What is the benefit of vitamin D against depression?

 

Depressive episodes and anxiety are conditions that are increasingly prevalent worldwide.

 

The reasons for their development are different and the factors of everyday life, genetic predisposition, sleep, nutrition, hormonal balance and others have an increasing influence.

 

Recent studies have shown a link between sufficient time spent in sunlight and a lower risk of depression .

 

Sunlight is known to induce vitamin D synthesis by the skin.

 

Vitamin D levels matter for emotional and mental health.

 

A new meta-analysis of 41 previous studies shows that taking vitamin D can alleviate symptoms of depression  in patients already diagnosed with the disease.

 

In addition to providing good control of calcium and phosphorus levels in the body, vitamin D helps regulate various functions in the central nervous system, even contributing to the control of the balance of neurotransmitters .

 

The new meta-analysis included data from 53,235 participants from 41 different studies that included both patients with and without depression, participants who took vitamin D or a placebo, and other participants with a variety of conditions.

 

The usual intake of vitamin D was 50-100 micrograms per day.

 

In participants with depression , vitamin D supplementation was found to be significantly more effective than placebo in alleviating symptoms.

 

Vitamin D supplementation appears to be most effective when administered for less than 12 weeks.

 

The results clarify that the intake of vitamin D has a full-fledged effect both on patients with more pronounced symptoms and on patients in the initial stages of depression .

 

Depression is one of the leading causes of impaired quality of life.

 

Antidepressant therapy is not effective in all patients, which highlights the need to discover new therapeutic approaches.

 

The available data do not provide sufficient evidence for the influence of low vitamin D levels on the risk of developing depression.

 

The meta-analysis could not fully confirm the benefit of supplementation, but it is the first scientific paper to show a potential association and benefit of vitamin D intake in patients with depression.

 

References:

https://www.sciencealert.com/massive-review-shows-vitamin-d-really-does-seem-to-ease-depressive-symptoms

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2022.2096560