[Metabolic syndrome and magnesium]

With westernization of lifestyle in Japanese people, dietary intake of Mg by grain, barley, seaweed, vegetable, and nuts has been remarkably diminished. Resultantly, Japanese people might develop hypomagnesemia easily. Likewise, upon drastic change of Japanese lifestyle, metabolic syndrome has been increasing a bigger problem of Japanese health in recent days, probably resulting from various causes, such as increasing intake of animal fat, exercise insufficiency, and accumulation of various stresses. People with metabolic syndrome are often complicated with obesity, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia, and thus be susceptible to cardiovascular events. Hypomagnesemia may cause an increase of vascular tonus by intracellular magnesium depletion, resulting in an increase of blood pressure. Furthermore, it might cause impaired insulin secretion, insulin resistance, and hyperlipidemia, and finally leading to the development of metabolic syndrome. Therefore, the importance of magnesium intake for the maintenance of health should be increasingly recognized.