Like many of you I am very skeptical of all the new drugs being pushed for nearly every ailment we face.
Many of these drugs cause a myriad of side effects, in some cases you have to ingest other medication simply to counteract the side effects.
Depression treatments are no different, I recently heard a commercial about adding one anti-depressant medication with another anti-depressant. The side effects listed on the commercial were numerous and some were very serious.
I wish to submit to you that a Vitamin D deficiency can cause depression.
"Vitamin D and depression symptoms were assessed in 441 overweight and obese people1. In a randomised, placebo controlled fashion, subjects were then given either 20,000IU or 40,000 IU of vitamin D or a placebo for one year. Depressive symptoms were then reassessed over the course of a year.
Prior to treatment, those subjects with vitamin D levels less than 40nmol/L reported greater depressive symptoms. Among the two groups given vitamin D there was a significant improvement in depression scores measured one year later. No such changes were reported among those receiving a placebo.
The researchers concluded that there appeared a relationship between serum levels of vitamin D and symptoms of depression with those subjects supplemented with high doses of vitamin D experiencing improvements in depressive symptomatology."
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that is either created in the body or ingested.
Vitamin D is mainly created in our bodies by exposure to the Sun's rays, UVB to be exact. Alternatively, it can be produced by exposing lanolin to UVB rays and the refining it into a pill form for supplement use.
Between 80 and 90% of our Vitamin D3 levels are created by UVB rays and the other is eaten in dairy type foods. Vitamin D3 increases calcium absorption and decreases calcium loss through urination.
How Does Vitamin D help My Depression?
To keep things simple I will illustrate the process in the image below. The image shows how Vitamin D is converted to L-Tyrosine then to L-DOPA and lastly Dopamine.
Dopamine is used to create the neurotransmitters Nor-epinephrine and Epinephrine; they can alter our mood, focus, drive, and many other essential bodily functions.
You can see when UVB rays interact with Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3) that L-Tyrosine is produced, which requires vitamin b6, copper, and folic acid to create L-DOPA to Dopamine and so on.
So If you are not getting enough vitamin d also known as cholecalciferol, then you are hindering the production of L-Tyrosine and in turn lowering Dopamine levels that you need to synthesize Epinephrine and Nor-Epinephrine.
Simply put, if you are low on Vitamin D it will likely cause a mood change among other bodily issues such as muscle pain and fatigue.
Vitamin D and its uses
In this video, a doctor from the Mayo Clinic reports his findings about Vitamin D and Pain.
After watching the video I felt somewhat relieved, I have had muscular pain that I could not seem to remedy, however I felt certain it was a vitamin or mineral issue, not a full condition as of yet.
References
Jorde R, Sneve M, Figenschau Y, Svartberg J, Waterloo K. (2008) Effects of vitamin D supplementation on symptoms of depression in overweight and obese subjects: randomized double blind trial. Journal of Internal Medicine. 264(6):599-609.
Many of these drugs cause a myriad of side effects, in some cases you have to ingest other medication simply to counteract the side effects.
Depression treatments are no different, I recently heard a commercial about adding one anti-depressant medication with another anti-depressant. The side effects listed on the commercial were numerous and some were very serious.
I wish to submit to you that a Vitamin D deficiency can cause depression.
"Vitamin D and depression symptoms were assessed in 441 overweight and obese people1. In a randomised, placebo controlled fashion, subjects were then given either 20,000IU or 40,000 IU of vitamin D or a placebo for one year. Depressive symptoms were then reassessed over the course of a year.
Prior to treatment, those subjects with vitamin D levels less than 40nmol/L reported greater depressive symptoms. Among the two groups given vitamin D there was a significant improvement in depression scores measured one year later. No such changes were reported among those receiving a placebo.
The researchers concluded that there appeared a relationship between serum levels of vitamin D and symptoms of depression with those subjects supplemented with high doses of vitamin D experiencing improvements in depressive symptomatology."
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that is either created in the body or ingested.
Vitamin D is mainly created in our bodies by exposure to the Sun's rays, UVB to be exact. Alternatively, it can be produced by exposing lanolin to UVB rays and the refining it into a pill form for supplement use.
Between 80 and 90% of our Vitamin D3 levels are created by UVB rays and the other is eaten in dairy type foods. Vitamin D3 increases calcium absorption and decreases calcium loss through urination.
How Does Vitamin D help My Depression?
To keep things simple I will illustrate the process in the image below. The image shows how Vitamin D is converted to L-Tyrosine then to L-DOPA and lastly Dopamine.
Dopamine is used to create the neurotransmitters Nor-epinephrine and Epinephrine; they can alter our mood, focus, drive, and many other essential bodily functions.
So If you are not getting enough vitamin d also known as cholecalciferol, then you are hindering the production of L-Tyrosine and in turn lowering Dopamine levels that you need to synthesize Epinephrine and Nor-Epinephrine.
Simply put, if you are low on Vitamin D it will likely cause a mood change among other bodily issues such as muscle pain and fatigue.
Vitamin D and its uses
- Preventing and treating Rickets
- Treats Osteoporosis
- Treats High Blood Pressure
- Treats High Cholesterol
- Treats Diabetes
- Obesity
- Muscle Weakness
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- COPD
- PMS
- Bronchitis
- Asthma
In this video, a doctor from the Mayo Clinic reports his findings about Vitamin D and Pain.
After watching the video I felt somewhat relieved, I have had muscular pain that I could not seem to remedy, however I felt certain it was a vitamin or mineral issue, not a full condition as of yet.
References
Jorde R, Sneve M, Figenschau Y, Svartberg J, Waterloo K. (2008) Effects of vitamin D supplementation on symptoms of depression in overweight and obese subjects: randomized double blind trial. Journal of Internal Medicine. 264(6):599-609.
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