Vitamin D is important for many bodily functions and overall health from maintaining bones to boosting immunity, but about 40% of Americans are vitamin D deficient and rates are highest for Black and Hispanic Americans. Deficiency symptoms include muscle weakness, bone weakness, sleep disturbances, and poor concentration.
Vitamin D deficiency can also affect our mood, and research has shown that people with vitamin D deficiency are at significantly higher risk of depression compared to people with normal vitamin D levels. Researchers and practitioners have also observed that low vitamin D levels can affect people’s response to antidepressant medications. Dr. Angelos Halaris, a professor of psychiatry at Loyola University School of Medicine, says that in her practice, when patients are not responding to antidepressants fully and their vitamin D levels are low, adding a vitamin D supplement improves their response to the medication.
How can you increase your vitamin D levels? You can get vitamin D from both sunlight and diet. Researchers in a UK based study found that people with lighter skin tone can synthesize vitamin D from the sun in a shorter amount of time. Going on a 10 minute walk around lunch time provides an adequate time span in the sunlight. For people with darker skin tone researchers suggest that they spend at least 25 minutes in the sun with both leg and arm exposure or consider oral supplements to reach adequate vitamin D levels. Foods such as egg yolks and fatty fishes, like salmon and mackerel, are naturally high in vitamin D and many foods such as milk and orange juice are fortified with vitamin D. There are also many supplement options for vitamin D, including multivitamins that include vitamin D. Before you start taking any supplements or increasing your vitamin D intake, talk to your doctor and find out if you are vitamin D deficient.
Wynn, Paul. ( 2022, November 21). Vitamin D and Depression: Can Vitamin D Help? U.S. News and World Reports. https://www.usnews.com/wellness/mind/articles/vitamin-d-for-depression
Webb, A. R., Kazantzidis, A., Kift, R. C., Farrar, M. D., Wilkinson, J., & Rhodes, L. E. (2018, April). Colour Counts: Sunlight and Skin Type as Drivers of Vitamin D Deficiency at UK Latitudes. Nutrients, 10(4), 457. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10040457