Getting enough magnesium in your diet could help prevent type 2 diabetes. Dr. Ka He of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues have found that people who consumed the most magnesium from foods and vitamin supplements were about half as likely to develop diabetes over the next 20 years as people who took in the least magnesium.
In their study, the researchers looked at magnesium intake and diabetes risk in 4,497 men and women aged 18 to 30 years old, none of whom were diabetic at the study’s outset. During a 20-year follow-up period, 330 of the subjects developed diabetes.
The people with the highest magnesium intake, who averaged about 200 milligrams of magnesium for every 1,000 calories consumed, were 47 percent less likely to develop diabetes than those with the lowest intakes, who consumed about 100 milligrams of magnesium per 1,000 calories. The researchers noted in *Diabetes Care*, however, that large clinical trials testing the effects of magnesium on diabetes risk are needed to determine whether a causal relationship truly exists.
Ref and Read more: http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2010/10/22/6919/diabetes-risk-may-fall-as-magnesium-intake-increases/