The relationship between magnesium and hypertension has been intensively investigated in the last few decades. Most of the so far reviews were focused on either dietary magnesium or serum magnesium or magnesium supplements. Our goal was to merge these findings with a more comprehensive approach. Internet search was performed in PubMed database without date limits, using the following search terms "dietary magnesium," "serum magnesium," "magnesium supplements," "hypertension," "drinking water," "food," "endothelial dysfunction," "arterial smooth muscle," and "arterial spasms." In general, there exists an inverse dose-dependent relationship between dietary magnesium intake and serum magnesium and the risk of hypertension. A negative correlation has been found between the serum magnesium concentration and Framingham risk score and intima-media carotid thickness and cardiovascular mortality. On the other hand, concentration of extracellular magnesium in the normal range acts as a natural calcium channel blocker, eliminates endothelial dysfunction, increases nitric oxide, and induces direct and indirect vasodilatation. In conclusion, an average magnesium dietary intake is below the recommended values and magnesium supplementation in the prevention and treatment of hypertension might be justified.
Keywords: diet; hypertension; magnesium; serum.