A video interview with Carolyn Dean, MD, ND.

Magnesium plays a pivotal role in the secretion and function of insulin; without it, diabetes mellitus is inevitable.

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Measurable magnesium deficiency is common in diabetes and in many of its complications, including heart disease, eye damage, high blood pressure, and obesity.

When the treatment of diabetes includes magnesium, these problems are prevented or minimized.

The connection between stress, obesity and diabetes cannot be overlooked. The stress chemical cortisol signals a metabolic shutdown that makes losing weight almost impossible. Magnesium can neutralize the effects of stress and is known as the anti-stress mineral.

Obesity, syndrome X, and diabetes are part of a continuum of illness that may progress to heart disease if not headed off by good diet, supplements, exercise, and stress reduction. They are not really separate diseases, as we may think, and underlying all this misery we find magnesium deficiency.

There has been a recent addition to our medical vocabulary—it’s diabesity, a recognition that if someone is about thirty pounds overweight for more than a decade, diabetes will likely occur.

People with syndrome X are obese, are on the road to diabetes with insulin resistance, and also have hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and high levels of triglycerides.

Magnesium helps the body digest, absorb, and utilize proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

Magnesium is necessary for insulin to open cell membranes for glucose.

Magnesium helps prevent obesity genes from expressing themselves. Not all forms of magnesium are absorbable by the body. One of the most absorbable forms of magnesium that is safe is magnesium citrate in powder form that can be mixed with hot or cold water.