Dear Friends,
One of the greatest challenges (and fears) of aging is maintaining healthy cognitive function.
A recent study published in Nutrients spotlighted the importance of giving our bodies enough calcium and magnesium to help brain function as we age.
The study involved 1,220 adults over the age of 60 and was conducted by medical researchers in Poland. The researchers found that those with low blood serum levels of calcium and magnesium tended to perform worse on cognitive function tests.
Previous research looking at the impact of magnesium and calcium on brain health mostly focused on dietary intake of these minerals rather than blood serum levels.
That’s why in this new study the researchers wanted to analyze actual blood levels of these minerals in subjects to see if the results corroborated the findings of the dietary intake studies.
Summary of Previous Dietary Intake Findings
In general, in the dietary intake studies, most of the work has found that a shortfall in magnesium intake is associated with poorer cognitive health as we age, and those with adequate magnesium are more likely to have better cognitive function.
That’s not too surprising because we know that among the over 300 physiological processes that magnesium plays a role in, a good number are important for brain health.
With calcium, the dietary intake data with respect to brain health has been less definitive than with magnesium.
Some studies show that too little calcium can affect cognitive function in a negative way, other studies concluded there wasn’t much impact.
New Study Classified Participants Into 4 Groups
In this new study, the researchers measured the blood serum levels of magnesium and calcium of the participants and used the results to classify them into 1 of 4 categories:
1. Normal magnesium and calcium levels
2. Low magnesium levels
3. Low calcium levels
4. Low magnesium and calcium levels
To evaluate cognitive function, the researchers used two testing models, including the Mini-Mental State Examination or MMSE, which is commonly used to assess brain health and function.
In analyzing the data, the researchers made adjustments for factors like age, sex, body mass index and health issues to see if these variables were relevant to the results.
Surprising Result for Calcium
The researchers concluded that those with normal magnesium and calcium levels performed much better in the cognitive testing than any of the other groups with low magnesium and/or low calcium levels.
Here was the part I found surprising: the results from this study showed that low calcium seemed to be even more of a factor (i.e. affecting cognitive function negatively) than low magnesium levels.
Based on the previous work, I would have guessed it would have been the other way around.
It was no surprise that age, fitness level and health challenges like heart problems were found to affect cognitive function, but even independent of those factors, this study found low blood serum levels of magnesium and calcium were associated with a decline in cognitive performance.
So while more work needs to be done to confirm this finding, it adds to our knowledge base, and reinforces that giving our bodies adequate calcium and magnesium each day is important to heathy aging.
What’s the Role of Supplements?
As we think about the role of supplements in helping to bridge gaps from diet, we have to be mindful that getting too little of these minerals is not good, but getting way too much can be bad too.
Let’s remember that the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) for calcium and magnesium is a target of your total consumption from food and supplements combined.
Exceeding the RDA to a degree is likely alright for most of us, but you don’t want to overdo it too much, unless you’re following doctor’s orders.
For calcium, the RDA is 1,200mg a day, and USDA data indicates the average American gets around 800mg a day from food, so most folks fall short of the RDA.
And this is probably magnified if you don’t eat dairy products which are a good source of calcium.
Why We Prefer Plant-Based Calcium for Supplements
If you’re taking our TrueOsteo+ or TrueOsteo products for bone health, you know that we believe the best source of calcium for supplements comes from plants – not the crushed-up limestone rock used as the calcium source in most supplements.
The plant source we use in our bone health product is called AlgaeCal, made from algae as the name suggests.
We like it because it’s more easily digested and absorbed than standard calcium, and much gentler on the stomach.
If you take the recommended 4 capsules a day of TrueOsteo or TrueOsteo+, it will give you about 720mg of calcium a day.
We use this amount because research found this was the dosage required to help increase bone density in mature women.
For most people, the 720mg of calcium they get from the TrueOsteo products, on top of what they get from diet, helps them to reach the RDA, which is the goal.
A nice bonus is that in addition to the calcium, the algae powder naturally provides about 60mg of magnesium from the 4 capsules.
Only 25% of Americans Meet the Magnesium RDA from Diet Alone
Magnesium is crucial to many body functions, but according to data from the USDA, about 75% of Americans fail to reach the 400mg RDA for magnesium from diet alone.
I recommend our TrueMagnesium drink powder to help bridge nutritional gaps. Each serving has 200mg of magnesium – most of our clients take 1 or 2 servings a day.
TrueMagnesium contains what we believe is the best form of magnesium for supplements, which is magnesium bisglycinate chelate, because it’s both chelated and soluble.
Without getting into all the technical details, this helps your body best absorb and use the magnesium, without causing unwanted effects like gastrointestinal distress.
You can find out more details about these products at the TrueMagnesium, TrueOsteo+ and TrueOsteo product pages, and we’re always here to help if you have questions.
Yours for Good Health,
Carl Pradelli
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