Magnesium, Fiber and Glycemic Control May Reduce Diabetes Risk

According to a new study, intake of magnesium and fiber plus controlling the glycemic load of the diet reduced the risk of developing diabetes. In the United States, nearly 8 percent of the population has diabetes, totaling 23.6 million adults and children. Additionally, another 57 million Americans have pre-diabetes and are at increased risk of developing the disease. Currently, there are 1.6 million new cases of diabetes in American adults diagnosed each year.

In this new study, investigators evaluated the impact of magnesium intake, total fiber intake plus glycemic load on the risk of developing diabetes. Glycemic load is a measurement of how food impacts blood sugar levels based on the type of carbohydrate and portion size.

Subjects in this study included 75,512 adults between 45-75 years of age. The subjects completed a food-frequency questionnaire to evaluate their dietary intakes. The subjects were then followed for 14 years to evaluate the incidence of new cases of diabetes.

The results showed that 8,587 subjects developed diabetes. The researchers found that the subjects with the highest magnesium intake had a decreased risk of developing diabetes compared to the subjects with the lowest magnesium intake. In fact, there was a 23 percent decrease in diabetes risk in the men and a 16 percent decrease among the women with the highest intakes of magnesium.

The data also indicated that the men with the highest intakes of total fiber had a 25 percent decrease in the risk of developing diabetes. Among women, those with the highest intakes of fiber showed a decreased risk of diabetes by 5 percent. The researchers also found that high intake of fiber from cereal grains reduced diabetes risk by 10 percent in both men and women, and high vegetable fiber intake decreased diabetes risk by 22 percent in men.

Furthermore, when the researchers evaluated the role of ethnicity, the data showed that in the Caucasian men and in all women except Japanese Americans in the study, those with the highest glycemic load had a significant increase in the risk of developing diabetes compared to the subjects with the lowest glycemic load.

The researchers stated, “These findings suggest that protection against diabetes can be achieved through food choices after taking into account body weight, but, due to differences in commonly consumed foods, risk estimates may differ by ethnic group.”

Reference:

Hopping BN, Erber E, Grandinetti A, Verheus M, Kolonel LN, Maskarinec G. Dietary fiber, magnesium, and glycemic load alter risk of type 2 diabetes in a multiethnic cohort in Hawaii. J Nutr. 2010 Jan;140(1):68-74.

Dietary fiber can be increased by taking a high-quality fiber supplement such as EZ Fiber™.  Additionally, supplemental magnesium is available here as Opti-Mag, and anyone interested in offsetting the effects of a high-glycemic diet can supplement with GluControl™.