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Does Magnesium Protect Against Cancer?

From Tracy: I recently saw on social media that magnesium helps prevent cancer. Is this true? ( via Arnold’s Pump Club to subcribe visit:  https://arnoldspumpclub.com/)

Back in 2015, researchers found that for every 100 mg of magnesium you consume, you reduce your risk of pancreatic cancer by 24 percent.

The research was an association study, meaning the scientists analyzed data on more than 66,000 men and women, ages 50 to 76, looking at the direct association between magnesium and pancreatic cancer.

The study found that magnesium was protective and offered benefits regardless of age, gender, body mass index, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use. 

While it was just one study, other research has found that magnesium intake is associated with a lower risk of diabetes, which is a risk factor for pancreatic cancer. That’s because magnesium plays a role in beta-cell activity in the pancreas, which helps your body regulate blood glucose. 

So, does this mean magnesium prevents cancer? That’s an overstatement, but that doesn’t mean magnesium can’t reduce risk. 

If you’re deficient in magnesium and don’t get enough in your diet from foods like dark leafy greens (think spinach and kale), nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains, then supplemental magnesium could be a good source of health protection against cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. And a recent study even suggests that it could help protect against stroke. 

The recommended dose is about 300 to 400 mg per day

Foods With Magnesium

(from webmd.com)

Many types of foods contain magnesium. These include leafy green vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and fish.

These types of fish provide magnesium:

• Salmon
• Halibut
• Atlantic mackerel
• Atlantic pollock

Vegetables and Fruits That Have Magnesium

Prickly pear has a lot of magnesium, but it isn’t the easiest food to find or prepare.

Focus instead on these fruits and vegetables that have a lot of magnesium when you cook them and plenty of other nutrients, too:

• Spinach
• Swiss chard (and other leafy green vegetables)
• Bananas
• Tamarind
• Potato with skin
• Okra
• Broccoli

Whole-Grain Products With Magnesium

• Bran cereals
• Wheat germ 
• Quinoa 
• Brown rice

Legumes, Nuts, and Seeds With Magnesium

Meat and poultry don’t have a lot of magnesium, but you can find it in soy, cheese, and yogurt.

These meat alternatives are also good magnesium sources:

• Black-eyed peas 
• Black beans
• Chickpeas
• Edamame
• Tempeh (cooked)
• Soy nuts
• Tofu
• Almonds, cashews, and other nuts
• Pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, chia seeds, and other seeds
• Peanut butter

https://www.webmd.com/diet/magnesium-and-your-health

You can also buy whole meal bread, brown bread with added seeds, I don’t tend to eat flaxseed myself or chia seeds, but I love cashew nuts and pine nuts, I often have pasta with spinach and pine nuts in it, which I usually buy from the Co-op (https://www.coop.co.uk/ https://www.lincolnshire.coop/), I love peanut butter and have always eaten it simply spread on it’s own on bread, I have fond memories of eating it as a child as well. I eat fish and do enjoy salmon and smoked salmon. I buy fishfingers with pollock fish very often. I love fish pie, which have had it most often made with salmon, cod, and smoked haddock, a fish pie mixture bought from Tesco (https://www.tesco.com/) and I also love to have it in pubs, I especially enjoyed it at some of the pubs I was in last year in Cornwall (https://www.visitcornwall.com/) where I and a friend had it often for lunch with garlic bread to go with it. I do like mackeral too and I usually either grill it or cook it in the oven wrapped in foil sprinkled with olive oil. I do like halibut as well but have not eaten it very often. I eat bananas and usually think of them for their high potassium content, but I need to remember that they also contain a lot of magnesium too so doubly good for your minerals. My mother used to eat banana sandwiches but they are not for me, I eat the fruit on it’s own usually, but I do like fruit in cereal too. Fresh taramind is lovely, but becareful it is a very sticky to eat fresh and you need to make sure you can clean your hands afterward because they will be sticky. I buy taramind sauce as well and there is taramind in some jars of brown sauces which I think is one of the reasons it tastes good. I love new potatoes cooked in their skins and when I make jacket potatoes in the oven, I always eat the skin. I love jacket potatoes with cottage cheese. I eat a lot of legumes, I have been having a lot of chillis with red kidney beans in it by making it myself, using: can of chopped tomatoes, can of red kidney beans, some frozen sweet corn, frozen green beans, marmite, Asda vegetarian gravy mix to thicken and served with rice, gorgeous. Recently I had a can of Stag vegetable and bean chilli, (https://staggchili.co.uk/product/vegetable-garden/), that was great too, I was short of time so had it with some bread. I eat a lot of hummous which is made with chickpeas, I love it in sandwiches and on toast. I used to go a lot to AllBarOne when I lived in Birmingham which is a great pub and they used to do a platter of vegetables with hummous and bread. Brindley Place is a great place to go, I went there so much when I lived in Birmingham and there are many great cafes, restaurants and bars to eat there. It is right next to the canal and there are water features which are lovely and an art gallery. I used to go to a health club at Brindley Place as well. I have very happy memories of when I went there and I do visit Birmingham now every now and again to go back to the places I enjoyed such as Brindley Place.

https://www.allbarone.co.uk/national-search/east-and-west-midlands/all-bar-one-brindleyplace-birmingham#/

I have only had edame beans in cans of mixed beans and I have had them in mixed bean salad with a nice dressing from Marks and Spencer. I eat tofu and tempeh, which both have little taste but I eat them in stir fries or with pasta and sauces, in sandwiches, and in chillis or curries, if you put tempeh into a sauce or stew, it is best chopped into small cubes then it can be best enjoyed in the sauce rather than eating a bigger piece of tempeh. The first time I tried tempeh was in a vegetarian and tempeh green thai curry with rice from a take away, it was gorgeous. Silken tofu can be added to pasta sauces and it just blends into the sauce.

As a supplement as well, I buy Floradix magnesium, which I often take to help reduce constipation. https://floradix.co.uk/product/floradix-magnesium/

I love to cook and there are many ways you can make sure you have plenty of magnesium in your diet and in sufficient amounts for good health.