It's amazing how much information we have over the past few years on diabetes and magnesium, and they are still saying that we need more "well designed clinical trials" to prove what we already know. Still magnesium supplementation is not recognized nor promoted by the Canadian /American Diabetes Association, despite the fact that studies have shown that at minimum, 80% of diabetics are deficient in magnesium, with 50 % well below even half the recommended daily allowance.

Magnesium affects carbohydrate metabolism by influencing the release and activity of insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels, by influencing the resistance and sensitivity to insulin. Magnesium for diabetics is critical. At least twenty five percent of diabetics have hypomagnesemia and this is likely an underestimate. One group has recently suggested that the effects of reduced glutathione on glucose metabolism may be mediated, at least in part, by intracellular magnesium levels. Dr. Carolyn Dean indicates that magnesium deficiency may be an independent predictor of diabetes and that diabetics both need more magnesium and lose more magnesium than most people. Magnesium is necessary for the production, function & transport of insulin. Magnesium deficiency is associated with insulin resistance and increased platelet reactivity. According to Dr. Jerry L. Nadler, “The link between diabetes mellitus and magnesium deficiency is well known. A growing body of evidence suggests that magnesium plays a pivotal role in reducing cardiovascular risks and may be involved in the pathogenesis of diabetes itself. While the benefits of oral magnesium supplementation on glycemic control have yet to be demonstrated in patients, magnesium supplementation has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity. Based on current knowledge, clinicians have good reason to believe that magnesium repletion may play a role in delaying type 2 diabetes onset and potentially in warding off its devastating complications -- cardiovascular disease, retinopathy, and nephropathy.”

Such a simple thing, to add magnesium, which will combat both insulin resistance and hypertension.....and do so much more. All diabetics and all labeled "pre-diabetic" should be supplementing with magnesium. All who have been told they have metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes type 2 should be supplementing with magnesium. All type one diabetics should be supplementing with magnesium, to prevent the resistance that developes and all on weight loss diets to avoid onset of diabetes should be supplementing with magnesium. We simply can no longer rely on diet alone to provide our magnesium needs.

There are two mammoth factors that are linked to the horrendous rise in diabetes in adults and children that the western medical establishment has not paid attention to. The first is deficiency in magnesium, and the other is chemical poisoning. The convergence of large drops in cellular magnesium, which offers protective coverage against chemical toxicity, and increasing poisoning of people’s blood streams with heavy metals like arsenic and mercury, as well as a literal host of other chemical toxins in the environment, are teaming up to create a literal pandemic. Eating junk food fits right into this alarming picture for poor diet translates immediately into massive magnesium deficiencies, and modern processed food is also high in chemical preservatives and pesticides that are also harmful to health.

"Transdermal Magnesium Therapy" by Mark Sircus, O.M.D.

Magnesium and potassium supplementation in the prevention of diabetic vascular disease

Whang R, Sims G.

Department of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, USA.

Vascular disease underlies many of the complications of diabetes and includes coronary, cerebral, renal, peripheral and retinal vascular abnormalities. Magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K) deficiencies occur frequently in diabetic patients. Because of the vasoconstrictive effects of hypomagnesemia and hypokalemia and the adverse effects of Mg and K deficiency on carbohydrate metabolism we hypothesize that routine Mg and K supplementation of all hypomagnesemic diabetics will ameliorate or prevent the ravages of diabetic vascular disease.

PMID: 10985921 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

The Magnesium Report

Clinical, Research, and Laboratory News for Cardiologists
Third Quarter 2000

Diabetes and Magnesium: The Emerging Role of Oral Magnesium Supplementation
Jerry L. Nadler, MD
The link between diabetes mellitus and magnesium deficiency is well known. A growing body of evidence suggests that magnesium plays a pivotal role in reducing cardiovascular risks and may be involved in the pathogenesis of diabetes itself. While the benefits of oral magnesium supplementation on glycemic control have yet to be demonstrated in patients, magnesium supplementation has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity. Based on current knowledge, clinicians have good reason to believe that magnesium repletion may play a role in delaying type 2 diabetes onset and potentially in warding off its devastating complications -- cardiovascular disease, retinopathy, and nephropathy.

Magnesium levels in patients with diabetes
Many studies have shown that both mean plasma and intracellular free magnesium levels are lower in patients with diabetes than in the general population. This magnesium deficiency, which may take the form of a chronic latent magnesium deficit rather than clinical hypomagnesemia, may have clinical importance because the magnesium ion is a crucial cofactor for many enzymatic reactions involved in metabolic processes.

Many studies show that mean plasma levels are lower in patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes compared with non-diabetic control subjects. The concentration of intracellular free magnesium in erythrocytes is a more sensitive marker in people with diabetes and insulin resistance than are plasma levels of magnesium. Decreased levels of free intracellular magnesium in erythrocytes have been reported in the majority of patients with type 2 diabetes.

Resnick and associates suggest that extracellular and intracellular magnesium deficiency is typical in chronic, stable, mild type 2 diabetes and may be a strong predisposing factor for the development of the excess cardiovascular morbidity associated with diabetes. These investigators showed that the levels of serum ionized magnesium and erythrocyte intracellular free magnesium were significantly lower in 22 untreated patients with type 2 diabetes and mild hyperglycemia than they were in 30 healthy control subjects

Magnesium loss and insulin resistance
Among its many actions, insulin stimulates the transport of magnesium from the extra-cellular to the intracellular compartment. Using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp technique, Paolisso and associates showed that plasma magnesium level declined and erythrocyte magnesium levels rose significantly (P<.05) in response to insulin in fasting healthy adults with no family history of diabetes.

Insulin resistance -- central to type 2 diabetes -- is associated with reduced intracellular magnesium and can be mitigated with magnesium. It has been demonstrated that insulin resistance in skeletal muscle can be reduced by magnesium administration.

Reduced magnesium levels in diabetes are caused by several factors. The link between magnesium deficiency and the development of diabetes is strengthened by the observation that several treatments for type 2 diabetes appear to increase magnesium levels. Metformin, for example, raises magnesium levels in the liver. Pioglitazone, a thiazolidinedione antidiabetic agent that increases insulin sensitivity, increases free magnesium concentration in adipocytes.

Reduced intake and reduced levels of magnesium may lead to increased atherosclerosis.

Over the past several years there has been an increase in obesity in children. Along with this weight issue there has also been an increase in the number of cases of juvenile, or type 2 diabetes. Studies have tied this insulin related dilemma with a deficiency of the electrolyte magnesium.

Studies show that there is a correlation between a low magnesium level and insulin resistance. Diabetes, or insulin resistance occurs when the cells cannot or will not absorb insulin, a protein produced in the pancreas, in the conversion of glucose into energy.

Diabetic Article

Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Magnesium and Diabetes - Is There a Connection?

By Virginia Pipolini

Over the past several years we have seen an increase in obesity in children. Along with this weight issue we have also seen an increase in the number of cases of juvenile, or type 2 diabetes. Studies have tied this insulin related dilemma with a deficiency of the electrolyte magnesium.

Studies show that there is a correlation between a low magnesium level and insulin resistance. Diabetes, or insulin resistance occurs when the cells cannot or will not absorb insulin, a protein produced in the pancreas, in the conversion of glucose into energy.

The number of diabetes cases keeps rising. Diabetes is prevalent in over weight children, and there is a demonstrated connection between excess weight and magnesium deficiency.

Several physicians at the University of Virginia conducted a study of the connection between magnesium levels and insulin sensitivity in children. The serum magnesium level was measured as well as insulin resistance, and diets were reviewed to review magnesium intake. The results showed that insulin resistance and magnesium deficiencies were connected.

Our obesity or excess fat does not allow us to use our magnesium to properly break down carbohydrates. Most western diets are low in magnesium and other vital nutrients. Dr. Mark Sircus, as well as others, have stated that magnesium can be absorbed through the skin, or transdermally. One of the side affects of applying transdermal magnesium is a more relaxed feeling, and improved sleep.

The study conducted by the University of Virginia, Magnesium Deficiency is Associated with Insulin Resistance in Obese Children, was originally presented in Diabetes Care 28:1175-1181, 2005. The conclusion states that by improving the magnesium level in children we may be able to prevent the onset of juvenile type two diabetes.