Magnesium is an essential micronutrient that serves many functions in the body including maintaining energy metabolism, muscle and nerve function, immune system actions, blood pressure and blood glucose levels. The Office of Dietary Supplements reports results from the Nurses' Health Study conducted in 1980 and the Health Professionals' Follow-up Study, conducted in 1986, which suggested that low magnesium intake increases the risk for developing type 2 diabetes. In addition, magnesium levels often prove lower in type 2 diabetics because of impaired kidney function caused by chronic hyperglycemia.
Lowers Glucose Levels
A study in the April 2003 issue of "Diabetes Care" reports that fasting blood glucose levels and average blood glucose concentrations were significantly lowered in type 2 diabetics administered oral supplements of magnesium. The participants in this study had deficiencies in magnesium at the start of this study and received 2.5 g of magnesium chloride per day for 16 weeks. An article in the November 1998 issue of "Diabetes Care" reports that results from other earlier studies did not show that magnesium improves glucose control in type 2 diabetics. Therefore, the evidence that magnesium improves glucose control in type 2 diabetics remains conflicting. In 1999 the American Diabetes Association recommended that type 2 diabetics should routinely receive testing for magnesium levels and if magnesium is deficient than it should be replaced.
Increases Insulin Sensitivity
A decrease in insulin sensitivity precedes the onset of type 2 diabetes and is a chronic characteristic of the disease. Increasing insulin sensitivity is a common mechanism by which antidiabetic drugs improve glucose control. A study in "Diabetes and Metabolism" reports that administration of 2.5 g magnesium chloride per day increased insulin sensitivity in nondiabetic people that were insulin resistant and magnesium deficient.
Other Antidiabetic Effects
A 2004 study by Dr. Kuninobu Yokota et al, in the "Journal of the American College of Nutrition" reports that magnesium supplemented water decreased serum insulin levels, circulating lipids and hypertension in type 2 diabetics. The article in "Diabetes Metabolism" reports that other studies have shown that magnesium deficiency has links to cardiovascular disease, which is the number one cause of death in type 2 diabetics.
References
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Magnesium
- "Journal of the American College of Nutrition"; Clinical Efficacy of Magnesium Supplementation in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes; K. Yokota et al.; 2004
- "Diabetes Care"; Oral Magnesium Supplementation Improves Insulin Sensitivity and Metabolic Control in Type 2 Diabetic Subjects; M. Rodríguez-Morán and F. Guerrero-Romero; April 2003
- "Diabetes and Metabolism"; Oral Magnesium Supplementation Improves Insulin Sensitivity in Non-Diabetic Subjects with Insulin Resistance; F. Guerrero-Romero et al.; 2004
- "Diabetes Care"; Magnesium Supplementation in Type 2 Diabetes; N. Eibl et al.; November 1998
