Thousands of persons over the world have bone problems, some affections making bones extremely fragile, but those affected the most by these problems are senior citizens.

A new research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society shows that the intake of magnesium through diet and supplements is positively associated with bone density throughout the whole body, particularly in older white adults.

Over 2,000 black and white men and women ages 70-79 years old were asked to complete a questionnaire to determine how much magnesium they were receiving from food and various supplements. Additionally, researchers performed bone mineral density tests on the participants.

The study revealed that those who ingested more magnesium had significantly higher bone density than those who got the least amount of magnesium.

For every 100 milligram per day increase in magnesium intake, data showed a 1% increase in bone density.

However, this link was only true for the older white men and women.

Previous research has demonstrated that black men and women may process vitamin D and other calcium regulating hormones differently than whites, thus possibly explaining the lack of association between magnesium and bone density among them in this study.
For this age group, the recommended magnesium intake is of 320mg/day for women and of 420 mg/day for men, and most of the seniors have a much lower one.