Magnesium: widespread deficiency with deadly consequences

Life Extension, May, 2008 by David Nayor

According to the National Institutes of Health:

"Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis. There is an increased interest in the role of magnesium in preventing and managing disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes." (1)

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The federal government recommends that adult men consume 420 mg of magnesium a day, but admits that many Americans do not obtain this amount. (1)

Magnesium is a very low-cost dietary supplement. The fact that so many are magnesium-deficient is a further indictment of today's broken health care system.

MAGNESIUM: WHAT IS IT?

Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and is essential to good health. Approximately 50% of total body magnesium is found in bone. The other half is found predominantly inside cells of body tissues and organs. Only 1% of magnesium is found in blood, but the body works very hard to keep blood levels of magnesium constant. (1)

Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis. There is an increased interest in the role of magnesium in preventing and managing disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. (1-6) Dietary magnesium is absorbed in the small intestines. Magnesium is excreted through the kidneys. (1)

METABOLIC SYNDROME AND DIABETES

An alarming number of Americans suffer from diabetes and metabolic syndrome--conditions of aberrant blood sugar metabolism associated with a greatly increased risk of cardiovascular disease. In fact, estimates suggest that 7% of the population have diabetes and more than 20% are affected by metabolic syndrome. (7,8) Studies strongly suggest that magnesium may offer important protection against both metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome is characterized by insulin resistance--the situation in which muscle, liver, or fat tissues cannot properly respond to insulin's signal to bring glucose into cells. As a result, glucose and triglyceride levels rise in the blood, beneficial high-density lipoprotein (HDL) declines, and blood pressure rises. In a five-year-long epidemiological study of more than 1,000 healthy adults, scientists found that greater magnesium intake was linked with improved insulin sensitivity. (9)

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In another compelling study, scientists prospectively examined the relationship between magnesium intake and the development of metabolic syndrome and its components in healthy young adults. Nearly 5,000 Americans aged 18-30 were monitored through 15 years of follow-up. After adjustment for possible confounding factors, those in the highest quartile of magnesium intake had a 31% decreased risk of metabolic syndrome. Greater magnesium intake was also linked with a lower plasma glucose and weight circumference and higher high-density lipoprotein (HDL). The authors concluded that higher magnesium intake may offer protection against the epidemic of metabolic syndrome. (10)

According to a research review from Northwestern University, magnesium could address several components of metabolic syndrome by increasing levels of HDL, decreasing triglycerides, and favorably impacting glucose homeostasis, insulin action, and insulin secretion. (2) Increased magnesium intake has also been linked with protection against hypertension, another component of the metabolic syndrome. (2,11)

A magnesium-rich diet abundant in foods such as spinach, almonds, and whole-wheat bread can substantially reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a report from Harvard University investigators. Researchers followed 85,000 women and 42,000 men for 18 and 12 years respectively, during which time 5,400 participants developed type 2 diabetes. Even in those at increased risk for diabetes based on risk factors such as excess weight, increasing age, little physical activity, and smoking, those with the highest levels of dietary magnesium intake reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 34%. (3)

Magnesium deficiency has been linked with chronic diabetic complications such as retinopathy (eye disease), nephropathy kidney disease), neuropathy (nerve disease), and foot ulcerations. These findings suggest that individuals with existing diabetes should pay very close attention to their magnesium status in order to avoid the long-term manifestations of the disease. (12)

CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH

The benefits of magnesium for cardiovascular health are already extraordinary, given its protective role against metabolic syndrome and diabetes, two major factors that threaten heart and vascular health. But its heart-healthy benefits do not end there--research reveals that magnesium may offer a wealth of other cardiovascular benefits.