Magnesium may mediate the favorable impact of whole grains on insulin sensitivity by acting as a mild calcium antagonist
Section snippets
Whole grains promote insulin sensitivity
There is substantial, steadily accumulating evidence from prospective epidemiology that high dietary consumption of whole grains is associated with decreased risk for diabetes, coronary disease, and stroke [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]. Moreover, many types of cancer are less common, and total mortality in lower, in those with a high intake of whole grains [13], [14], [15], [16]. Cross-sectionally, individuals with a high intake of whole grains tend to have
Does magnesium mediate this benefit?
Whole grains are one of the best dietary sources of magnesium. Other foods which are approximately equally rich in magnesium (on a per-calorie basis) are nuts, legumes, and reduced-fat dairy products. It is unlikely to be a sheer coincidence that high intakes of each of these foods have been linked to decreased diabetes risk in recent prospective epidemiology [35], [36], [37]. Furthermore, high dietary magnesium intake per se was associated with reduced diabetes risk in the Nurses Health Study,
Magnesium may antagonize the adverse impact of intracellular calcium excess
How then does magnesium act to preserve insulin sensitivity? The fact that magnesium acts as a mild physiological calcium antagonist may offer an important clue [47], [67], [68]. Draznin [69] have shown that efficient insulin activity requires an optimal intracellular concentration of free calcium. An undue increase in intracellular free calcium can compromise the ability of insulin to promote efficient glucose uptake. This does not appear to reflect a defect in the signaling pathway that
Practical implications
These considerations suggest that supplemental magnesium, as part of a broader “insurance” program of nutritional supplementation [107], may prove to be a very worthwhile preventive health strategy. Unfortunately, most one-per-day vitamin-mineral supplements in the US mass market provide a rather trivial dose of this nutrient, usually in the less-than-ideal form of magnesium oxide. Magnesium receives very little attention in the popular press (outside of “healthfood” circles), the US government
References (114)
- et al.
Carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and incident type 2 diabetes in older women
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
(2000) - et al.
Whole-grain intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a prospective study in men
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
(2002) - et al.
Whole-grain intake may reduce the risk of ischemic heart disease death in postmenopausal women: the Iowa Women's Health Study
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
(1998) - et al.
Whole grains and protection against coronary heart disease what are the active components and mechanisms?
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
(1999) - et al.
Cereals, legumes, and chronic disease risk reduction: evidence from epidemiologic studies
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
(1999) - et al.
A prospective study of dietary fiber intake and risk of cardiovascular disease among women
J. Am. Coll. Cardiol
(2002) - et al.
Whole-grain consumption and risk of coronary heart disease: results from the Nurses' Health Study
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
(1999) - et al.
Whole-grain intake is favorably associated with metabolic risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the Framingham Offspring Study
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
(2002) - et al.
Effect of whole grains on insulin sensitivity in overweight hyperinsulinemic adults
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
(2002) - et al.
Plausible mechanisms for the protectiveness of whole grains
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
(1999)
A prospective study of dietary glycemic load, carbohydrate intake, and risk of coronary heart disease in US women
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
Dietary glycemic load and colorectal cancer risk
Ann. Oncol
Dietary glycemic index and glycemic load, and breast cancer risk: a case-control study
Ann. Oncol
Glycemic index: overview of implications in health and disease
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
Glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of type 2 diabetes
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
Glycemic index and heart disease
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
Factors affecting the rate of hydrolysis of starch in food
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
Rate of starch hydrolysis in vitro as a predictor of metabolic responses to complex carbohydrate in vivo
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
Carbohydrate intake and body mass index in relation to the risk of glucose intolerance in an elderly population
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
Diet and risk of clinical diabetes in women
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
Is low magnesium concentration a risk factor for coronary heart disease? The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study
Am. Heart J
Correlates of fasting insulin levels in young adults: the CARDIA study
J. Clin. Epidemiol
Associations of serum and dietary magnesium with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, insulin, and carotid arterial wall thickness: the ARIC study. Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study
J. Clin. Epidemiol
Low dietary magnesium is associated with insulin resistance in a sample of young, nondiabetic Black Americans
Am. J. Hypertens
Daily magnesium supplements improve glucose handling in elderly subjects
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
Plausible mechanisms for the protectiveness of whole grains
Am. J. Clin. Nutr
PTH excess may promote weight gain by impeding catecholamine-induced lipolysis – implications for the impact of calcium, vitamin D, and alcohol on body weight
Med. Hypotheses
Magnesium: nature's physiologic calcium blocker
Am. Heart J
Magnesium regulates intracellular free ionized calcium concentration and cell geometry in vascular smooth muscle cells
Biochem. Biophys. Acta
Inverse relationship between GLUT-4 phosphorylation and its intrinsic activity
J. Biol. Chem
GLUT-4 phosphorylation and its intrinsic activity. Mechanism of Ca(2+)-induced inhibition of insulin-stimulated glucose transport
J. Biol. Chem
Calcium-induced inhibition of phosphoserine phosphatase in insulin target cells is mediated by the phosphorylation and activation of inhibitor 1
J. Biol. Chem
Improvement of insulin sensitivity by chelation of intracellular Ca(2+) in high-fat-fed rats
Metabolism
Up-regulation of intracellular signalling pathways may play a central pathogenic role in hypertension, atherogenesis, insulin resistance, and cancer promotion -the `PKC syndrome'
Med. Hypotheses
Effect of ω-3 fatty acids on the vascular response to angiotensin in normotensive men
Am. J. Cardiol
Dietary n−3 fatty acids alter angiotensin-induced contraction and 1,2-diacylglycerol fatty acid composition in thoracic aortas from diabetic rats
Prostag. Leukotr. Ess. Fatty Acids
A prospective study of whole-grain intake and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in US women
Am. J. Public Health
Intake of refined carbohydrates and whole grain foods in relation to risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease
J. Am. Coll. Nutr
Whole grain foods and heart disease risk
J. Am. Coll. Nutr
Whole grain intake and risk of ischemic stroke in women
Nutr. Rev
Whole grain consumption and risk of ischemic stroke in women: a prospective study
JAMA
Whole-grain intake and cancer: an expanded review and meta-analysis
Nutr. Cancer
Is whole grain intake associated with reduced total and cause-specific death rates in older women? The Iowa Women's Health Study
Am. J. Public Health
Fiber from whole grains, but not refined grains, is inversely associated with all-cause mortality in older women: the Iowa women's health study
J. Am. Coll. Nutr
Reduced mortality among whole grain bread eaters in men and women in the Norwegian County Study
Eur. J. Clin. Nutr
Effect of wheat bran on glycemic control and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in type 2 diabetes
Diabetes Care
Dietary fiber, glycemic load, and risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in women
JAMA
Dietary fiber, glycemic load, and risk of NIDDM in men
Diabetes Care
The glycemic index: physiological mechanisms relating to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease
JAMA
The glycemic index
World Rev. Nutr. Diet
Cited by (59)
Diet, inflammation, and cardiovascular disease
2022, Diet, Inflammation, and HealthMR-PheWAS for the causal effects of serum magnesium on multiple disease outcomes in Caucasian descent
2021, iScienceCitation Excerpt :Moreover, magnesium is mainly involved in the processes of protein synthesis, cellular energy production and storage, reproduction, DNA and RNA synthesis, and stabilizing mitochondrial membranes (Bohl and Volpe, 2002; Burgess et al., 2015; Chubanov et al., 2005; Newhouse and Finstad, 2000). In addition, magnesium plays a critical role in maintaining normal nerve and muscle function, cardiac excitability (normal heart rhythm), neuromuscular conduction, muscular contraction, vasomotor tone, blood pressure, bone integrity, and glucose and insulin metabolism (Barbagallo et al., 2003; Bohl and Volpe, 2002; Burgess et al., 2015; Chubanov et al., 2005; Guerrero-Romero and Rodriguez-Moran, 2000, 2002; He et al., 2006; Lopez-Ridaura et al., 2004; McCarty, 2005; Murakami et al., 2005; Newhouse and Finstad, 2000; Paolisso and Barbagallo, 1997; Soltani et al., 2005). In this regard, magnesium deficiencies and excesses have been associated with some chronic diseases.
Dietary total, animal, vegetable calcium and type 2 diabetes incidence among Korean adults: The Korean Multi-Rural Communities Cohort (MRCohort)
2017, Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular DiseasesCitation Excerpt :Insulin secretion is a calcium-dependent process and thus alterations in calcium flux adversely influence beta cell secretion [8]. It has been proposed that the favorable impact of good magnesium status on insulin function may reflect antagonism of the induction or effects of increased intracellular free calcium [45] which may induce insulin resistance. Vitamin D may also affect impaired beta cell function and insulin resistance either directly, by stimulating the expression of the insulin receptor and binding with the beta cell vitamin D receptor, and indirectly, by regulating extracellular calcium and calcium flux through the beta cell [8].
Magnesium status and the metabolic syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis
2016, NutritionCitation Excerpt :Rapidly growing evidence suggests that dietary Mg has valuable effects, including regulation of systemic inflammation [11] and hypertension [12], modification of lipids [13,14], glucose and insulin metabolism [15], improvement of insulin sensitivity [16,17], and decreasing the risk of diabetes [6]. Reduced serum Mg concentrations and low intakes of Mg are proposed to be associated with MetS, its components, and also other chronic conditions such as insulin resistance [18], diabetes mellitus [19], hypertension [8], dyslipidemia [20], and cardiovascular diseases [21]. Data about the association between Mg status and MetS are conflicting.
Antioxidant/anti-inflammatory effect of Mg<sup>2+</sup> in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
2022, Reviews in Medical Virology