Magnesium Intake Linked to Reduced Osteoporosis and Colorectal Cancer.

A study, published in the January issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (293:86-89, 2005) found that high dietary magnesium intake may reduce the occurrence of colorectal cancer in women. Magnesium’s preventive effects had previously been established in animal studies, but no human studies had confirmed its benefit in humans. Data was evaluated from the Swedish Mammography Cohort, a population-based prospective cohort consisting of 61,433 women aged 40 to 75 years without previous diagnosis of cancer at baseline from 1987 to 1990. 805 cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed during a mean follow up of 14.8 years. After adjustments for confounding variables, an inverse association of magnesium intake with the risk of colorectal cancer was observed. The inverse association was observed for both colon and rectal cancers, with a higher rate found in those with colon cancer.  

A second study, published in the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (23, 6:704S-711S, 2004), evaluated the association of prolonged magnesium deficiency and osteoporosis in rats. Treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis with supplemental magnesium has been noted clinically to cause significant bone density increase. Researchers sought to investigate the preventive role of magnesium in this degenerative disease. Female rats were fed either a magnesium-adequate (Mg-A) diet (2,000 ppm daily) or a magnesium-deficient (Mg-D) diet (200 ppm daily) over a period of one year. After sacrifice, the rats’ L3–L5 vertebrae were examined for bone density. Mean vertebral bone density was found to be significantly higher in the Mg-A group than the Mg-D group. Bone stiffness (i.e. brittleness or loss of elasticity) was evaluated by resistance of the femur to bending. Initially, stiffness was found to be slightly greater in the Mg-A group, however, after correction for differences between the groups in femur thickness, stiffness in the Mg-D group became significantly greater than the Mg-A group. In the Mg-D group, the diminution of the trabecular bone volume indicated osteoporosis. In addition, researchers noted focal osteoporosis of the metaphyseal spongy bone on microscopy. Researchers concluded that prolonged Mg deficiency causes osteoporosis in rats. 

Bio-Design Cal Plus is a comprehensive formula of minerals and other nutrients to support bone density. Calcium and Magnesium are provided as Citrates to balance pH of the minerals and promote bioavailability.