Category: diabetes

diabetes, magnesium, update

What is the role of magnesium in diabetes?

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word diabetes? Carbohydrate counting? Insulin? Metformin?

How about magnesium? It turns out that blood levels of magnesium has a special relationship with diabetes. Read this post to learn more about magnesium and its role with diabetes, and then answer the quiz that follows to see how much you have learned.

First, here is a brief overview of magnesium.

  • Magnesium is one of the most abundant minerals in the body.
  • Magnesium assists over 300 enzymes in the body that regulate many biochemical reactions in the body such as:
    • protein production
    • muscle and nerve function
    • blood pressure regulation.
  • Magnesium helps with making energy.
  • Magnesium contributes to bone development and regulates potassium and calcium blood levels

Now that you have a overview of magnesium, lets understand the role of magnesium in diabetes.

First , it should be known that magnesium helps to regulate blood sugar by regulating insulin secretion from the pancreas. It also helps improve insulin functioning. Thus, low serum magnesium levels (hypomagnesemia) is associated with an increase in type 2 diabetes.   This hypomagnesemia is associated with blood vessel complications of type 2 diabetes such as

  • nephropathy (blood vessels supplying blood to the kidneys are damaged)
  • retinopathy (blood vessels supplying blood to the eyes are damaged)

Low serum magnesium levels are also associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).   What aspects of magnesium account for this?

  • Low serum magnesium increases oxidative stress in the body. Oxidative stress can increase peripheral neuropathic symptoms.
  • Low serum magnesium can increase inflammation in the body which in turn can increase peripheral neuropathic symptoms.
  • Magnesium can increase inositol within the cells which supports proper nerve function.

Although all the factors that contribute to DPN are not fully known, oxidative stress, inflammation and proper inositol levels are important factors  contributing to DPN and repleting serum levels of magnesium to normal levels may help  address DPN.

In summary, maintaining normal serum magnesium levels help diabetics by:

  • regulating blood sugar
  • improving insulin secretion and functioning
  • reducing blood vessel complications of diabetes: eye and kidney damage
  • addressing factors that contribute to DPN: oxidative stress, inflammation, maintaining inositol levels

Although this post did not address type 1 DM, the conclusions drawn from this post could also be applied to type 1 diabetes.

Are you ready for the quiz?

 

cancer support, diabetes, update

Why a high animal protein diet in middle ages may increase risk of death

You may have heard about the benefits of high protein diets:

  • Appetite control
  • Increase muscle mass
  • Bone health
  • Boosts metabolism and Fat burning
  • Lowers blood pressure
  • Maintains weight loss
  • Supports kidney health

However, it is important to point out that these benefits are mainly attributed to plant-based proteins and not so much for animal proteins.  This is because a high animal protein diet, which is often wrongly associated with Atkins diet, increases a growth factor called IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor).  As the name implies , IGF-1 looks like insulin but instead of lowering blood sugar, IGF-1 enhances cellular growth pathways.  IGF-1 has benefits but too much IGF-1 can play a role in cancer development and increasing mortality.  Scientists stumbled across this phenomena when looking at patients in a remote part of southern Ecuador called Quito Ecuador. These patients suffer from Laron syndrome which is a genetic condition that leads to stunted growth. People with Laron syndrome rarely grow beyond 3 1/2 feet tall. The genetic mutation results in the IGF-1 not functioning normally which results in their stunted growth, but amazingly, they never get cancer nor diabetes !

Now, for people who don’t have Laron syndrome, how can they apply this knowledge to improve their health, reduce risk of  cancer and diabetes? They should focus on getting the majority of their protein intake from plant sources. Animal protein is similar to human protein and this explains why animal protein will cause a rapid spike in IGF-1. In contrast, plant-based protein is less similar to animal protein and will increase IGF-1 to a much lesser degree. If you compare this to a volume dial, animal protein is turning the volume to full blast whereas plant-based protein is set to low volume setting.

diabetes, update

The Truth about date fruit for diabetes

I know what you are thinking…fruit and diabetes does  not mix well and dates being a sugary fruit should be avoided like the plague by diabetics.  A typical date has 10 grams of natural sugar.

However, it turns out that date fruit actually has anti-diabetic properties !  Why is this? Date fruit contains compounds called polyphenols which have diverse effects. Some of these polyphenols inhibit an enzyme called alpha-glucosidase which plays a role in slowing down dietary sugar absorption. When you eat a carbohydrate rich foods, your body uses alpha-glucosidase to breakdown the carbohydrates.  By inhibiting this enzyme, the sugar absorbed into your body is delayed.  There is a diabetic medication called acarbose which inhibits this enzyme. However, acarbose can cause nausea, diarrhea and flatulence.   Oh, how fun that is !

Another type of polyphenol found in dates are flavonoids which can increase the number of beta cells. Beta cells are found in the pancreas and are responsible for making, storing and releasing insulin. In type 1 diabetes, the beta cells become damaged and thus type 1 diabetes is also known as insulin dependent diabetes. In contrast, type 2 diabetes is known as non -insulin-dependent diabetes. However, over time, even type 2 diabetics can have diminished beta cell capacity.

So,in summary, dates contain polyphenols that can slow down sugar absorption and help the pancreas make insulin. While the jury is not clear yet to what degree dates can regenerate beta cells, dates should not be something to be feared by diabetics.

Note: The content provided in this blog post and website is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, or as a substitute for medical advice of a physician.

Reference:

  1. Mia, M. A., Mosaib, M. G., Khalil, M. I., Islam, M. A., & Gan, S. H. (2020). Potentials and Safety of Date Palm Fruit against Diabetes: A Critical Review. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 9(11), 1557. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9111557