Nearly 1 in 4 young adults in the U.S. has high blood pressure. That number rises to 1 in 2 for adults aged 40 and over. One nutrient that may help modestly lower blood pressure is magnesium. Magnesium plays an important role in regulating vascular tone. It influences calcium signaling in vascular smooth muscle and pathways involving nitric oxide and prostacyclin, helping blood vessels relax and dilate. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled studies find that magnesium supplementation at a dose of around 370 mg/day for about 3 months reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 2 mmHg each. Magnesium certainly isn’t a replacement for antihypertensive medication when medication is needed. But blood pressure is something we’re exposed to continuously, year after year. Small improvements maintained over decades may matter. That's why knowing your blood pressure (and getting it under control) is so important, even for people in their 20 and 30s.