LOMA LINDA, CALIFORNIA. It is generally assumed that an adequate calcium intake is essential in promoting the achievement of peak bone mass in growing children and young adults. Now researchers at the University of Graz Medical School in Austria and the Loma Linda University in California suggest that an adequate magnesium intake may be equally important. About half the body's reservoir of magnesium is found in soft tissue while the other half is found in bone. Excess magnesium is excreted in the urine. The researchers recently completed an experiment in which 12 healthy, young men received 350 mg of magnesium as a daily oral supplement for a 30-day period. A comparison of the level of biomarkers for bone turnover in the supplemented group and in an age-matched control group showed a statistically significant decrease in the level of these biomarkers in the supplemented group. Neither the supplement group nor the control group were deficient in magnesium and had a dietary intake of about 300 mg/day (RDA is 300-350 mg/day). The researchers conclude that magnesium supplementation (over and above the current RDA) may suppress bone turnover in young adults and speculate that it may also help prevent age-related osteoporosis.
Dimai, H.P., et al. Daily oral magnesium supplementation suppresses bone turnover in young adult males. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol. 83, August 1998, pp. 2742-48