People who consume plenty of magnesium in the form of dietary supplements may be less likely to develop gallstones, new research suggests.
A study in the American Journal of Gastroenterology found that men who took the most magnesium had a 28 per cent reduction in their risk of gallstones.
Gallstones affect around one in three women and one in five men by the time they are 75 years old, forming when chemicals stored in the gallbladder harden into a mass.
The research, which was carried out by experts at the University of Kentucky, involved 42,705 men, therefore providing strong evidence in favour of magnesium supplementation.
Lead author Chung-Jyi Tsai, a researcher at the University of Kentucky Medical Centre, wrote: "In this large cohort study, we observed that a higher consumption of magnesium was associated with a reduced risk of gallstone disease with a dose-response relationship that was not accounted for by other potential risk factors including other measured dietary variables."
People who consume plenty of magnesium in the form of dietary supplements may be less likely to develop gallstones, new research suggests.
