some of these pharmaceutical treatments. (Source)

Magnesium is also involved in a process known as endothelial dysfunction.  Endothelial dysfunction is a concern for blood pressure control, as it makes it harder for your body to relax and contract blood vessels appropriately, which can interfere with blood pressure.

Studies have shown that as we age, we can become slightly deficient in magnesium, due to medications, health conditions,  and other lifestyle and dietary factors. Interestingly, there’s also a correlation between high blood pressure risk and increasing age. So, staying topped up on magnesium through supplements can be a good way to future-proof your health as you get older. (Source)

It’s important to note that if you do have high blood pressure, your doctor may want you to treat this with a combination of lifestyle measures such as diet, exercise, appropriate supplements, and medications. Adding in foods such as beets can also help you lower your blood pressure due to their ability to increase nitric oxide production. (Source)

What Type Of Magnesium Is Good For High Blood Pressure?

There are so many different types of magnesium supplements. Many of them can potentially have a positive effect on blood pressure too.

Here is a rundown of some of the most commonly used magnesium forms, as well as when they are recommended for different conditions.

Magnesium Glycinate

Many magnesium supplements use magnesium glycinate – and for good reason.  This form of magnesium is usually advised for people who have low dietary intake, as it’s great at fixing deficiencies.

Magnesium glycinate is simply formed by combining elemental magnesium with a salt called glycinate. Some studies show that this form of magnesium glycinate is good for anxiety, and can also be used as part of a blood pressure maintenance program. (Source)

Magnesium Taurate

There is some evidence to show that magnesium taurate is a good option for those with hypertension (high blood pressure). This is thought to be because taurate has extra protective effects on blood pressure control and heart health. (Source)

But, bear in mind that this study was actually conducted on rats, so we have to take these results with a pinch of salt – and more evidence in humans is needed to confirm these findings.

Magnesium Citrate

This type of magnesium is often found in cheaper supplements. It is often used to support people with constipation, and can even be used as a laxative in a clinical setting, for example in a bowel prep capacity pre-endoscopy.

It is less well absorbed than other forms of magnesium because it is mostly excreted via the gut – so it’s not the best option for fixing deficiencies, but it can be used in combination with dietary magnesium to increase your levels slowly over time.

Magnesium Oxide

Magnesium oxide is also a popular supplement in cheaper formulations. It may also have medicinal uses as a laxative in certain pre-surgery scenarios.

You’ll also find this type of magnesium added to heartburn medications alongside calcium. Taking an excess of this form of magnesium can cause rapid and unpleasant digestive problems due to its laxative effects.

How Much Magnesium Is Needed To Reduce High Blood Pressure?

The amount of magnesium you’ll need to reduce your blood pressure is individual. This is because, if you currently consume a good amount of this mineral via your diet, or only have a very minimal deficiency, you won’t need as much as somebody who has very little dietary magnesium, or those who have considerable deficiencies.

But, either way, stay within the safe upper limit of around 400mg/ a day as this can have serious consequences. Most studies looking at magnesium’s ability to lower blood sugar involve supplementary intakes of around 300mg. This is usually enough to have a significant and beneficial effect on participants’ blood pressure levels.

It’s important to say that if you already have optimal magnesium levels, then supplementing with magnesium is unlikely to have much, if any effect, as the positive effect seen in studies is linked to the supplements correcting a pre-existing deficiency.

Can You Take Too Much Magnesium?

Yes, you definitely can take too much magnesium. Unlike many supplements, where taking a little extra can be relatively harmless – for example, with vitamin C you just excrete the excess in your urine – for magnesium, more care is needed.

Taking a bit too much magnesium (more than 400mg per day) is likely to contribute to diarrhea and gut discomfort. However, the more serious side effects can arise from a heart rhythm disturbance resulting from an excess of magnesium.

Whilst too little magnesium can result in irregular heartbeats, so too can too much, which is why it’s important to get just enough, but not too much. Magnesium works closely with other electrolytes such as sodium and potassium to control your heartbeat and blood pressure, so keeping everything in balance is key.

So, always stick to the safe upper limit on your magnesium supplement of choice, and remember to pay attention to any other additional intakes of supplementary magnesium you may be having – for example via a multimineral or through indigestion remedies. 

How Quickly Does Magnesium Reduce Blood Pressure?

One study found that just one month of magnesium supplementation – at 300mg per day, was enough for reductions in blood pressure to occur.  But, ideally continuing over a longer period is likely to make more noticeable changes, as well as maintaining the reduction in blood pressure by avoiding deficiencies. (Source)

If you are currently quite deficient in magnesium then it’s likely to take you a little longer to see the blood pressure-lowering effects than someone who only has a minor deficiency. So, results will likely vary on an individual basis.

Introducing Magne Tonik – Our Magnesium Product

We have developed a high-quality magnesium supplement to help you address a range of health issues while ensuring you keep your levels of this key mineral optimal – to future-proof your health too.

We use magnesium glycinate, which shows merit in reducing anxiety. We also know that magnesium glycinate is great for sleep, which can enhance multiple areas of your health and well-being.

Magne Tonik contains 30 servings of magnesium glycinate – amounting to 400mg of elemental magnesium, which is the ideal amount for avoiding deficiencies and optimal health.

With this amount of daily, highly absorbable magnesium you can increase your bone strength, increase muscle relaxation, soothe your nervous system, and more.

Our product is also devoid of unnecessary additives and you only need to take two easy-to-swallow capsules to reach your daily target for good health.