The Magnesium Supplement That Can Prevent Diabetes And Help You Sleep – Health Digest

It might seem as if sleep and type 2 diabetes would have little in common with each other. However, some relatively recent evidence shows what might be an unexpected link between sleep-related disorders and diabetes risk.

In a 2021 interview for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Dr. Eve Van Cauter clarified this connection between the two medical conditions. Dr. Van Cauter discussed several studies that showed a correlation between insomnia and sleep deprivation and the risk of diabetes in healthy individuals, noting that in one study, people who didn’t get enough sleep were 40% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes.

A 2023 review in Cureus supports Dr. Van Cauter’s assertions. After analyzing the results from 11 clinical studies, evidence illustrated a clear path between sleep disturbances and an elevated risk of diabetes.

For this reason, it may be appropriate for you to set your sights on finding ways to get a good night’s rest, especially if you’re concerned about being diagnosed with diabetes. And one of the possible ways to improve your sleep quality is to take magnesium chloride.

Magnesium chloride has a reputation for helping with sleep disorders. In addition, it may provide blood sugar management assistance, making it a consideration if you’re looking for a product that can address both your sleep and diabetes concerns.

A 2021 meta-analysis in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies focused squarely on magnesium, the main component in magnesium chloride, and provided some measurable reasons to think about trying magnesium chloride if you’re unable to sleep. The review investigated available research on magnesium as a therapeutic sleep aid for insomnia, a sleep disturbance that affects about 12% of adults in the United States. Data from three trials indicated that magnesium supplementation allowed adult subjects to drift off around 17 minutes faster and stay asleep for about 16 minutes longer, on average.

Combining chloride and magnesium can improve the relatively modest absorption rates of magnesium, which are typically between 30% and 40%. In fact, magnesium chloride is considered a well-absorbed type of magnesium, which means it may make magnesium work more dependably.

This isn’t to suggest that you’ll stop tossing and turning the moment you start taking magnesium chloride, as determining the extent to which magnesium can help you sleep requires more research. That said, magnesium may help; just follow upper limit consumption guidelines of no more than 350 milligrams per day. 

Regardless, you can be sure that you’re at least moving toward better glucose levels by taking magnesium chloride, because magnesium is well-documented as an aid for balancing blood sugar. One of magnesium’s functions is to assist with the efficient metabolism of sugars, per the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In fact, magnesium-rich diets are associated with a lower likelihood of diabetes.

How much of an effect can magnesium have on your glucose if you take it consistently? A 2015 study in Diabetes and Metabolism found that after taking 30 milliliters of magnesium chloride daily for four months, 116 adult subjects saw a drop in their fasting and post-meal blood sugars. As a side note, this boosted their HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol (the “good” kind) as well.