Type 2 Diabetics Need to Know About Magnesium Supplement Side Effects!

Magnesium, like chromium, is also involved in the metabolism of sugar and there is considerable evidence that diabetics should take supplemental magnesium. More than half of all people with Type 2 diabetes show evidence of magnesium deficiency, and magnesium may prevent some complications of diabetes such as retinopathy and heart disease.

Women with type 2 diabetes benefit from magnesium in their diets, but are there many potential side effects with taking magnesium supplements?

Side Effects:

1. Laxative Effects: One potential side effect of magnesium supplements isn't hard to understand. Magnesium is the main ingredient in Milk of Magnesia, the well known laxative. Taking more than about 1,200 mg of magnesium in a single dose, or more than about 2,000 mg a day, is likely to make you have to go to the bathroom on an urgent basis. You really don't need this much magnesium in a single day, however, even if you are trying to correct magnesium deficiency.

2. Unexplained Twitches and Batting Eyelashes: "Twitchy" muscles and uncontrollable batting of the eyelashes can be a sign of excessive magnesium or potassium. If these symptoms occur with fatigue, nausea, or tingling sensations, don't hesitate to see a doctor right away.

3. Milk Alkali Poisoning: Another potential side effect of supplemental magnesium is milk alkali poisoning. Although magnesium supplements can lower blood pressure, overdosing magnesium, calcium, and vitamin D together can actually raise blood pressure, sometimes drastically.

How to Handle These Side Effects: The solution is just to stop taking the supplements altogether for about a week, and then to limit yourself to 400 mg of magnesium, preferably in two doses, 800 to 1,000 mg of calcium, preferably in two doses, and no more than 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily. Even better, get your vitamin D by spending time in the sun without wearing sun block, up to 20 minutes a day if you have fair skin, 40 minutes a day if you have dark skin.

Combinations to Avoid: There are also some combinations women need to avoid to ensure that the magnesium supplements they take are actually absorbed by their body:
avoid taking magnesium supplements within two hours of eating any plant food that is high in oxalic acid, such as leafy greens (especially spinach and lamb's quarters), almonds, or cocoa.avoid soft drinks that list phosphoric acid as an ingredient. Phosphoric acid depletes your body's supplies of magnesium.ask you doctor about taking a magnesium supplement if you take prescription digitalis, steroids for arthritis or asthma, or antibiotics. These medications deplete magnesium in the body.