Increased Mineral Intake May Reduce Mortality

A recently published study reported that increased intake of a specific, essential mineral reduced all-cause mortality rates in men. All-cause mortality is death due to any cause. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the majority of Americans do not take in the recommended amount of calcium and magnesium. In fact, one study showed that 55 percent of men and 78 percent of women aged 20 years or older do not ingest the recommended daily intake of calcium.

In this new study, researchers investigated the relationship between calcium and magnesium intake and mortality rates in a group of Swedish men. The subjects included 23,366 men 45-79 years of age who did not take dietary supplements. The men were followed for approximately 9 years to evaluate deaths rated due to all-cause mortality, cancer-related mortality and cardiovascular disease-related mortality.

During the follow-up period, there were 2,358 deaths from all causes, 819 cardio-vascular-disease-related deaths and 738 cancer-related deaths. The study found that the men with the highest intake of calcium had a decrease in the risk of all-cause mortality by 25 percent compared to the men with the lowest intake. The study also showed that cardiovascular disease mortality decreased by 23 percent in the men with the highest calcium intake, although this finding was not statistically significant. Magnesium intake was not associated with mortality rates.

Thus, the researchers concluded, “This population-based, prospective study of men with relatively high intakes of dietary calcium and magnesium showed that intake of calcium above that recommended daily may reduce all-cause mortality.”

Reference:
Kaluza J, Orsini N, Levitan EB, Brzozowska A, Roszkowski W, Wolk A. Dietary Calcium and Magnesium Intake and Mortality: A Prospective Study of Men. Am J Epidemiol. 2010 Feb 19. Published Online Ahead or Print.