Increasing intake of magnesium through diet and supplements can help in keeping the bones of elderly people healthy. Researchers from the University of Tennessee, Memphis, USA conducted a study, which suggests that greater magnesium intake is significantly related to higher bone mineral density (BMD) in men and women.
A higher magnesium intake through diet or supplementation may provide an additional strategy for the prevention of osteoporosis.
Osteoporotic fractures are a significant health problem in ageing adults. Given the high prevalence of low BMD and leading to fractures, small improvements in BMD may have a large public health effect. Magnesium is a lesser-studied component of bone that may play a role in calcium metabolism and bone strength.
The researchers examined magnesium intake from supplemental and dietary sources in relation to BMD in a total of 2038 subjects between the ages of 70 and 79 years enrolled in the cross-sectional Health, Ageing, and Body Composition Study.
They used a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to assess dietary intake of magnesium and standard tests to measure BMD.
Less than 26 percent of the patients in the study met the recommended dietary allowances (RDA) for magnesium. Women reported a similar intake of dietary magnesium, but those who took magnesium-containing supplement more frequently had a higher total mean intake.
Men reported higher food magnesium, use of magnesium-containing supplements, and total magnesium intake.
Magnesium intake was positively associated with BMD in some men and women. The lack of an association in the remaining men and women may be due to differences in calcium regulation or in nutrient reporting.
There was an approximate 2 percent increase in whole-body BMD for every 100 mg per day increase in magnesium, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society reported.