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Vitamin D and magnesium

Sarah from New York writes:

Dr. Cannell:

How much magnesium do you need to allow Vitamin D to work properly?

Dr. Cannell replies:

Severe magnesium deficiencies severely impair vitamin D's ability to work.1  What is not known, is how mild to moderate magnesium deficiencies, like most Americans have, affect vitamin D metabolism. The safe thing to do is to eat green leafy vegetables and a handful of sunflower seeds and nuts every day (Trader Joe's sells a variety of seeds). If you can't, won't, or don't end up doing that, then take a vitamin D supplement with added magnesium.

Vitamin D cofactors

In fact, there are now supplements on the market that contain all the cofactors vitamin D needs to work properly (including magnesium): zinc (the base of the fingers of the Vitamin D Receptor each contains a zinc molecule), Vitamin K2 (Vitamin K helps direct Vitamin D to calcify the proper organs), boron (boron is involved in the rapid, non-genomic action of Vitamin D on the cell wall), a small amount of genistein (about one-half the amount the average Japanese consumes every day), which helps activated Vitamin D  stay around longer at the receptor site, and a tiny amount of Vitamin A. Again, the wisest thing to do is to eat green leafy vegetables and a handful of seeds every day as that combination contains the co-factors Vitamin D needs, the co-factors in which many Americans are deficient.



Page last edited: 16 June 2011

References

  1. Cannell JJ. Magnesium and vitamin D's co-factors. Vitamin D Newsletter. July 2009;