Context: The relation of magnesium (Mg) intake with depression was previously investigated by meta-analyses. However, due to limited data, a dose-response analysis was not performed.
Objective: Considering the recently published articles, a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis was conducted to summarize the relation of dietary Mg intake with depression in adults.
Data sources: Medline (PubMed), ISI Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar were comprehensively searched up to August 2023.
Data extraction: Observational studies that reported the relation of dietary Mg intake and depression in adults were included and their data were extracted.
Data analysis: A total of 63 214 participants from 10 cross-sectional and 3 cohort studies were included in the current study. Pooling 15 effect sizes from 12 studies (including 50 275 participants) revealed that individuals with the highest Mg intake had a 34% lower risk of depression, compared with those with the lowest Mg intake (RR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.57, 0.78). Moreover, the linear dose-response analysis revealed that each 100-mg/d increment in Mg intake was associated with a 7% reduced risk of depression (RR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.90, 0.96). Additionally, based on nonlinear dose-response analysis, increasing Mg intake from 170 to 370 mg/d was associated with a reduced risk of depression. Analyses were also conducted on 9 studies (49 558 participants) with representative populations, and similar results were found in the meta-analysis (RR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.61, 0.83) and linear (RR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.90, 0.96) and nonlinear dose-response analysis.
Conclusion: The current study shows an inverse dose-dependent association between dietary Mg intakes and risk of depression in both a general and representative population of adults in a dose-response manner.
Systematic review registration: PROSPERO registration no. CRD42024506570.
Keywords: adults; depression; dietary magnesium intake; epidemiologic studies; meta-analysis.
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.