Surprising effect of taking popular supplement with Vitamin D

A popular supplement could improve how the body regulates vitamin D levels, a new scientific study has suggested.

You may already be aware, but the majority of your daily vitamin D intake actually comes from exposure to sunlight through your skin.

However, the fat-soluble vitamin can also be found in a wealth of food sources, including oily fish, mushrooms, egg yolks, and red meat.

Despite many of us taking steps to get outside more and add these products to our diets, it’s believed that one in six adults in the UK harbours low levels of the essential nutrient in their blood stream.

If you’re not hitting the daily recommended vitamin D amount (10 micrograms), then you may experience common side effects associated with deficiency.

These include, but are not limited to, fatigue, bone pain, muscle weakness and cramps, and depression.

Most people get the majority of their vitamin D from sunlight - but this can be difficult in winter (Oscar Wong/Getty Stock Image)

The British government recommends taking a vitamin D supplement between October and March, due to the lack of sunlight.

However, did you know that another supplement could help multiply certain gut bacteria that increase vitamin D production in the body?

Experts writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggested that people with a specific genotype, called TRPM7, may discover that magnseium can help ‘utilise vitamin D efficiently’.

To come to this conclusion, researchers split 240 participants into almost equal groups.

One half was given a magnesium supplement, tailored to their usual diet; another took a placebo.

The scientists found that the magnesium pill worked to lower vitamin D levels in people who had too much in their body, and increase the level in people who had a lower amount that reccomended.

Speaking about the results, Qi Dai, lead study author and a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said that magnesium ‘regulates the body's circulating vitamin D levels by regulating its vitamin D synthesis and metabolism enzymes’, as per Prevention.

Scott Keatley, a nutritionist and co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy, has backed up the claims.

He told the publication that by correcting magnesium deficiency, it was likley that vitamin D levels would be raised in ‘people who are low by improving activation and transport.’

Magnesium can interfere with medication, so it's worth speaking to your health provider before you start taking a supplement (Kinga Krzeminska/Getty Stock Image)

However, Keri Gans, author of The Small Change Diet, told the outlet that adding magnesium to your diet isn’t enough - a healthy diet and lifestyle should be prioritised, too.

“Nutrients work together, so taking a balanced approach is essential,” she stated.

It’s reccomended by the NHS that male adults aged 19 to 64 consume 300g of magnesium a day, while women can get away with 30g less.

Foods which are rich in the supplement include: leafy greens, almonds, seeds, soy products, including milk and tofu, and dark chocolate.

Experts have advised anyone who believes their vitamin D or magnesium levels are low to seek professional advice before scarfing down supplements off their own back.

This is because magnesium can interfere with some medications, inclduing antibiotics, acid reflux meds, and blood pressure drugs.