A new study shows that a person may entirely avoid the brutal pain of a gallstone attack and the surgery if the magnesium intake is sufficiently high.

Type 2 Diabetes & Gallstones
Magnesium has a type 2 diabetes connection, which in turn has a gallstone connection.

The Karolinska Institute in Sweden undertook a meta-analysis of seven large magnesium/diabetes studies in 2007. Six of the studies found a significant link between high magnesium intake and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. And the sources of magnesium (either from diet or supplements combined with diet) were equally effective.

The Karolinska team found that diabetes risk dropped by 15 percent for every 100 mg increase in magnesium intake.

Unfortunately, magnesium deficiency can develop fairly easily. Menstruation, prolonged stress, a high intake of starches, alcohol, diuretics and some prescription drugs (such as antibiotics) have all been shown to reduce magnesium levels.

In the February 2008 issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology, researchers at the University of Kentucky Medical Center note that low magnesium levels have been associated with high insulin concentrations. They write: "Chronic hypersecretion of insulin, a feature of insulin resistance, may increase the cholesterol saturation index in the bile, and thus may facilitate gallstone formation."

Magnesium deficiency may also increase gallstone risk by raising triglyceride levels while lowering HDL cholesterol levels.

Risk Assessment for Gallstones

To investigate the effect of long-term magnesium intake on the risk of gallstone disease, the Kentucky team (in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the National Cancer Institute) launched a study to follow magnesium intake and medical records for more than 42,000 men.

RESULTS: