Magnesium and Diabetes
As noted in Sara’s story, magnesium deficiency is a risk factor for diabetes. That fact is listed in doctor’s diagnostic manuals but unfortunately many doctors don’t seem to act upon this information. Many clients have told me that when they start taking magnesium their blood sugar levels normalize.
In The Magnesium Miracle, I wrote that magnesium enhances insulin secretion and helps insulin transfer glucose into cells. Without sufficient magnesium, glucose and insulin build up in the blood, causing various types of tissue damage. Adopting a good diet and taking magnesium are the first steps in treating diabetes—not introducing diabetic drugs.
Magnesium and Cholesterol
The majority of the cholesterol in the body is made in the liver. Most of it does not come from our diet. Making cholesterol requires a speciļ¬c enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase. If there is enough cholesterol in the body, magnesium slows this enzyme down. If more cholesterol is needed to make hormones or coat every cell of our body with a fatty layer, magnesium speeds it up. Somehow, our cholesterol has been hijacked by drug companies who try to control the amount of cholesterol made with anticholesterol drugs called statins. They are designed to completely inhibit HMG-CoA reductase.
Magnesium is the natural way the body controls cholesterol when it reaches a higher level, whereas statin drugs are used to destroy the whole process. If sufficient magnesium is present in the body, cholesterol will be limited to its necessary functions—the production of hormones and the maintenance of cell membranes—and will not normally be produced in excess.
Magnesium and Blood Clots
Magnesium has an important role to play in preventing blood clots and keeping the blood thin—without any side effects. Calcium doesn’t dissolve completely in the blood and it’s a well know fact that it promotes blood clotting. However, magnesium dissolves calcium along with the unnecessary blood clots that calcium produces. There is a simple experiment you can do to show this property. Stir a half-teaspoon of calcium powder in a glass of water. You’ll see that it won’t fully dissolve. Then add a half-teaspoon of magnesium powder and miraculously the magnesium dissolves immediately and makes the calcium flakes disappear. The same thing happens in your blood stream.
Of course blood clotting is a necessary function when you get injured or want to heal from surgery. Calcium’s ability to initiate blood clotting is only one of the factors involved. If you are taking magnesium it will never mean that you won’t clot anymore. However, having enough magnesium will prevent abnormal clotting.
Sign up here with your email
EmoticonEmoticon