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Magnesium and Diabetes

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Posted 6/18/2013 4:24 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Everyone!  I haven't been here in a long time.  I'm having problems with osteoporosis so I have been doing a lot of research.  I stumbled upon this article that explains how beneficial magnesium is and it talks a lot about magnesium and diabetes....it helps with blood sugar control.  I didn't know that.  Maybe you all did but I thought I'd share this link with you.

 

This is from The National Institutes of Health.  It's a long read but I think it is important.  about 2/3's down it discusses diabetes in some length but all of this article is important, I think, to help all of us be healthier.  So, grab your ice water and carrot sticks devil and sit back and check out this link.  I hope this helps some of you.

 

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/

 

Sherrine

Posted 6/18/2013 8:42 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the article, Sherrine! Magnesium. With everyone talking about being tested for vitamin D, what other vitamins and minerals should we be tested for? Iron. Potassium. These I'm familiar with and yet do labs normally test for other difficiencies?

I noticed that my multi-vitamin now has iodine. I don't remember iodine being in those before but I've read that since many people (me included) are switching to sea salt, that iodine is lacking in some diets.
Posted 6/20/2013 1:12 PM (GMT 0)
First of all unlike iron, vitamin D, B12, etc., there is no reliable blood test to check for magnesium deficiency. Mag is so essental for your body's metabolism that it will cannibalize magnesium from your body's stores and tissues to maintain sufficient blood levels. 

Check out your body's magnesium requirement, 350-500 mg per day, and then monitor your food intake. Unless you eat leaves from trees all day then you will probably notice that your daily intake of magnesium does not meet the minimum. 

Never take calcium alone without magnesium. Some speculate that may be the reason calcium supplementation is sometimes associated with kidney stones and heart problems.
Posted 6/20/2013 6:09 PM (GMT 0)
Here is one of the sites that lists sources of magnesium:  http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-998-MAGNESIUM.aspx?activeIngredientId=998&activeIngredientName=MAGNESIUM

After reading this and others available online, I feel I probably get a pretty good supply because I eat lots of leafy greens, nuts and beans and I take a multi-vitamin as well.  There is a caution about magnesium pills as they can cause loose bowels (think of milk of magnesia!), so I'd be careful with those.

Thanks, Sherrine and Babe, for this information.

 

Posted 6/20/2013 8:53 PM (GMT 0)
Back when I was reading about detemir side effects I also came across some piece of info that claimed that it seems common for especially diabetics to have some level of magnesium deficiency. So, I've been magnesium+vitamin B pills lately. I can't tell for sure, but the supplement seems to also help with my headaches. However, the headache might be a side effect from my insulin, which I am about to change in few weeks anyways.
Posted 6/20/2013 9:13 PM (GMT 0)
I can't tell for sure, but the supplement seems to also help with my headaches.

You are not just imagining that. Many migraine sufferers find that magnesium brings them some relief. In fact those who are driven to the emergency room because of unbearable migraine pain are sometimes given magnesium chloride intravenously.
Posted 6/20/2013 9:25 PM (GMT 0)
It's just a low level headache, not a migraine by a long shot, never had one. I don't know what causes it. However, after I've taken that Mg+vit. B pill even if only at half the recommended dose, the ache is gone. It comes back eventually, but it's not possible to tell when. Several days maybe. It does not affect as quickly as a painkiller would, but I'd rather take this magnesium pill every now and then.
Posted 6/21/2013 8:23 PM (GMT 0)
my wife has type 2 diabetes and takes metformin. our highly qualified doctor regularly tests her blood for magnesium and has her on supplemental magnesium. her dosage has been raised a couple times. she inferrred that people on metformin have low magnesium because of the metformin. i can not accept the statement that there is no reliable test for magnesium. it would be malpractice to prescribe as the result of a known unreliable test.
Posted 6/21/2013 9:52 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, I'm from the Lyme page but I saw magnesium so I had to look. I have posted a detailed thread about Manganese and Magnesium in hemp seeds. I buy them shelled in the bag. Where many foods have a bit of magnesium, they have a lot. I believe it is 45% RDA from 3 tablespoons.  I'm pretty sure that's it, but look under Lyme to get the whole thing. I listed the protein and fiber, etc there. Also one brand name and contact info.  I always prefer to get my dietary needs from food when I can. The seeds are pretty tasty and nutty. (I'd like to think I am too, but mostly I'm a wiseacre.) Good luck, I hope this helps.
Posted 6/21/2013 10:20 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you all for your information about magnesium. This is something I am going to look into more now.
Posted 6/22/2013 3:31 AM (GMT 0)
If you do decide to take magnesium, start out slowly since it can cause diarrhea. I didn't have a problem since I started out slowly, saw how my body reacted and then added more.

Sherrine
Posted 6/22/2013 2:12 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, Sherrine. I'm thinking I would get a bottle of them but normally the dosage would say one or two pills or capsules. How would a person know how much more than the RDA to take?
Posted 6/22/2013 5:14 PM (GMT 0)
A normal test result does not necessarily indicate that you have adequate mag levels, but a low test result for sure indicates you are definitely deficient. 

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypomagnesemia

The diagnosis can be made by finding a plasma magnesium concentration of less than 0.7 mmol/l. Since most magnesium is intracellular, a body deficit can be present with a normal plasma concentration.
Posted 6/22/2013 7:02 PM (GMT 0)

Sherrine - that link was very interesting. I'll dig into the later links -later!

Starting slowly and increasing a bit at a time makes lots of sense. There was a mention of max levels in that first link, wasn't there?

One system is to add more Mag foods and listen to if your body says "I want more of that" or "Hey, I'm burned out on...". Don't make drastic increases any given day, but every couple days bump it up and listen to your cravings.

I feel our brain takes inventory and asks for what it needs.

Posted 6/22/2013 11:42 PM (GMT 0)
Diabetics and prediabetics may need to watch our carb intake, but FWIW dark chocolate is packed with magnesium. 

Some have speculated that a craving for chocolate might signal your body needing magnesium. But I am skeptical, oatmeal and most beans also contain a lot of mag and I don't see many people pigging out on those foods.
Posted 6/23/2013 1:24 AM (GMT 0)
tongue   Bean cravings!

Not all chocolate is the same!  I have a bar of Lindt 85% dark chocolate which I can eat 4 squares of and be ok but I don't crave it because it's hardly sweet.  Milk chocolate and other chocolate bars have a lot of sugar and I think that is what creates the cravings.  When I ate oatmeal, I liked it with maple syrup and I would crash an hour after eating it.  That was before I'd been officially diagnosed as "prediabetic". 

So, nope, I don't think chocolate cravings would signal the body needing magnesium.

Posted 6/23/2013 1:25 AM (GMT 0)
Spinach is one of the foods highest in magnesium. The reason I came upon this was for a different problem...osteoporosis. I take nearly 500 mg of magnesium plus what I get in my food but I'm not sure I'm absorbing it due to digestive problems. I do want to be tested.

I've been taking magnesium for muscle pain for around five years. I spoke with my pharmacist to see if that would be too much magnesium. He said they fill prescriptions of 1500 mg for heart patients. But always talk to your doctor first before adding things. As I said, I want my magnesium levels tested before I add any more magnesium to my diet. But I was really surprised when I saw the diabetes link with magnesium. My blood sugar is well controlled and perhaps this is one of the reasons why.

Sherrine
Posted 6/23/2013 2:27 AM (GMT 0)
I eat both fresh and frozen spinach - and of course a serving of frozen spinach is a LOT more than the handful of fresh leaves in a salad.  In any case I eat a lot of spinach.  I'd bet I could stick some refrigerator magnets on me and they would stay!   tongue    I wasn't even aware of magnesium.  I was thinking of iron and whatever the "leafy greens" have that make us healthy! 

Beans!  I make a cold marinated bean salad with garbanzo beans, pinto beans and either white northern beans or red beans with chopped onions, cukes, tomatoes, cilantro, olive oil and lemon juice.  I eat it as a side dish or I put a couple of spoons of it on a salad.

Now, I'm really curious about my magnesium levels.  Hmmmm

 

Posted 6/23/2013 4:54 AM (GMT 0)
Lanie, that sounds so delicious! I'll sub anything else for red beans though. I think I've decided to crave chocolate beans. OK, OK they're nibs, but I can pretend, right?
about cravings - one theory why we crave the really healthy stuff like ice cream and potato chips is that it used to be really hard to get fat, salt, and sugar in our diet. Plants are a lot easier to catch than animals and fruit (sugar) is less consistantly available than veggies. Salt is tough to get if you're not near a natural deposit like say, the ocean. Fat is available in animals - much harder to catch than leaves - and in nuts, avocados, bananas and also in grains. I wonder how many sunflower seeds it takes to satisfy the need for fat when you're a wandering caveperson. The tougher things are to get - climb a tree, deal with thorns, compete with bears - the more we'd better want it or we'd just go with out.
Now, we have grocery stores, and ice cream doesn't run very fast. But, our cravings still think it's a good idea. I find it helps me if I eat some nuts and/or an apple first, then I can quiet the little voice saying 'Hunt the chocolate ripple."
Posted 6/23/2013 11:39 AM (GMT 0)
tongue    I would never have been a good cavegirl.  Skins.  Guts.  Ugh!   I'd would have been a good gatherer though.  And  I would have found me a hunter, that's all!  wink    But I can tell you that my 2013 husband could never have been a hunter either.  They didn't have desk jobs in those days.  We'd never have made it!
Posted 6/23/2013 7:18 PM (GMT 0)
I would have found me a hunter that cooked and did the dishes. devil

Sherrine
Posted 6/23/2013 7:37 PM (GMT 0)
Dishes?  They had dishes?  cool
Posted 6/24/2013 1:51 AM (GMT 0)
You didn't know they had dishes? They sure did but they didn't have cupboards so, unfortunately the mammoths and dinosaurs trampled over them and crushed them in tiny pieces. That's why you never see pictures of these dishes.

And, yes, I do have too much time on my hands. turn

Sherrine
Posted 6/24/2013 5:27 AM (GMT 0)
Does your dish washing hunter caveman have a brother....? I'm also looking for a good potter, my mammoth got into the kitchen again. Perhaps a hairy potter? smilewinkgrin

Oh, also, a nurse friend of mine taught me to drink black tea with milk to ease certain cramps.  She said the tea has magnesium and the calcium from milk helps us absorb the mag.  The mag acts as an antispasmodic.  Takes about 15 minutes to make a difference.  Plus, the caffeine helps my headaches when I get them.  I don't do that much caf. but I am hooked on two cups a day. I call it Linda's cure after her.

Post Edited (California Cat) : 6/23/2013 11:37:25 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/24/2013 12:54 PM (GMT 0)
LOL. Loved the Hairy Potter comment!

Actually, from what I have been reading, it's the magnesium that helps the calcium be absorbed. I take a lot of calcium but my osteoporosis is getting worse. Through searching, I found this out about magnesium and then I saw the connection to diabetes, too, so I posted it here.

Sherrine
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