Magnesium is a mineral that your body doesn’t produce naturally—you can only get it through food or supplements.

And it’s important to get enough, because magnesium is essential for proper bodily functioning. It supports processes like mineral absorption, energy production, muscle and nerve function, and DNA synthesis.

So how does that translate to better health? Here are seven conditions magnesium may help treat or prevent.

Magnesium acts as a vasodilator, meaning it widens the blood vessels, which can help lower blood pressure and reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke.

Magnesium only decreases blood pressure by a small amount, so people with high blood pressure (hypertension) may benefit from taking other blood pressure-lowering medications along with magnesium.

Consuming high amounts of magnesium is linked to a lower risk of diabetes, likely because magnesium can help metabolize glucose (sugar). Not having enough magnesium may also worsen insulin resistance, which can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Magnesium is the main ingredient in many laxatives. Different types of magnesium are commonly used to treat constipation, including magnesium citrate, hydroxide, oxide, and sulfate salts.

The recommended starting dose for constipation is 400-500 milligrams per day, based on how well you respond. Drink plenty of water when taking magnesium for constipation.

Magnesium plays a role in creating and strengthening bones. People with low magnesium levels are at a higher risk of osteopenia (lower than normal bone density) and osteoporosis (the more advanced stage of osteopenia).

Magnesium helps reduce the risk of bone fractures and osteoporosis, especially in postmenopausal and older women.

Magnesium supplements may help reduce the frequency of migraines. It likely does this by lessening the constriction of blood vessels and neurotransmitters that cause migraines.

While it may reduce migraine frequency, it’s not clear if magnesium can actually prevent migraines.

Magnesium supplements may help ease stress and anxiety and treat symptoms of depression.

Research has found an association between low magnesium levels and mental health disorders like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorder.

Magnesium is a popular supplement for supporting sleep. The mineral can help relax you and regulate your circadian rhythm (your body’s sleep and wake cycle). The mineral may also help improve sleep quality and reduce daytime sleepiness, snoring, and waking up at night.

The daily upper limit for magnesium in dietary supplements and medications is 350 milligrams (mg), not including magnesium naturally found in food.

Side effects associated with taking too much magnesium include diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, irregular heartbeat, and cardiac arrest. The risk for side effects is higher in people with kidney disease.

Magnesium supplements may interact with medications like:

• Bisphosphonates: These drugs treat osteoporosis. Magnesium can decrease the absorption of these medications, so take magnesium and bisphosphonates at least two hours apart.
• Antibiotics: Taking magnesium with certain antibiotics, such as doxycycline and ciprofloxacin, can decrease the absorption of the antibiotic. Take antibiotics two hours before or four to six hours after a magnesium supplement. 
• Diuretics: Potassium-sparing diuretics, such as Aldactone (spironolactone), may decrease the amount of magnesium that gets excreted through your urine. If you take a magnesium supplement with a diuretic, it may raise your magnesium levels too high.
• Zinc: Very high doses of zinc may interfere with your body’s ability to absorb magnesium.

Magnesium is a mineral involved in many body processes, and may benefit your health in a variety of ways, such as supporting your cardiovascular system, reducing insomnia, and easing constipation.

Your body does not make magnesium on its own, so you must get it through food or supplements.

Green tea and red wine may seem like simple dietary choices – but beneath the surface, they harbour compounds with remarkable medical potential. Scientists are uncovering how these everyday drinks might support cancer treatment, not by replacing conventional therapies like chemotherapy or radiotherapy, but by enhancing their effectiveness and reducing their side effects.

The humble cup of green tea, first enjoyed in first-century China, has long been valued for its cultural significance and traditional health benefits. Tea has historically been used to combat ageing, protect the brain and heart, and aid weight loss.

Today, researchers are uncovering a more profound capability – its potential to fight cancer.

The key lies in epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a potent antioxidant found in this kind of tea. Antioxidants are protective molecules that help shield cells from damage caused by free radicals and environmental stress, but EGCG appears to do much more.

Cancer cells are notoriously disruptive, hijacking the body’s normal energy systems to fuel their rapid growth. EGCG targets this very process, disrupting how cancer cells generate energy, and attacking the proteins that help tumours grow and divide. By targeting these proteins, it prevents cancer from multiplying, ultimately leading to cell death.

Even more promising is EGCG’s ability to enhance conventional treatments. Early studies suggest it could make cancer cells more vulnerable to chemotherapy and radiation therapy, potentially reducing the need for high doses and their severe side effects.

For those who prefer their green tea in powdered form, matcha offers even greater protection, as it’s made from whole ground tea leaves and contains significantly more EGCG than regular green tea.

Red wine’s protective power

Red wine, too, offers compelling potential, thanks to a substance called resveratrol. This compound is found in red grapes, blueberries and peanuts, and has been shown to support the heart, liver and brain. Interestingly, resveratrol works through mechanisms distinct from EGCG.

Rather than targeting cancer cells directly, resveratrol focuses on the tumour’s environment. Cancer cells cleverly surround themselves with blood vessels and supportive tissue, creating a protective fortress that aids growth and spread. Resveratrol disrupts this structure, making tumours vulnerable to conventional treatments.

The compound also enhances the immune system’s ability to recognise and attack cancer cells more effectively. Perhaps most significantly, resveratrol prevents tumours from forming new blood vessels – the lifelines they need to obtain nutrients for growth. Without this blood supply, tumours become starved and eventually die.

Beyond the glass

The potential of natural cancer-fighting compounds extends far beyond our favourite beverages. Apigenin, found in parsley, can slow tumour growth, while turmeric contains curcumin, which disrupts cancer-cell survival. And emodin, found in aloe vera and rhubarb, reduces inflammation and inhibits cancer growth.

However, scientists face a significant challenge: many of these natural substances are poorly absorbed by the body. Research in this area is currently focused on developing enhanced delivery systems, such as wrapping the compounds in tiny lipids called nanoparticles. This approach protects the substances and increases their effectiveness against tumours.

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The absorption of natural substances is further improved by mixing compounds with each other, such as piperine with curcumin. Piperine is found in black pepper and helps curcumin-based nanoparticles to have better bioavailability in cancer therapy.

While the research remains in its early stages, the possibility that everyday foods and drinks could one day support cancer treatment represents a fascinating frontier in medical science.

So the next time you reach for a cup of green tea or a glass of red wine, consider this: you may be doing more than relaxing – you could be reinforcing your body’s natural defences against cancer.

A new study reveals that much of the confidence people have in the health benefits of supplements might not come from science, but from clever wording on labels. Phrases like “boosts brain function” are enough to make consumers believe that a supplement can prevent serious conditions like dementia.

According to a 2023 survey, three-quarters (74%) of Americans report taking dietary supplements, with a staggering 92% of users saying that they’re essential to maintaining their health. But how essential are they, really? And how convincing?

A new study led by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has examined how commonly made claims, such as “supports heart health” or “supports brain health,” affect our beliefs regarding the health benefits of dietary supplements.

Under US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, three types of label claims are allowed on dietary supplements: nutrient claims, health claims, and structure/function claims. Nutrient claims refer to how much of an ingredient is in a supplement (e.g., “only 200 mg of sodium”). Health claims refer to any statement associating a supplement ingredient with the treatment or prevention of a specific disease. They’re based on evidence reviewed by the FDA and are relatively rare. Structure/function claims are meant to highlight the effect of a supplement ingredient on normal body function (e.g., “calcium builds strong bones”). The problem is, though, that these sorts of claims can use language that’s ambiguous, including phrases like “heart health” or “brain health”.

The researchers ran two online surveys of US adults. Survey one gauged 2,239 participants’ beliefs in relation to fish oil supplements, a real and widely used product. For survey two, the researchers created a completely made-up supplement – they called it “Viadin H” – to see whether labeling affected the preexisting beliefs of 2,164 participants. Each participant was randomly shown one of four labels for the supplement, which varied only in the type of health-related claim: “Supports Heart Health”, “Supports Cognitive Function”, “Brain Health”, or no claim at all. After viewing the label, participants answered whether they thought the supplement could prevent or treat diseases like heart attack, heart failure, stroke, dementia, osteoporosis, or cancer.

For the fish oil supplement, people shown the “Supports Heart Health” label were more likely than those shown a label with no claims to say the supplement prevented heart attacks (62.5% vs 53.9%) or heart failure (59.0% vs 50.7%). Those shown the “Supports Cognitive Function” label claim were more likely to report that fish oil prevents dementia (47.4% vs 39.6%) and improves memory in people with dementia (48.0% vs 40.5%).

For the hypothetical Viadin H, the labels had an even bigger effect, since participants couldn’t have had any prior beliefs about health benefits. Those shown a label that read “Heart Health” or “Supports Heart Function” were more likely to report that the supplement prevents heart attack or heart failure: 40.0% and 40.5% for each respective label. In contrast, those shown brain health-related labels and more likely to report that the supplement prevents dementia or improves memory were lower: 20.2% for the “Brain Health” label, and 23.3% for “Supports Cognitive Function”. For the control conditions of osteoporosis and cancer, labels didn’t significantly change perceptions for unrelated conditions.

The study has limitations. Principally, it was a survey about people’s perceptions, not whether they actually bought or used the supplements differently. There is the potential for issues using self-reporting because participants can choose answers at random or give responses they think are “expected.”

Regardless, the findings raise some interesting – and important – issues. By law, structure/function claims, such as “Supports Heart Health”, aren’t supposed to imply disease prevention or treatment. Yet, the study shows that many consumers interpret them that way. The study authors argue that these statements should be reclassified as health claims, which would require scientific evidence and FDA review. They said this would reduce consumer misunderstanding.

The study was published in the journal JAMA Network Open.