MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY & VITAMIN D

Magnesium is a mineral known for its role in maintaining strong bones and muscle tone. It is also required by all the enzymes that metabolize vitamin D. Without adequate amounts of magnesium, vitamin D cannot be properly utilized. For this reason, magnesium is considered the most important of the five co-factors for vitamin D.

MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that almost 70 percent of Americans are magnesium deficient, which is due in part to inadequate diet, but also due to the mineral-depleted soil that most vegetables and fruits now grow in. The National Institutes of Health recommends 400 mg of magnesium per day for men younger than 30 years and 310 mg daily for women in the same age bracket. Beyond 30 years old, the amounts increase to 420 mg and 320 mg respectively; 360 mg is recommended during pregnancy. Adults should maintain blood serum levels of magnesium between 0.7 and 1.0 mmol/L.

MAGNESIUM AND VITAMIN D

Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and is involved in more than 300 biochemical reactions, including ones crucial for metabolizing vitamin D. Magnesium is also needed in each of the steps concerned with replication, transcription and translation of genetic information, thus it is required for the genetic mechanism of action of Vitamin D, as cited in "Vitamins: Fundamental Aspects in Nutrition and Health." Initial symptoms of magnesium deficiency include muscle cramps, which are often exacerbated by sunbathing because large amounts of vitamin D-3 are produced within the skin in response to sunlight and deplete magnesium levels even further. Supplementing with vitamin D can also exacerbate an underlying magnesium deficiency.

VITAMIN D CO-FACTORS

Vitamin D has co-factors that the body needs in order to utilize all forms of vitamin D properly. Without these co-factors, symptoms identical to vitamin D deficiency develop, such as fatigue, muscle aches, joint pain, depression, reduced immune system function and "soft bones" that lead to rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, as cited in "Human Biochemistry and Disease." The most biochemically involved co-factor is magnesium; the others are zinc, vitamin K-2, boron and very small amounts of vitamin A.

SOURCES OF MAGNESIUM

Although there are supplements on the market that include vitamin D with its co-factors, a diet rich in magnesium should allow vitamin D, even the large amounts that can be generated from being exposed to sunshine, to be processed properly. Excellent sources of magnesium include green leafy vegetables such as spinach and broccoli, dried fruits, fish with bones, most legumes such as lentils and peas, many seeds, nuts such as almonds and cashews, brown rice, bananas, chocolate, coffee and black teas. The richest source of magnesium per gram is dried seeds -- such as pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds -- which contain between 340 mg and 535 mg per 100 g serving.