(09-01-11) Magnesium prevents diabetes

by David Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Eating a diet high in magnesium may significantly lower your
risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to a study conducted by
researchers from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and published in
the journal Diabetes Care.

"Increasing magnesium intake may be important for improving insulin
sensitivity, reducing systemic inflammation, and decreasing diabetes risk," the
researchers wrote.

The researchers compared magnesium intake and diabetes rates in 4,497 people
who were free of diabetes when they began the study between the ages of 18 and
30. Twenty years later, 330 of the participants had developed Type 2 diabetes.

The risk of diabetes was 47 percent lower among participants with the highest
magnesium intake than among those with the lowest. In addition, levels of
insulin resistance and key inflammation markers decreased as intake of the
mineral increased.

The highest magnesium intakes in the study were approximately 200 milligrams
daily per 1,000 calories consumed. The lowest were approximately 100 milligrams
daily per 1,000 calories. Intake came both from food sources and from
supplements.

The researchers said that more research will be necessary to understand the
chemical mechanisms underlying the effect, and to make sure that magnesium is
the nutrient causing the reduction in diabetes rates, and not some associated
variable.

"Further large-scale clinical trials are needed to establish causal inference
and elucidate the mechanisms behind this potential benefit," they wrote.

Magnesium is known to play a role in regulating certain glucose-processing
enzymes, and prior studies have linked higher intakes with lower diabetes risk.

"The journal Diabetes Care published a study in which overweight women who
consumed large amounts of magnesium were 22 percent less likely to develop Type
2 diabetes than women who consumed lower amounts," writes Phyllis A. Balch in
the book Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition.

Good dietary sources of magnesium include whole grains, green leafy vegetables
and nuts.

To learn more about how to fight disease with a healthy diet, read the free
NaturalNews.com report Nutrition Can Save America! at
http://www.naturalnews.com/report_N....

Sources for this story include: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS....

News

---

In evidenza

"L'informazione presente nel sito serve a migliorare, e non a sostituire, il rapporto medico-paziente."

Per coloro che hanno problemi di salute si consiglia di consultare sempre il proprio medico curante.