Magnesium is a mineral that plays an important role in maintaining healthy bones. It contributes to increased bone density and helps prevent the onset of osteoporosis.
#3 Magnesium
It also is an important building block for bone strength. It is generally recommended that adults take a supplement of 250-400mg daily. Magnesium glycinate or magnesium gluconate at the best absorbed and are less likely to have the laxative effect that occurs with magnesium oxide or magnesium citrate.
Magnesium plays a key role in bone health and may, therefore, represent an interesting nutrient for the prevention of bone loss and osteoporosis.
Yet after 40 years, it has become evident that taking calcium alone does not stop or even slow bone loss and does not prevent osteoporosis. The new wisdom now emerging is that magnesium is actually the key to the body's proper assimilation and use of calcium, as well as other important nutrients.
Osteoporosis is not reversible, but medication, a nutrient-dense diet, and weight bearing exercise can help prevent further bone loss and rebuild bones. Osteoporosis weaken bones so that they are more likely to break. Bones consist of living tissue .
Choose weight-bearing exercise, such as strength training, walking, hiking, jogging, climbing stairs, tennis, and dancing. This type of physical activity can help build and strengthen your bones.
If you have osteoporosis or osteopenia, make sure you are getting from your supplement 250 mg to 750 mg per day. If you eat regularly a lot of the magnesium rich foods, you'll probably only need to supplement at the lower end of the range. If not, supplement the full 750 mg per day.
More research is needed on the optimal dose of magnesium supplementation when it comes to the risk of osteoporosis and bone fracture. Overdosing on magnesium has been found to have the opposite effect, weakening bones instead of fortifying them.
A good rule of thumb is a 2:1 calcium-to-magnesium ratio. For example, if you take 1000mg of calcium, you should also take 500mg of magnesium. The recommended amount of magnesium is 300mg to 500mg daily.
Can you take vitamin D and magnesium together? Yes. In fact, it's probably best to take both together. Because so many people have low magnesium levels, vitamin D supplements on their own aren't very helpful for a large portion of the population.
If You Take Mineral Supplements
Large doses of minerals can compete with each other to be absorbed. Don't use calcium, zinc, or magnesium supplements at the same time.
Vitamin D may help with osteoporosis because it plays a role in bone growth and remodeling. The human body continually breaks down old bone and replaces it.
Exercise. Specifically weight training and walking are beneficial for increasing bone density in middle-aged and older people [77]. Regular weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises can reduce the risk of falls and fractures [78, 79, 80, and 81].
Magnesium and calcium should not be taken at the same time, as both minerals together can impair absorption in the intestines. An optimal recommendation is to take calcium in the morning and magnesium in the evening. The reason for this is that both have a similar chemical structure.
Large doses might cause too much magnesium to build up in the body, causing serious side effects including an irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure, confusion, slowed breathing, coma, and death.
These two elements can be safely taken together as they work together to support our bone strength and density, among other positive effects. Taking calcium and magnesium together as either individual supplements or part of a multivitamin is very common and proven to be safe.
In line with this hypothesis, previous research showed that Mg2+ concentrations as low as 0.8 mM reversed established calcification in human VSMC, which could be abrogated by 2-APB treatment17. These results suggest that cellular Mg2+ uptake via TRPM7 prevents VSMC calcification7,11,17.
More common side effects from magnesium include upset stomach and diarrhea. Magnesium competes with calcium for absorption and can cause a calcium deficiency if calcium levels are already low. Some medications may lower magnesium levels in the body.
Carolyn Dean, the following common factors can deplete the body's magnesium and/or increase the demand for magnesium: Supplements and drugs containing caffeine. Diuretics. Certain medications, including proton pump inhibitors, asthma medications, birth control pills, insulin, digitalis, and certain antibiotics.
Although you can't completely reverse osteoporosis, there are ways to manage it. Some of those methods are things you can do every day through diet and exercise. Your doctor may also recommend that you take medicine.
Can you reverse osteoporosis? Technically, once you have osteoporosis, you have it for life. It's incurable. However, there are ways to prevent it, ways to slow down its progression, and — if you catch it early enough — ways to counteract it.
Although some people with osteoporosis may need medication, natural treatments may help a person slow the progression of the condition. Possible natural treatments include dietary changes, increasing vitamin D and calcium levels, exercising, and limiting or stopping smoking and alcohol consumption.