Thread: The Relationship b/w Vit D, Ca and Mg

Vitamin D is a lipid soluble vitamin with steroidal structure. It has an extensive range of cellular and molecular functions. It plays key roles in different organs as bone mineralization by maintaining serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations at required levels, cellular differentiation and replication in many body organs, glucose homeostasis, muscle and skeletal function etc.

Calcium is a nutrient needed for strong bones, but your body cannot absorb it properly without the help of vitamin D. The combination of calcium and vitamin D helps strengthen bones and prevent osteoporosis. Vitamin D is not needed for the paracellular transport of calcium, which depends on the calcium gradient. Active calcium absorption decreases when the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration is < 20 nmol/L.

According to a review of the interaction between magnesium and vitamin D in "Magnesium Research," a deficiency of magnesium is usually associated with low production of active vitamin D metabolites or by-products. Magnesium is necessary to activate all the enzymes that metabolize vitamin D. For example, it's now known that vitamin D regulates hundreds of human genes, including those genes linked to major diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Magnesium is required in the synthesis of DNA, the genetic blueprint of your cells, and it is also needed for vitamin D's actions in switching certain genes on or off.

Severe vitamin D deficiency in children results in rickets, a disease that softens and weakens bones. In a case reported in the "Lancet," two children with rickets received massive doses, 6 million IU of vitamin D over 10 days, without any improvement after six weeks. When they were treated with magnesium because of low serum levels, the rickets promptly disappeared. In another case study published in "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," vitamin D treatment did not resolve low blood calcium in five patients. Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption. The patients were given magnesium because of low levels, and, as a result, the calcium levels quickly returned to normal. According to the study's authors, magnesium may promote the release of calcium from bone in the presence of vitamin D.

In published article entitled “Relationship of serum magnesium and Vitamin D levels in a nationally-representative sample of Iranian adolescents; the CASPIAN-III study” by Kelishadi et al. authors aimed, to assess the association of serum magnesium and Vitamin D (25(OH) D) levels in 330 students, aged range from 10 to 18 years. At this study, they found the significant association of magnesium with 25(OH) D serum levels. They suggested further considerations to find the underlying mechanisms and the clinical significhance of the current findings.

Read more: Kelishadi R, Ataei E, Ardalan G, Nazemian M, Tajadini M, Heshmat R, et al. Relationship of Serum Magnesium and Vitamin D Levels in a Nationally-Representative Sample of Iranian Adolescents: The CASPIAN-III Study. Int J Prev Med. 2014;5:99–103.

Summary.....
Vit. D has very important role in maintaining calcium level in serum. It increases calcium absorption from intestine. VitD utilises magnesium during conversation to active metabolite. So vitD supplementation might lead to magnesium deficiency leading to neurological And cardiac symptoms. So ideally vitD supplementation to be combined with magnesium supplementation.


I am a part time Proctologist and full time Gynecologist

Have you ever seen the study where large consumptions of protein in the absence of calcium, steal calcium from your bones, creating bone density issues? Seems like 1992 when I read that study. Obviously not that simple but I found it intriguing.
I always bear in mind that most of these studies are on average (in American it means unhealthy) people.
I discount just about every animal study after learning only mice get cancer from saccharine. I vividly remember the “Sweet and Low” scare in the late ‘70s As I am a man in a family of many diabetics.