Magnesium supplements have been popping up and magnesium has been in the health headlines recently. What is magnesium deficiency and how does it affect us?
For help, we turned to Dr. Carolyn Dean, the medical director for the Nutritional Magnesium Association. Carolyn Dean, MD, ND is a women’s health expert and medical doctor with over 25 years of experience with aging, nutrition, and diet. She’s authored 30 books including The Complete Natural Guide to Women’s Health, Hormone Balance, and 365 Ways to Boost Your Brain Power.
1. Magnesium is the Anti-Stress Mineral
The connection between stress, obesity and diabetes cannot be overlooked. The stress chemical cortisol signals a metabolic shutdown that makes losing weight almost impossible. Magnesium can neutralize the effects of stress and is known as the anti-stress mineral.
2. Magnesium Deficiency Could Be Making Us Fat and Sick
Obesity, syndrome X, and diabetes are part of a continuum of illness that may progress to heart disease if not headed off by good diet, supplements, exercise, and stress reduction. They are not really separate diseases, as we may think, and underlying all this misery we find magnesium deficiency.
3. The Health Benefits of Magnesium
Magnesium helps the body digest, absorb, and utilize proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Magnesium is necessary for insulin to open cell membranes for glucose.
4. Magnesium and Diabetes
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.
5. Magnesium Supplements: How to Take Magnesium for Better Health
Not all forms of magnesium are absorbable by the body. One of the most absorbable forms of magnesium that is safe is magnesium citrate in powder form that can be mixed with hot or cold water and can be found in most health food stores or vitamin shops.
