The Popular Green Fruit That's High In Magnesium And Calcium And Can Lower Your Heart Disease Risk

Getting sufficient magnesium and calcium each day through foods doesn't have to be hard. Some foods contain both minerals, allowing you to get a "two for one" nutritional bonus, including a rather petite fruit with an unconventional appearance: kiwi, which can have green or yellow flesh, edible seeds, and a fuzz-covered skin. (The skin is edible, btw!) 

Though individual kiwi fruits will typically fit neatly into your palm, they bring along pretty sizable nutritional benefits. A single kiwi contains about 26 milligrams of calcium and 12 milligrams of magnesium, along with a heart-healthy dose of 145 milligrams of potassium and 2.25 grams of fiber. And its 56 milligrams of vitamin C is hardly insignificant. (Oh, and it only has 48 calories, to boot.)

Thanks to kiwi's nutritional profile, you may end up improving your cardiovascular system and lowering your risk of heart attack or stroke. (This is what happens to your blood pressure when you eat kiwi every day.) That's advantageous for anyone, given that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States (via the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

A 2014 study in Blood Pressure examined participants with slightly high blood pressure readings who ate three kiwi fruits daily for eight weeks. Compared with a control group who ate one apple daily instead, those who consumed kiwi showed slightly lower systolic and diastolic readings — 3.6 and 1.9 millimeters of mercury (mmHg), respectively. Meanwhile, in a 2022 trial in Nutrients, researchers asked participants to eat two kiwi fruits each day during breakfast for seven weeks. At the end of the trial, the systolic blood pressure readings of the subjects clocked in at 2.7 mmHg less than the blood pressure of a control group that hadn't eaten kiwi fruit.

Several nutrients in kiwi fruit might be triggering this response. For starters, consuming plant-based fiber has been shown to be an easy food hack to lower high blood pressure. A 2023 review in Cureus suggested that fiber might lower blood pressure by relaxing the vascular walls, improving the health of the gut, and encouraging normal insulin performance. Potassium is associated with decreased blood pressure as well. Having too much salt can cause elevated blood pressure; potassium flushes out excess sodium.

A 2024 review in Cureus posited that since cardiovascular problems are linked to magnesium deficiency, magnesium supplementation could be a viable treatment for heart conditions. But what about calcium? In a 2022 podcast for the Cleveland Clinic, registered dietitian Julia Zumpano noted that a lack of calcium could be a risk factor for elevated blood pressure. Indeed, a side effect of calcium deficiency is high blood pressure, according to cardiologist expert Dr. Martha Gulati (via AHA).

Even if you're not worried about your blood pressure, you may still get a nice health boost from including kiwi in your diet, especially if you want to avoid getting sick. Registered dietitian Gillian Cuthbertson extolled kiwi fruit to the Cleveland Clinic as an ingredient or snack that can help you stave off illness due to the presence of antioxidants (including vitamin C). As Cuthbertson explained, "Eating antioxidant-rich foods like kiwi can reduce your risk of diseases, including some cancers and heart conditions." She added that it was preferable to get antioxidants through foods rather than supplements due to the higher bioavailability of nutrients.