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04.08.2025

More magnesium, younger brains

If your diet provides a relatively high intake of magnesium, the aging of your brain tends to slow down. Even if your magnesium intake is already perfectly aligned with official guidelines, an extra dose of magnesium may still contribute to preserving your cognitive health.

Study
In 2023, Khawlah Alateeq, an epidemiologist at the Australian National University, published an analysis of data collected in the UK Biobank study in the European Journal of Nutrition. Alateeq used data from 6,001 Britons aged 40-73 who answered questions about their diet. They had undergone two MRI scans, spaced 4-8 years apart.

The study participants had no known neurological or psychiatric complaints.

Whether the participants used magnesium supplements is unknown. The questionnaires the participants completed did not account for supplements. Therefore, the study participants with a high intake consumed a lot of products such as dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, legumes, nuts, and seeds.

Results
Brain aging is associated with shrinkage of parts of the brain and the occurrence of damage. The rate of this aging decreased with higher magnesium intake. The table below shows the protective effect of an additional 1 milligram of magnesium per day.

Click on the tables for a larger version.

The table above shows what happens when you bump your magnesium intake from 350 to 550 milligrams a day. The numbers are based on someone in their fifties.

Now, if you're getting 350 milligrams daily, you're already doing great according to current guidelines. But if you add another 200 milligrams, you might actually slow down the aging of your brain. The effect on your gray matter - that's the part of your brain that processes info, stores memories, regulates emotions, and keeps your body moving - is roughly equivalent to making your brain one year younger.

Mechanism
Initially, researchers suspected that magnesium might protect the brain by lowering blood pressure. However, in this study, magnesium intake did not have a significant effect on blood pressure.

Therefore, the researchers believe that magnesium primarily slows brain aging by lowering CRP levels and other inflammatory markers. [Eur J Nutr. 2024 Aug;63(5):1807-18.]

Benefits of more magnesium?
According to EFSA, adult men and women need 350 and 300 milligrams of magnesium daily, respectively. [EFSA Journal 2015;13(7):4186.] According to surveys, the average magnesium intake in most Western countries is 60-75 percent of the EFSA-recommended level.

Source:
Eur J Nutr. 2023 Aug;62(5):2039-51.

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