Can Constipation Treatment Protect Women from Heart Attacks?

A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that certain types of constipation treatment may also be helpful in preventing deaths via heart attacks in women. Let’s look at the study to see why this is the case.

The Study: Magnesium & Heart Attacks in Women

It’s commonly known that cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death for both men and women in the United States. In 50% of these deaths (about 325,000 a year), it is a heart attack (also called a sudden cardiac death, or SCD) that is the cause of death. Though often thought of as a “man’s” disease, more women die of heart disease each year than all cancers combined.

In this large study, entitled Plasma and Dietary Magnesium and Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death in Women, over 88,000 women were tracked between 1980 and 2006 to see the relationship between magnesium (a common constipation treatment) and sudden heart attacks. Using blood samples from the women, doctors were able to track the levels of magnesium and incidents of heart attacks among the group. 505 women had heart attacks over the course of the study.

The results? Lower magnesium levels predicted a higher risk of heart attacks among the women. Women in the highest quartile of magnesium consumption (about 345mg per day via food and supplements) had a much lower risk (34%) of having a heart attack than women in the lowest quartile (less than 261mg/day) whose risk was more than double at 77%. While this is a correlational study, the differences are still striking.

Magnesium Constipation Treatment May Also Reduce The Risk of Heart Attack

Nearly 20% of the population experiences chronic constipation at any one time and women suffer from it more than men. But when looking at how to treat constipation, many women are told to use stimulant laxatives like senna or aloe prematurely. Magnesium is a safe, non-stimulant natural laxative that should be considered before stimulant laxatives since it has such strong secondary benefits like preventing heart attacks. But why is magnesium so effective at so many things?

Firstly, the USDA estimates that between 50%-70% of the population does not get enough magnesium from food sources (like leafy greens). This is problematic because magnesium is crucial for activating the parasympathetic nervous system – the part of your nervous system that aids in digestion and relaxation. Without enough magnesium, people get stuck in an anxious state of high stress, which exacerbates the stress on their heart. So magnesium is an effective constipation treatment and heart health treatment insofar as it relaxes your nervous system (and allows for optimal digestion). Magnesium also acts as a constipation treatment by drawing water into the colon and softening stools.