We all know that our moods feel lighter when the sun is shining. But who would have guessed that those golden rays played a role? That’s right – Vitamin D may be a natural mood booster!
Several studies in recent years point to vitamin D’s ability to lighten depression, while also showing a correlation between depression and low vitamin D levels. In 2010, researchers studied close to 1000 men and women over the age of 65, many who were depressed. Nearly three-quarters of those with depression had low levels of vitamin D. In the women studied, those with low levels of vitamin D had more depression in the three and six years that followed. Those women with low vitamin D levels at the beginning of the study also had more depression over the next six years.
Earlier this year, research from the UK revealed in a study of 2700 children studied over four years. They found that those with low levels of vitamin D were most likely to have symptoms of depression. Those with higher levels were less likely to have depression symptoms as they became teens. Of note, is that a certain kind of vitamin D – D3 – helped the most to lower depression in this study.
Earlier studies showed that taking vitamin D lowered symptoms of depression in women in two countries. Women and men in Italy also had more depressive symptoms if they had low vitamin D levels.
Researchers recently revealed ground-breaking results of women with existing moderate to severe depression just last month. Three women ages 42-66 with major depression, who were also taking medicines for such, were given vitamin D supplements after their blood results showed they had low levels. After eight to twelve weeks of taking vitamin D supplements, their vitamin D levels rose to normal. All three women’s levels of depression fell from moderate or severe, to minimal or mild by the end of the study. Two of the three women’s scores fell by two-thirds!
The sun stands as the best source of vitamin D. Vitamin D3, as opposed to D2, is the kind of vitamin D the sun helps our bodies produce and is the kind that our bodies are most familiar with. Most experts agree that D3 is far more easily absorbed than D2, and thus far more effective. In regions (and at times of the year) when the sun shines less, food sources like fatty fish and organic egg yolks can boost your level with their heavy vitamin D3 content. D3 is also derived from sheep lanolin, which in turn is extracted from the animal’s wool, providing a source of D3 free of the dangers of mercury.
But because so few of us get enough sun, and because it remains difficult to get enough vitamin D from food sources, most experts recommend a high quality vitamin D supplement to achieve good health. Whatever the source, keep vitamin D levels on track for optimal mental and physical health.
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