Evidence Builds: Diet High in Magnesium Lowers Diabetes Risk

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Eating Whole Grains, Nuts and Green Leafy Veggies May Help Ward Off Type 2

-- Other Studies Show Weight-Loss Drug May Help Prevent Diabetes Complications; ADA/AHA Statement Guiding Doctors on Use of TZDs

(Alexandria, VA) – Two studies in the January issue of Diabetes Care add weight to a growing body of evidence that a diet high in magnesium may help prevent the development of type 2 diabetes, especially in people who are overweight.

Also in this month’s journal:  Two studies find additional benefits to the weight-loss drug Orlistat, which researchers now believe may lower free fatty acid levels, improve insulin sensitivity and lower the chance of developing type 2 diabetes among people whose glucose tolerance is already impaired; and a joint American Diabetes Association/American Heart Association consensus statement provides guidance to physicians in the use of glucose-lowering agents known as thiazolidinediones (TZDs).

A Dietary Approach to Prevention: Studies Find Increasing Merit

In recent years, researchers have increased efforts to explore the role that diet may play in the prevention of numerous diseases, including diabetes.  Two large studies being published this month add weight to the idea that certain nutrients may play a crucial role in protecting the body from disease.

In the first study, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health evaluated the dietary intake of specific nutrients for more than 85,000 women and more than 42,000 men, in data supplied over 18 years for the women and over 12 years for the men.  They found that the men and women whose diets included the largest amounts of magnesium were the least likely to develop type 2 diabetes.  Most of the participants in the studies consumed magnesium through foods, such as whole grains, nuts and green leafy vegetables; less than 5 percent of those followed took magnesium supplements.

A second study of nearly 40,000 women, also by researchers at Harvard (in conjunction with researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA), found that overweight women who consumed large amounts of magnesium were 22 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who consumed lower amounts of dietary magnesium.

The researchers concluded that people at increased risk for diabetes should eat a diet high in magnesium-rich foods.  An editorial this month supports these conclusions and calls for a randomized prospective clinical trial to explore this issue further.

For more information, please contact editorial author Dr. Jerry Nadler, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Virginia Health System, at: jln2n@virginia.edu.

Weight-Loss Drug May Provide Added Health Benefits

Obese people who take the weight-loss drug Orlistat, in combination with lifestyle changes (such as increased physical activity), are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes and more likely to lose significant amounts of weight, according to a study by researchers in Sweden.  The drug helped to lower the chance of developing diabetes only among those people whose glucose tolerance was already impaired.

A separate study found that people with diabetes who took Orlistat to lose weight also lowered their free fatty acid levels and improved their insulin sensitivity.  Previous studies have shown that lowering free fatty acid levels in people who are overweight can lessen insulin resistance, thereby improving glucose control and reducing the risk of developing diabetes-related complications.

For more information, please contact Professor Lars Sjostrom, MD, PhD, Department of Body Composition and Metabolism, Sahlgrenska University Hospital at lars.sjostrom@medfak.gu.se or Dr. David E. Kelley, Professor of Medicine, University Hospital of Pittsburgh, at: Kelley@msx.dept-med.pitt.edu.

ADA/AHA Issue Statement Guiding Doctors on Use of TZDs

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have issued recommendations to guide physicians in the use of glucose-lowering agents known as thiazolidinediones (TZDs).  These recommendations were also published in the December 9, 2003 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.  The ADA and the AHA undertook a review of the literature about TZDs because of reports of congestive heart failure in a small percentage (1%-3%) of diabetic patients taking these drugs.

For more information about the ADA/AHA consensus statement, please contact Dr. Vivian Fonseca, Tulane University Medical Center, at 504-585-4026 or email: vfonseca@tulane.edu.

Diabetes Care, published by the American Diabetes Association, is the leading peer-reviewed journal of clinical research into the nation’s fifth leading cause of death by disease.  Diabetes also is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke, as well as the leading cause of adult blindness, kidney failure and non-traumatic amputations.  For more information about diabetes, visit the American Diabetes Association Web site www.diabetes.org or call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383).