We all know that science has been gifting us with an avalanche of new ideas and recommendations concerning what we eat and how we eat it. Today, a couple of new insights into how other nutrients may effect the absorption of common supplements we already know about…
There are lots of foods which can give you Magnesium,
but you still may not be getting enough!
First, a word from the American Osteopathic Society (AOS)…
Vitamin D is well known to be valuable in treating osteoporosis. But, if you’re taking D supplements, you might also want to be taking a Magnesium supplement along with it.
A review published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association found Vitamin D can’t be metabolized without sufficient magnesium levels, meaning Vitamin D remains stored and inactive for as many as 50 percent of Americans.
“People are taking Vitamin D supplements but don’t realize how it gets metabolized. Without magnesium, Vitamin D is not really useful or safe,” says study co-author Mohammed S. Razzaque, MBBS, PhD, a professor of pathology at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.
While the recommended daily allowance for magnesium is 420 mg for males and 320 mg for females, the standard diet in the United States contains only about 50 percent of that amount. As much as half of the total population is estimated to be consuming a magnesium-deficient diet.
…And news on Blood Pressure Control from The University of Kent
It is known that changing diet can be effective in reducing high blood pressure but now new research has revealed that people’s natural gut bacteria can alter the effectiveness of dietary change.
New findings from a team at the University of Kent suggest that there is potential for the development of treatment plans for high blood pressure that take into account the metabolic and microbiological background of the individual.
Dr Ruey Leng Loo, of Kent’s Medway School of Pharmacy, working in a team with researchers from Imperial College London and Johns Hopkins University in the US, studied urine samples from 158 study participants. The researchers found that each of the three healthy diets generally produced reduced blood pressure in most of the participants but that a small proportion of individuals responded less well to healthy diets. This was found to be due to individual differences in their gut bacteria, which were detected by identifying bacterial metabolites in the urine.
Although further research is needed, Loo says it would be feasible in the future for diabetologists, cardiologists and dieticians to adopt a new approach in identifying an individuals’ clinical response to diet therapy, as well their adherence to prescribed diets.
And that’s just the good news from this week…
~ Maggie J.