Beat Depression With Vitamin D

For whatever reason, there is no denying that depression is on the increase. Even worse, the medical and pharmaceutical establishment will have sufferers of depression on a cocktail of drugs that have serious side effects ranging from addiction to delirium to suicidal tendencies. To me, that does not sound like a step in the right direction.


Unfortunately, we place our faith in the medical profession, who place their faith in the pharmaceutical industry. I shall refrain from saying what I really think of Big Pharma, but needless to say that they are an unscrupulous, unethical, lying bunch of toe-rags. Everything wrong with modern science can be found in Big Pharma.


Getting back to depression - like The Verve song goes " the drugs don't work, they just make you worse". It  is a vicious circle once on the 'depression medical treatment scheme'.


That may sound like bad news if you are one of the sufferers of depression. However, there is good news - and it is a natural way without any of the nasty side-effects. It is also something you have probably heard of before - the 'sunshine vitamin' or vitamin D. That's right, this common vitamin that our body produces (as vitamin D3) when exposed to sunlight has been shown to play a major role of whether or not you suffer from depression.

The University of Texas South-Western Medical Centre has undertaken the largest study of its kind on Vitamin D. They concluded that low levels of it could contribute to major depressive disorders. They recommend doctors and psychiatrists check vitamin D levels in screening for depression. Their study followed 12, 600 people over 4 years. The results showed that low levels of vitamin D were linked to symptoms of depression and an increase in vitamin D levels lowers the risk of depression, especially in those with prior history of depression.


Unfortunately, their study didn't determine how depression could be treated with vitamin D. But it does signal that doctors should be looking at the vitamin D level before even contemplating a course in antidepressants - after all, nobody is deficient in antidepressants...!

People at Risk of a Vitamin D Deficiency

• Breastfed Infants Who are Not in the Sun - The amount of vitamin D in breast milk depends on the amount of vitamin D in the mother. However, breast-milk typically does not contain adequate amounts of vitamin D. Be sure infants get at least some exposure to the sun (at least 10-20 minutes) to ensure adequate levels of vitamin D.
• Older Adults - As skin ages it is less and less able to make vitamin D from the sun, so vitamin D has to be attained from foods or supplements.
• People With Little Sun Exposure on the Skin - Wearing sunscreen, or lots of clothing, hampers the creation of vitamin D from the sun.
• People with Darker Skin - Melanin, a pigment found in skin, reduces the body's ability to manufacture vitamin D from the sun.
• People who have Problems Absorbing Fat, or are on Extreme Low Fat Diets - Vitamin D is fat soluble, which means it is found in fats, and your body has to be able to digest fats in order for you to absorb the vitamin D.
• People Who are Obese, or People Who have Had Gastric Bypass Surgery - Excess fat in the body absorbs vitamin D, effectively reducing the amount available for body functions. Those who have undergone bypass surgery are missing part of their upper intestine which hampers Vitamin D absorption.
• People Taking Certain Medications
  • Steroid Corticosteroid medications used to alleviate inflammation can reduce calcium absorption and impair vitamin D metabolism.
  • Weight-loss drugs with orlistat (brand names Xenical® and alliTM) and cholesterol-lowering drugs cholestyramine (brand names Questran®, LoCholest®, and Prevalite®) can reduce the absorption of vitamin D and other fat-soluble vitamins.
  • Medicines used to control and stabalize epileptic seizures, particularly phenobarbital and phenytoin (brand name Dilantin®) interferes with Vitamin D and reduces Calcium absorption.

Before running off to go buy vitamin D supplements - a word of warning: vitamin D can produce toxicity in large and prolonged doses. Also, the recommended dose depends on your age and can vary from country to country. Just 15 minutes a day in the sun is more than enough so the sunnier your climate the more vitamin D your body will produce as a result of sun exposure. As most people spend many hours indoors these are guideline recommendations:

• Children: 5.0 μg /day
• Adults: 19-70 yr 15 μg/day; 70 + yr 20 μg/day
• Pregnant/lactating: no more than 15 μg/day

Many foods nowadays are fortified with vitamin D, ranging from breakfast cereals to milk. It is always better to get vitamins from a good diet of fresh and healthy food. Vitamin D can be found in the following foods:

• Vitamin D2: Alfalfa shoots; Shitaki mushrooms, button mushroom, portabella mushrooms
• Vitamin D3: fatty fish (mackerel, herring, salmon, tuna, catfish, sardines, eel); fish liver oils; beef liver; egg (whole)
• oyster, crustaceans, 
• soymilk, cow's milk, 

The observant amongst you would have noticed that a lot of the above foods are high in cholesterol, so please eat them wisely. You don't want to replace one medical condition with another...!

                  

Just exactly how vitamin D works with depression is not yet known. It is thought it may be because that vitamin D has an effect on neurotransmitters and inflammation. Vitamin D has also been linked in various ways to medical conditions like: 

• cardiovascular disease
• bone health
• hair health
• asthma
• multiple sclerosis
• neurodegenerative diseases
• rickets
• mortality

For those medically minded, Vitamin D is converted to calcidiol in the liver. Part of the calcidiol is then converted by the kidneys to calcitriol, which is  the biologically-active form of vitamin D. This circulates as a hormone in the blood, and regulates the concentration of phosphate and calcium in the bloodstream. It also promotes the healthy growth and remodelling of bone. Vitamin D is important for bone health. 

Metabolism & Pathway Map of Vitamin D (Source: Wikipedia)

 





Sources:


"Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Depression, Psychiatrists Report," Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/ 


Vitamin D, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D


Top 10 Foods Highest in Vitamin D, HealthAliciosNess.com, http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/high-vitamin-D-foods.php