Magnesium could help build bone strength

Making sure young girls get enough magnesium may help keep their bones strong, according to new research. But the findings are too preliminary for any blanket recommendations to be made on taking magnesium supplements for bone health, said Dr. Thomas O. Carpenter of Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, the study's lead author. "There's a number of caveats that have to be taken into account," he said. Magnesium plays a key role in bone formation, and many young women don't get enough of the mineral, Carpenter and his team note in December's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

To better understand the role of magnesium supplements and bone health in a healthy population, they randomized 44 girls aged 8 to 14 to take 300 mg of magnesium daily for one year or a placebo. All of the girls had intakes of the mineral that were below 220 mg a day; the recommended daily allowance for magnesium is 240 mg for girls aged 8 to 13 and 360 mg for girls 14 to 18 years old. The girls given magnesium showed significantly greater bone mineral content in the hip than those who took placebo, while their spinal bone mineral content also was greater, but not significantly so, the researchers found. No serious side effects were reported.