Can taking vitamin d help with depression?

Depression can be a real pain in the neck, or rather head. Feeling like you’re stuck in a never-ending hole of darkness is definitely challenging to endure. While many individuals may default towards medication or therapy for their depression management, others are searching for alternative methods.

One such alternative method that has gained some buzz as an anti-depressant agent is taking Vitamin D supplements. In this article, we’ll dive into whether taking Vitamin D does indeed help with depression.

What Is Depression?

Before we get into it though–what exactly is depression? DEPRESSION [1], my friend, refers to mental illness characterized by constant feelings of sadness and decreased interest in activities once enjoyed; leading to several emotional and physical problems impacting one’s life on both professional and personal fronts.

Well-known psychological researches refer to depressive disorders originating from chemical imbalances in the brain especially lacking serotonin termed “happy chemical”.

So depression affects your mood negatively by making you feel blue most times than not resulting primarily due to insufficient production of happy hormones which lead us too…

How Does Vitamin D Work?

‘Hey sunshine’, did you know one significant source responsible for regulating happiness hormones also requires light -Vitamin D! Yes, yes sunlight contains vitamin d (our skin synthesizes vit-d when exposed). I am not saying chug down copious amounts of sunscreen-free sun bays daily as UV rays are hazardous no matter how replenishing they might seem but some amount of sun exposure each day helps our body produce healthy levels o’vitamin-D aiding happy hormone secretion!

This scientific-supported natural phenomenon explains why seasonal affective disorder where there’s lower daylight hours—i.e., winter—can trigger depressive symptoms because evidently lower vitamin d supply inhibits healthy hormone production! Since being shut indoors during quarantine makes getting natural light unusually hard so supplements enriching staple diets could make up the deficit.

The Science behind Vitamin D for Depression

So, what does science have to say about Vitamin D and depression? In today’s materialistic world, everything requires scientific backing – from your claim regarding a hot dog leading to backache or that preference of a cotton towel over wool could lead you closer towards sustainability…

Multiple studies [2] demonstrate that taking vitamin d supplements often improve mood symptoms slightly even cases with severe depression although not as effective alone as compared to its supportiveness towards standard anti-depressants. It further backs up on how supplementing insufficient amounts o’ Vitamin-D improves functions in the amygdala (the brain’s emotional control centre) responsible for modulating negative affective behaviour.

Having said that it is vital not relying solely on Vit-D intake but an amalgamation of therapy/medication alongside them increases recovery chances.

Recommended Daily Intake

How much vitamin d should we be consuming anyway? Milkshakes only go so far… Although recommend daily allowance varies according to health status/varying aged people average adult diet usually involves around 1000-2000 IU/day whereas persons already deficient require considerably more efficient doses which may range between 4000IU-50000IU. For reference purposes; Salmon out on paradise-like vacation yields approx., 450-500iu per meal!

It can initially come across overwhelming however identifying food-based vit-d makes consumption easier alongside prescribed medications lowering probability causing toxicity sometimes known by terms like hypercalcemia/hypervitaminosis… definitely do your research before gulping down buckets ‘o’milk then!

Conclusion

Overall VitD being beneficial for mental wellbeing results from sufficient production aiding healthy hormone release hence supporting adequate relief from depressive symptoms but bear in mind it’s comparable effectiveness relative to traditional antidepressant medication is relatively poor hence a combination approach renders better prognosis!

Now there’s no guarantee its magic will work – maybe watch an episode of the Office – but it might be worth a shot!

Random Posts