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Should You Take Magnesium to Boost Vitamin D?

If your vitamin D level is low, you can use magnesium to boost vitamin D. You might also need to take supplemental vitamin D.

We don’t usually think of nutritional supplements acting in concert, but that is due to a failure of imagination. Food hardly ever supplies a single nutrient. A reader recently alerted us to an interesting and intricate interaction between a mineral and a fat-soluble vitamin. She asked about taking magnesium to boost vitamin D.

Can You Take Magnesium to Boost Vitamin D Levels?

Q. Most of us do not get nearly enough vitamin D but taking a daily supplement of vitamin D3 may not be enough. I recently read that magnesium deficiency can prevent absorption of vitamin D supplements. Is this true?

A. Yes, it is, but the story is quite a bit more complicated. The enzymes that process vitamin D in our bodies require magnesium to function well.

How Scientists Studied Magnesium to Boost Vitamin D Levels:

A recently published study demonstrated that optimal magnesium status is important for improving circulating vitamin D (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Dec. 1, 2018). The scientists tested the effect of magnesium supplements on 25-hydroxyvitaminD3. They found that if a person’s initial vitamin D level was low (under 30 ng/ml), magnesium supplements helped raise it. On the other hand, if the initial vitamin D level was higher, between 30 and 50 ng/ml, magnesium supplements tended to reduce vitamin D levels. Here is what we wrote earlier about this study. Perhaps this complex relationship between magnesium and vitamin D status may help explain why people who get more magnesium are less prone to fractures.

Does Your Diet Have Enough Magnesium to Boost Vitamin D Levels?

Unfortunately, the majority of American adults don’t get adequate amounts of magnesium in their diets. First of all, pumpkin seeds (168 mg/ounce, shelled), almonds (80 mg/ounce) and cashews (74 mg/ounce) are great sources, but not part of everyone’s weekly fare.  In addition, spinach (78 mg/half-cup cooked spinach), shredded wheat (61 mg/two-biscuit serving) and black beans (60 mg/half-cup serving) are also great sources. Are you eating them regularly? If not, you might want to consider a supplement.

Be careful, though: too much magnesium could lead to diarrhea. Moreover, no one with compromised kidney function should take magnesium supplements except under a doctor’s close supervision. That is because excess magnesium puts too much strain on poorly-functioning kidneys.

Learn More:

You can learn more about what vitamin D does and how you can get optimum levels in our Guide to Vitamin D Deficiency.

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About the Author
Terry Graedon, PhD, is a medical anthropologist and co-host of The People’s Pharmacy radio show, co-author of The People’s Pharmacy syndicated newspaper columns and numerous books, and co-founder of The People’s Pharmacy website. Terry taught in the Duke University School of Nursing and was an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology. She is a Fellow of the Society of Applied Anthropology. Terry is one of the country's leading authorities on the science behind folk remedies..
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