Magnesium & Brain Volume

More evidence of the likely neuroprotective effect of magnesium was recently published in the European Journal of Nutrition. This study comes on the heels of an analysis of NHANES data published last year in Alzheimer’s & Dementia which found that a higher total intake (diet and supplemental) of magnesium was associated with better cognitive function among participants aged 60 and older.

This more recent analysis utilized data from the UK Biobank prospective cohort, for which approximately 6,000 participants between ages 40-73 met the study criteria, including having dietary magnesium intake data (measured by 24-hour recall), an MRI, blood pressure measured at baseline, and excluding those with a neurological disorder.

The primary finding of this study was that higher dietary magnesium was associated with both larger brain volumes (in a variety of areas of the brain) as well as lower white matter lesions, both of which suggest superior brain health. These associations were more prominent in women, and appeared to be independent of blood pressure, which was not associated with magnesium intake in this cohort.

Analysis of patterns of magnesium intake also suggested that the benefit was reflective of long-term exposure to dietary magnesium. The impact of magnesium also appeared to be quite substantial; being in the top quintile of intake (550 mg/day or more) was associated with 0.2% larger gray matter volume and 0.46% right hippocampus volume, which corresponds to roughly 1 year of aging in a 55-year old, and likely to a lower risk of dementia later in life, as observed in previous studies.