Vitamin D and Magnesium

As a nutrition coach, I recommend my clients consume plenty of foods rich in vitamin D and magnesium. Here’s why.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D plays several valuable roles in the body. It contributes to a strong immune system, it contributes to heart health, and it also ensures bone-strength by helping get calcium into the bones for bone density.

Many people in the UK are deficient in vitamin D, particularly in the winter when levels of sunlight are low and weak. Foods rich in vitamin D are oily fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel, anchovies), egg yolks, red meat and liver. Some cereals are fortified with vitamin D, and you can also take vitamin D supplements.

Magnesium

This essential mineral has several vital roles, one of which is to enable the body to absorb vitamin D, and to activate vitamin D so that it can perform its functions.

Foods high in magnesium include pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds, chia seeds, chickpeas (houmous is a convenient form of chickpeas), leafy green vegetables such as spinach, almonds, cashews, live natural yoghurt, avocados.

Beware the magnesium-killers: smoking, alcohol consumption, excessive stress and the prolonged levels of cortisol it produces.

(Dominic Londesborough is a personal trainer in London and an online nutrition coach.)