Word is finally getting out about just how important sunlight and vitamin D are for your health.

With 42% of Americans – and over 80% of black Americans – deficient in the critical nutrient, it’s important to talk to your doctor about the issue, and make sure you’re getting enough sunlight or supplementation. But something that’s been overlooked by many is the role of Magnesium in metabolism of vitamin D.

Without consuming enough magnesium, vitamin D – either from natural sources like sunlight or from vitamin D supplements – will remain stored in the body, and the person can therefore remain deficient.

Fortunately magnesium is, unlike vitamin D, readily accessible in foods commonly found at the grocery store, and doctors urge their vitamin D deficient patients to add a wide variety of foods to their diet that are plentiful in the nutrient.