Cholera is a global health problem with no targeted therapies. The Ca
2+
-sensing receptor (CaSR) is a regulator of intestinal ion transport and a therapeutic target for diarrhea, and Ca
2+
is considered its main agonist. We found that increasing extracellular Ca
2+
had a minimal effect on forskolin-induced Cl
–
secretion in human intestinal epithelial T84 cells. However, extracellular Mg
2+
, an often-neglected CaSR agonist, suppressed forskolin-induced Cl
–
secretion in T84 cells by 65% at physiological levels seen in stool (10 mM). The effect of Mg
2+
occurred via the CaSR/Gq signaling that led to cAMP hydrolysis. Mg
2+
(10 mM) also suppressed Cl- secretion induced by cholera toxin, heat-stable
E
.
coli
enterotoxin, and vasoactive intestinal peptide by 50%. In mouse intestinal closed loops, luminal Mg
2+
treatment (20 mM) inhibited cholera toxin–induced fluid accumulation by 40%. In a mouse intestinal perfusion model of cholera, addition of 10 mM Mg
2+
to the perfusate reversed net fluid transport from secretion to absorption. These results suggest that Mg
2+
is the key CaSR activator in mouse and human intestinal epithelia at physiological levels in stool. Since stool Mg
2+
concentrations in patients with cholera are essentially zero, oral Mg
2+
supplementation, alone or in an oral rehydration solution, could be a potential therapy for cholera and other cyclic nucleotide–mediated secretory diarrheas.