Somehow, I ran out of my supply of magnesium tablets and recently made a note to order more. I do take a multi-vitamin with minerals, but that gives me only 125 mg of magnesium each day.
This is well below the official U.S. and Canadian recommendations for daily intake of magnesium. For a man of my age I should be getting 420 mg, although no more than 350 mg should come from supplements.
Those of us who have diabetes are often deficient in magnesium. Several studies have suggested that taking a magnesium supplement can help us control our blood glucose.
Several other conditions seem to benefit from taking magnesium supplements. Research published just this month is the strongest evidence yet of the benefit of taking magnesium.
People with more magnesium in their blood may reduce their risk of death from cancer by as much as 50 percent, according to a report in the current issue of Epidemiology. High serum levels of magnesium were also related to a 40 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality, and similar reduction in cardiovascular deaths (hearth attacks and strokes).
That’s really big news for all of us. The study, “Zinc, copper, and magnesium and risks for all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality”, by four French scientists at the Lille Pasteur Institute in Lille, France, was based on a study of more than 4,000 middle-aged men over an 18 year period. High levels of copper were associated with increased risk of death from all-causes. A combination of low levels of zinc with high levels of copper or with low levels of magnesium also led to early deaths.
“These minerals are involved in the immune system, the inflammatory response and the oxidative damage,” lead author Dr. Nathalie Leone told NutraIngredients.com.
There are several excellent supplements on the market. ConsumerLab recently tested 21 magnesium supplements. Two of these, however, had such high levels of lead that they should have contained a warning label.
If you are an adult and take no more than the recommended dosage of magnesium, it seems to be quite safe for most people. However, if you have severe kidney or heart disease, you shouldn’t take magnesium – or any other supplement – except with your doctor’s approval.
Drug interactions are another concern. The Natural Pharmacist is again the best resource for these questions.
As for me, I just reordered my magnesium tablets.
This article is based on an earlier version of my article published by HealthCentral.
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