Magnesium levels run low in people with type-2 diabetes, according to a study by researchers in Brazil.

Celia Colli, PhD, of the University of Sao Paulo, and her colleagues studied 51 patients with type-2 diabetes. Seventy-seven percent of them were deficient in magnesium, based on low levels of the mineral determined by intake, plasma levels, red blood cells, or urinary excretion. Poor kidney function was strongly associated with low magnesium levels. Lower magnesium levels were also associated with poorer glucose tolerance.

“It is important to emphasize that there were no significant differences between non-medicated patients and those receiving insulin, metformin, and diuretic drugs,” Colli wrote.

The researchers also wrote that, “low body concentrations of this mineral may influence the evolution of the disease [type-2 diabetes] and generate further complications.”

Reference: Sales CH, Pedrosa LF, Lima JG, et al. Influence of magnesium status and magnesium intake on the blood glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Clinical Nutrition, 2011: epub ahead of print.