Type 2 Diabetes – Magnesium, Diet and Genes

A new study investigated the complex interactions between magnesium intake, genes and ethnicity in determining risk for type 2 diabetes in two populations of women. The specific associations yielded by the analysis illustrate how health guidance could become considerably more personalized.

Dr. Simin Liu, professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health at Brown University and professor of medicine at the Alpert Medical School says, “Magnesium is an essential mineral that is involved in hundreds of biochemical processes. It is involved in the secretion of insulin and the bodies’ response to insulin,” the impairment of which is the hallmark feature of type 2 diabetes.

In this follow-up study, professor Liu and and Kei Hang Katie Chan, postdoctoral research associate, continued research which involved looking at all metabolic pathways related to magnesium. Results were divided into separate groups based on participants’ levels of magnesium intake because of its important role in insulin metabolism. The researchers found that those with high magnesium intake are at a lower risk for diabetes, Chan said.