Oral magnesium and vitamin C supplements in asthma: a parallel group randomized placebo-controlled trial

Epidemiological studies suggest that higher intakes of dietary vitamin C and magnesium may be associated with a reduced risk of asthma.

To determine whether vitamin C or magnesium supplements improve the clinical control of asthma in primary care patients.

A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind parallel group trial of 16 weeks supplementation with 1 g/day vitamin C, 450 mg/day magnesium chelate or matched placebo. Three hundred patients aged 18-60 years with physician-diagnosed asthma, controlled with at least one dose of an inhaled corticosteroid daily, were recruited from 24 primary care practices in Nottingham, UK. The main outcome measures were change in forced expiratory volume in 1 s, forced vital capacity, airway responsiveness to methacholine, mean morning and evening peak flow, symptom scores and bronchodilator use, both individually and as a combined summary statistic.

There was no evidence of any beneficial effect of either supplement on any outcome measure of asthma control in the primary intention-to-treat analysis, or in an analysis restricted to participants who completed the study.

Regular dietary supplementation with vitamin C or magnesium adds no clinical benefit to current standard therapy of asthma in primary care patients.