Magnesium with or without vitamin B6 for stress, mood and quality of life
What it found
In 264 stressed but otherwise healthy adults with low magnesium, magnesium supplements improved depression, anxiety and quality of life over 8 weeks.
Adding vitamin B6 made little difference to mood or anxiety, though it did improve one measure of physical role functioning at week 4.
What they found
Studies in people
Anxiety and depression
Both groups improved. Anxiety scores fell from severe to near normal, and depression scores fell from moderate to normal. Most of the improvement happened in the first 4 weeks.
Vitamin B6 added
There was no significant difference between the magnesium plus vitamin B6 group and the magnesium alone group for anxiety or depression at week 4 or week 8.
Quality of life
Quality of life improved in all mental domains and most physical domains over the 8 weeks, reaching levels close to those of a reference population.
Physical role functioning
At week 4, the magnesium plus vitamin B6 group had a significantly greater improvement in perceived capacity for physical activity in daily life than the magnesium alone group. By week 8 the difference was no longer statistically significant.
General health
At week 4, the magnesium alone group showed a significantly greater improvement in the general health domain than the magnesium plus vitamin B6 group, but the authors say this difference was small and unlikely to be clinically meaningful.
What the authors conclude
“In conclusion, magnesium supplementation, with or without vitamin B6, could provide a meaningful clinical benefit in daily life for individuals with stress and low magnesemia.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that magnesium supplementation, with or without vitamin B6, could provide a meaningful clinical benefit in daily life for individuals with stress and low magnesemia.
- They say that magnesium treatment has potential benefit for stress-associated mood and anxiety and may improve self-reported quality of life.
- They call for further investigation to explore whether the addition of vitamin B6 may also offer additional benefits in such populations.
How it was done
Magnesium status and vitamin B6 intake have been linked to mental health and quality of life. The authors wanted to see whether magnesium, with or without vitamin B6, improved anxiety, depression and quality of life in stressed adults with low magnesium.
264 adults aged 18 to 50 with severe or extremely severe stress and suboptimal serum magnesium were randomised to either magnesium plus vitamin B6 (300 mg magnesium and 30 mg vitamin B6 daily) or magnesium alone (300 mg daily) for 8 weeks. Anxiety, depression and quality of life were measured at the start, week 4 and week 8 using questionnaires.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a post-hoc analysis, so it was not designed in advance to test these questions.
- The study did not include a placebo group, so it cannot show how much of the improvement was due to the supplements versus other factors.
- The findings are exploratory and the authors say they require confirmation in a follow-up study.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Sanofi-Aventis (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- Lionel Noah, Béatrice Bois De Fer, and Etienne Pouteau are employees of Sanofi‐Aventis. Gisèle Pickering reports consultancy fees from Sanofi, unrelated to this publication. André Mazur reports consultancy fees from Sanofi, unrelated to this publication. Louise Dye has received research funding from Sanofi and consultancy payments unrelated to this publication.
- Authors work at
- University of Leeds, UK; Université Clermont Auvergne, France; University Hospital Clermont-Ferrand, France
The paper
- Title
- Effect of magnesium and vitamin B6 supplementation on mental health and quality of life in stressed healthy adults: Post-hoc analysis of a randomised controlled trial
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Noah L, Dye L, Bois De Fer B, Mazur A, Pickering G, Pouteau E (2021). Effect of magnesium and vitamin B6 supplementation on mental health and quality of life in stressed healthy adults: Post-hoc analysis of a randomised controlled trial. Stress and health. doi:10.1002/smi.3051Free full textPubMed 33864354DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error