1.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.

2. The proper diet for the prevention and treatment of diabetes includes frequent small meals of protein (fish—especially wild salmon, to avoid mercury—and free-range chicken and meat) and complex carbohydrates (whole grains, legumes, and vegetables), as well as the avoidance of simple sugars and white flour.

3. Stevia, from the leaves of a plant that grows in South America, is the best sweetener to use. You can find it in health food stores. Don’t use the sugar substitute aspartame, which
can worsen blood sugar control and cause weight gain, headaches, nerve damage, and eye damage, because it is made partly from wood alcohol, which breaks down to formaldehyde.

4. Fiber from oat bran, flaxseed, and apples has a positive effect on keeping blood sugar balanced.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. There has been a recent addition to our medical vocabulary—it’s diabesity, a recognition that if someone is about thirty pounds overweight for more than a decade, diabetes will likely occur.

8. People with syndrome X are obese, are on the road to diabetes with insulin resistance, and also have hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and high levels of triglycerides.

9. Magnesium helps the body digest, absorb, and utilize proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

10. Magnesium is necessary for insulin to open cell membranes for glucose.

11. Magnesium helps prevent obesity genes from expressing themselves. 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.

For more information contact The Nutritional Magnesium Association http://www.nutritionalmagnesium.org