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04.02.2013

Lower fat percentage with sufficient magnesium in diet

Sixty percent of the inhabitants of developed countries ingest less magnesium than is healthy. As a result they put down fat reserves more easily, according to an epidemiological study from Taiwan published in Nutrition Journal. The study suggests that elderly people whose diet contains high amounts of magnesium have a much lower body fat percentage and a considerably narrower waist than people whose diet contains little magnesium.

Study
The researchers, at Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taipei, studied 210 over-65s who were suffering from incipient diabetes-2. They asked the participants what they had eaten in the past 24 hours, did blood tests and took body measurements.

The Taiwanese had been inspired by meta-analyses which showed that people who consume large amounts of magnesium are less likely to develop diabetes type-2 than people who have a low magnesium intake. [Diabetes Care. 2011 Sep;34(9):2116-22.] On top of that they were aware of studies that showed that magnesium supplementation in people with diabetes type-2 enhanced insulin sensitivity. [Diabetes Care. 2003 Apr;26(4):1147-52.]

Nutritionists estimate that adults require 5 mg magnesium per kg bodyweight daily. Because we are eating more and more readymade meals and less and less whole grains, beans, spinach and nuts, we often don't fulfil this daily requirement.

Results
This was also the case for the over 65s that participated in the study. Almost ninety percent of them got too little magnesium, and almost forty percent had a too low magnesium level, blood analysis revealed.

The researchers discovered that the waist measurement of participants that ingested at least 4.5 mg magnesium per kg bodyweight was on average 7 cm less than that of participants that only managed to ingest 2.3 mg magnesium per kg bodyweight.

The average fat percentage of the participants in the high-magnesium group was 24.5 percent. In the low-magnesium group the figure was 33.3 percent.

In the group with a high magnesium intake the concentration of 'good cholesterol', HDL, in the blood was higher too, and the group showed fewer symptoms of depression.

The relationships the researchers uncovered are illustrated in simplified form below. Click on the table for a more detailed version.

Conclusions
"Clinical care should focus on increasing dietary magnesium intake or magnesium supplementation to improve metabolic control, depression, and physical performance in elderly diabetes patients", the Taiwanese conclude.

Source:
Nutr J. 2012 Jun 13;11:41.

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Magnesium lowers cortisol levels By increasing your magnesium intake through your regular diet or supplements, you can increase the concentration of anabolic hormones like IGF-1 and testosterone.	Dietary and supplemental magnesium protects against arteriosclerosis If you ingest a relatively large amount of [read: sufficient] magnesium through regular foods or supplements, your chances of arteriosclerosis are smaller than if you consume less magnesium.	Magnesium is an antidepressant Daily supplementation with 250 mg elemental magnesium can help relieve mild depression.