section_path: Biological role/Human nutrition
section_name: Human nutrition
paragraph_text: Human nutrition
  
  There is some evidence that silicon is important to human health for their nail, hair, bone, and skin tissues, for example, in studies that demonstrate that premenopausal women with higher dietary silicon intake have higher bone density, and that silicon supplementation can increase bone volume and density in patients with osteoporosis. Silicon is needed for synthesis of elastin and collagen, of which the aorta contains the greatest quantity in the human body, and has been considered an essential element; nevertheless, it is difficult to prove its essentiality, because silicon is very common, and hence, deficiency symptoms are difficult to reproduce.
  
  Silicon is currently under consideration for elevation to the status of a "plant beneficial substance by the Association of American Plant Food Control Officials (AAPFCO)."