By Staff Writer - March, 2nd 2014

Experts say that many people in the U.S. aren't eating enough foods with magnesium. Adults who consume less than the recommended amount of magnesium are more likely to have elevated inflammation markers. Inflammation, in turn, has been associated with major health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. Also, low magnesium appears to be a risk factor for osteoporosis.

Natural Health News — Drinking water with a relatively high concentration of magnesium protects against hip fractures, say Norwegian scientists.

Researchers studied variations in magnesium and calcium levels in drinking water between different areas. Both calcium and magnesium have a biological role to play in development of bone strength and the scientists wanted to examine whether there was a correlation between magnesium and calcium concentrations in drinking water and the incidence of hip fracture.

The study also followed approximately 700,000 men and women over seven years and registered about 5,500 hip fractures among men and 13,600 hip fractures for women in this period.

The results, published in the journal Bone, found that where the water was naturally higher in magnesium it had a protective effect against hip fracture for both men and women. Surprisingly, the study did not find a link between calcium in drinking water and the number of hip fractures suffered …

Magnesium is one of the seven major minerals that the body needs in relatively large amounts (Calcium, potassium, sodium, chloride, potassium and phosphorus are the others). But too much of one major mineral can lead to a deficiency in another, and excessive magnesium can in turn cause a deficiency in calcium. Few people overdose on minerals from food. However, it is possible to get too much magnesium from supplements or laxatives.

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