Magnesium Plays a Pivotal Role in the Secretion and Function of Insulin

Carolyn Dean, MD, ND, author of numerous books including "The Magnesium Miracle" and Medical Director of the non-profit - Nutritional Magnesium Association http://www.nutritionalmagnesium.org has this information to share that I thought readers may find useful.

Common complications of diabetes include nerve damage, called diabetic neuropathy, which mostly affects the feet, with symptoms of numbness, tingling, burning, and pain; atherosclerosis and heart attacks; damage to small blood vessels in the eyes and kidneys, causing vision loss (diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the United States) and kidney disease; diabetic foot ulcers, with increased susceptibility to infection, gangrene, and amputation; and impotence in men. All these complications relate to magnesium deficiency and demonstrate the need for sensitive magnesium testing and magnesium supplementation for diabetes.

One diabetic complication that may not be obvious is the tendency for doctors to put diabetics on statin medication. Because diabetes and elevated cholesterol are associated, drug companies promote the use of statins, presumably as a preventive measure. This, however, may not be such a good idea for people who are already suffering symptoms of magnesium deficiency. Low magnesium levels serve as a relatively new marker for diabetes, occurring in up to 40 percent of diabetic patients.

However, if some doctors are skeptical, no one can deny the results from three of the largest studies on the incidence of diseases, the Harvard Nurses' Health Study of 85,000 women, the 43,000 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, and another 40,000 women in the Iowa Women's Health Study. All three studies observed that people with the highest levels of the mineral magnesium in their diets have the lowest risk for developing diabetes. It's important that this information be promoted more widely.

1.Magnesium plays a pivotal role in the secretion and function of insulin; without it, diabetes is inevitable. Measurable magnesium deficiency is common in diabetes and in many of its complications, including heart disease, eye damage, high blood pressure, and obesity. When the treatment of diabetes includes magnesium, these problems are prevented or minimized.

2. The proper diet for the prevention and treatment of diabetes includes frequent small meals of protein (fish-especially wild salmon, to avoid mercury-and free-range chicken and meat) and complex carbohydrates (whole grains, legumes, and vegetables), as well as the avoidance of simple sugars and white flour.

3. Stevia, from the leaves of a plant that grows in South America, is the best sweetener to use. You can find it in health food stores. Don't use the sugar substitute aspartame, which can worsen blood sugar control and cause weight gain, headaches, nerve damage, and eye damage, because it is made partly from wood alcohol, which breaks down to formaldehyde.

4. Fiber from oat bran, flaxseed, and apples have a positive effect on keeping blood sugar balanced.