Summary
Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) was asked to deliver a Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values (DRVs) for the European population, including magnesium.
Magnesium is an alkaline earth metal. It occurs as the free cation Mg2+ in aqueous solutions or as the mineral part of a large variety of compounds, including chlorides, carbonates and hydroxides. Magnesium is a cofactor of more than 300 enzymatic reactions, acting either on the enzyme itself as a structural or catalytic component or on the substrate, especially for reactions involving ATP, which make magnesium essential in the intermediary metabolism for the synthesis of carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and proteins, as well as for specific actions in various organs in the neuromuscular or cardiovascular system.
Magnesium deficiency can cause hypocalcaemia and hypokalaemia, leading to neurological or cardiac symptoms when it is associated with marked hypomagnesaemia. Owing to the widespread involvement of magnesium in numerous physiological functions and the metabolic interactions between magnesium and other minerals, it is difficult to relate magnesium deficiency to specific symptoms.
Magnesium absorption takes place in the distal intestine, mainly as the ionised form. Percentage absorption is generally considered to be 40–50 %, but figures from 10 to 70 % have also been reported. Magnesium absorption can be inhibited by phytic acid and phosphate and enhanced by the fermentation of soluble dietary fibre, although the physiological relevance of these interactions at adequate intakes remains to be established.
The majority of the body magnesium content is stored in bone (about 60 %) and muscle (about 25 %). A small amount is present in the serum, mainly as the free cation. Most cells are able to actively and rapidly buffer magnesium loss or accumulation through the involvement of specific magnesium transporters. The kidney plays a major role in magnesium homeostasis and maintenance of serum concentration. Urinary magnesium excretion is increased by high natriuresis, osmotic load and metabolic acidosis, and reduced by metabolic alkalosis, parathyroid hormone and, possibly, calcitonin. A large proportion of the magnesium content of faeces stems from unabsorbed magnesium. Endogenous magnesium is lost through bile, pancreatic and intestinal juices, and intestinal cells, and part of this can be reabsorbed. Magnesium losses through sweat are modest and very variable, depending on the techniques used for sweat collection, and losses through menstruation are negligible.
There is some evidence that urinary magnesium concentration reflects magnesium intake. Urinary, faecal, serum and erythrocyte magnesium concentrations have been used for the assessment of magnesium status, with serum magnesium concentration being the most frequently used marker. However, the Panel considers that the usefulness of serum magnesium concentration as a marker of intake or status is questionable and that there are at present no appropriate biomarkers for magnesium status that can be used for deriving DRVs for magnesium.
The Panel notes that a recent pooled analysis of balance studies in adults suggests that zero magnesium balance may occur at a magnesium intake of 165 mg/day. The Panel also notes that results of some large-scale and long-term prospective observational studies point to an inverse relationship between magnesium intake and the risk of diabetes mellitus type 2.
Foods rich in magnesium are nuts, whole grains and grain products, fish and seafood, several vegetables, legumes, berries, banana and some coffee and cocoa beverage preparations. The magnesium content of tap/bottled water can make a significant contribution to intake. On the basis of data from 13 dietary surveys in nine European Union (EU) countries, dietary intake of magnesium was estimated by EFSA using food consumption data from the EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database and composition data from the EFSA Food Composition Database.
For both sexes combined, average magnesium intake ranged from 72 to 120 mg/day (25–45 mg/MJ, 9.2–12.7 mg/kg body weight per day) in infants (< 1 year of age); from 153 to 188 mg/day (35–45 mg/MJ, 12.7–15.8 mg/kg body weight per day) in children aged 1 to < 3 years; from 184 to 281 mg/day (28–43 mg/MJ, 7.6–13.0 mg/kg body weight per day) in children aged 3 to < 10 years; from 213 to 384 mg/day (28–44 mg/MJ, 4.2–7.7 mg/kg body weight per day) in children aged 10 to < 18 years; and from 232 to 439 mg/day (35–51 mg/MJ, 3.4–5.3 mg/kg body weight per day) in adults (≥ 18 years). The main food groups contributing to magnesium intake were grains and grain-based products, milk and milk products, and coffee, cocoa, tea and infusions.
Considering all the evidence available, i.e. from balance studies and prospective observational studies, the Panel decided to set an Adequate Intake (AI) based on observed intakes in several EU countries. For adults of all ages, the Panel proposed to set AIs according to sex. Considering the distribution of observed average intakes (males 264–439 mg/day; females 232–357 mg/day), the Panel proposed an AI for all adult men over 18 years of 350 mg/day and for all adult women an AI of 300 mg/day, after rounding.
The Panel also decided to set an AI for infants aged 7–11 months and children based on observed intakes in several EU countries. For infants aged 7–11 months, an AI in line with the proposal of the SCF (1993) of 80 mg/day was set. This value represents, after rounding, the midpoint (78 mg/day) of the range between 35 mg/day (magnesium intake estimated by extrapolation using isometric scaling from intakes in breast-fed infants aged 0–6 months) and 120 mg/day (highest value of the range of observed mean intakes in the EU countries for which data are available). For children aged 1 to < 10 years, considering the absence of a strong basis for a distinct value according to sex and the distribution of observed mean intakes, AIs were set at the midpoint of average intakes (170 mg/day for boys and girls aged 1 to < 3 years, and 230 mg/day for boys and girls aged 3 to < 10 years). For children aged 10 to < 18 years, considering the rather large differences in magnesium intakes between boys and girls, the Panel proposed to set AIs according to sex, and to select the midpoints of average intakes as AIs, i.e. 300 mg/day for boys and 250 mg/day for girls.
Considering that pregnancy induces only a small increase in magnesium requirement, which is probably covered by adaptive physiological mechanisms, the Panel considers that the AI for non-pregnant women also applies to pregnant women. For lactating women, considering that 25 mg/day is secreted with breast milk during the first six months of exclusive breastfeeding and that there is the possibility of adaptation of magnesium metabolism, at the level of both absorption and elimination, the Panel considers that the AI for non-pregnant non-lactating women women also applies to lactating women.
Keywords
magnesium, balance, observed intake, Adequate Intake, Dietary Reference Value