Magnesium May Help Prevent Cataracts

The decreased likelihoods of developing cataracts as dietary magnesium intake increases were more apparent in white individuals, those with moderate family monthly poverty levels, alcohol drinkers, smokers, obese individuals with a BMI over 30, hypertension patients and those without cardiovascular disease. This chart from the study shows the association between magnesium intake and risk of cataract surgery (adjusted for age, sex, race, education level, poverty levels, alcohol and smoking history, hypertension, BMI, cardiovascular disease and energy intake). Photo: Sun S, et al. Eye. July 3, 2025. Click image to enlarge.  It’s known that magnesium might have preventive effects on cataracts. To take a deeper dive and explore the epidemiological evidence behind this, researchers in China examined the association between magnesium intake and the odds of experiencing cataract surgery. They found that higher magnesium intake appears to be helpful for cataract prevention, especially in smokers and drinkers. The findings were reported in Eye.A total of 8,185 individuals aged 30 years and older were extracted from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES) in the cycles from 2003 to 2008. Magnesium intake was assessed using the 24-hour dietary recall method. The questionnaire also determined whether participants had cataract surgery or not.Aging is of course strongly connected with likelihood of cataract development, but it was also previously shown to be closely related to magnesium deficiency. At the cellular level, endothelial cells and fibroblasts also exhibit excessive aging when cells are cultured in low-magnesium media.“With the increase of age, the development of chronic magnesium deficiency is related to increased oxidation stress since magnesium can protect retinal nerves by inhibiting the production of inducible nitric oxide synthase, and maintaining an antioxidant stress state,” the authors wrote in their paper.In subgroup analyses, the decreased likelihoods of developing cataracts as dietary magnesium intake increases were more apparent in non-Hispanic whites, those with moderate family monthly poverty levels, alcohol drinkers, smokers, obese individuals with a BMI over 30, hypertension patients and those without cardiovascular disease.“Smoking was found to be associated with an increased incidence of nuclear sclerotic cataracts, even after adjusting for age and sex,” the authors explained in their article.The authors conclude that while a higher dietary magnesium intake might offer a protective effect against cataracts, they stress that additional studies are warranted to confirm whether increased magnesium can directly lead to a decrease in cataracts.Click here for the journal source. Sun S, Tong Z, Yuan Z, et al. Association between dietary magnesium intake and risk of cataract surgery: data from NHANES 2003-2008. Eye. July 3, 2025. [Epub ahead of print.] This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.