A New Study About the Magnesium Benefits for Diabetics
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If you have read my article “To Keep Going, Your Heart Needs Foods with Magnesium” you know that an adequate amount of magnesium benefits people who have a heart condition. Actually, magnesium benefits almost anybody since it can help prevent heart disease.
And now we have a recent study showing that magnesium can also benefit people who are insulin resistant thus helping prevent type 2 diabetes.
Here is the article as published by the endocrine web on Jan 10, 2011 on the benefits of magnesium:
Magnesium supplementation may cut diabetes risk
Daily magnesium supplementation may help overweight individuals who have become insulin resistant improve their condition and avoid type 2 diabetes, according to a new study from German researchers.
Reporting in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, researchers from the Justus Liebig University said that low levels of magnesium have been shown in several recent studies to be strongly correlated with an increased risk of metabolic dysfunction.
In fact, a 2004 study that appeared in the journal Diabetes Care found that children with low magnesium levels were significantly more likely to become insulin resistant, which dramatically elevates an individual’s risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Other studies have confirmed the relationship between low levels of magnesium and insulin resistance.
For the present study, researchers wanted to see if taking oral magnesium supplements could correct this problem. They recruited 52 participants who were overweight and insulin resistant but who did not have diabetes. For a period of six months, half the group received active magnesium supplements while the remaining group was given a placebo.
At the end of the study period, the researchers found that participants who received active supplements had much healthier blood sugar levels. Additionally, they improved in measures of insulin sensitivity.
However, participants who took the supplements did not show any improvement in their blood pressure, which is also generally associated with low levels of magnesium. Still, the researchers said that the improvements in insulin sensitivity and blood sugar were so great that patients who are at risk for type 2 diabetes should consider supplementation.
“The results provide significant evidence that oral magnesium supplementation improves insulin sensitivity even in overweight, non-diabetic subjects, emphasizing the need for an early optimization of magnesium status to prevent insulin resistance and subsequently type 2 diabetes,” they wrote in their report.
End of article by www.endocrineweb.com
Do you need to take magnesium supplements?
The best way to get extra magnesium is through the diet. Eating the recommended 2-3 servings of fruit and 4-6 servings of
Foods with magnesium
vegetables will increase magnesium in your cells. For a list of foods high in magnesium you may want to check the article I mentioned before, “To Keep Going, Your Heart Needs Foods in Magnesium”.
In 1992, the American Diabetes Association issued the following statement: “Adequate dietary magnesium intake can generally be achieved by a nutritionally balanced meal plan as recommended by the American Diabetes Association. … Only diabetic patients at high risk of hypomagnesemia should have total serum (blood) magnesium assessed, and such levels should be repleted (replaced) only if hypomagnesemia can be demonstrated.”
My note: hypomagnesemia is another word for low magnesium.
The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences has established that a maximum daily intake of supplemental magnesium at 350 mg is well tolerated by adults and adolescents.
If you are having a hard time controlling your level of blood sugar you may have a deficiency of magnesium. Ask your doctor to do a test to see if you need extra magnesium but do not take supplements on your own because it can cause toxicity. People with well-controlled diabetes do not need to supplement their diet with magnesium pills. Including fruits and vegetables in the diet should be enough.
Final words
I would like to emphasize that if you are taking any type of medication, do not take magnesium supplements without talking to your doctor. This is a mineral that when taken in amounts higher than recommended can cause problems, especially in the kidneys because as we get older, the kidneys are not as effective at removing garbage from our body,
To your health!
Emilia Klapp, R.D., B.S.
www.TheDiabetesClub.com
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To Keep Going, Your Heart Needs Foods with Magnesium
Posted on Jan 6, 2011
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