How quickly should Vitamin D supplements start brightening the spirits? September 20, 2011 Subscribe People who take Vitamin D to stave off SAD-type gloom: please give me your anecdotes. In particular, how long does it take to start working? Extended explanation, to satisfy the curiosity of people who like extended explanations: This year, after a gloriously bright early spring, we had four overcast, rainy months instead of a summer. I've hardly set foot outside in months: throughout July and August especially, I'd open the door and the heavens would open, or the sky would fill with #!@#$! Now it's definitely autumn, with cold winds and rain and yet more grey skies. My mood is strongly affected by daily variations in the weather: bright sunshine cheers me up, and grey gloom casts me down, even if I go out in it. So I've had a fairly awful summer - and as I need to find a new job and arrange an international move, I've got plenty of real problems to be stressed out about at the moment.
I can't really afford to have the weather dampening my spirits further. While searching AskMe for advice on lightboxes, I was interested to find testimonials in various threads to the efficacy of high-dose Vitamin D supplements: for instance, in this thread and this one. Considering how little exposure I've had to sunlight in the last few months (not only have I been indoors most of the time, but there've been very few days warm enough for short sleeves), I probably am vitamin-D-deficient; and vitamin supplements are a much cheaper thing to try than a €150+ energy lamp. In this country, the RDA of Vitamin D turns out to be 5 micrograms, or 200 IU. The only pure Vitamin D supplements I can find in the shops are aimed at toddlers, and consist of little sugar tablets containing 5 micrograms of D3. It's not really a blood-test-on-demand kind of health system here, so I can't easily get my baseline levels checked or get prescribed high-dose tablets; it's the kiddy vitamins or nothing.
So, I tried taking three of those a day (600 IU) for a week or so. That didn't seem to be helping, so I upped the dose to five a day, which I've been doing for a couple of days now. No noticeable improvement yet. Should there be, or is it too soon? In any case, I'm going to try going up to 2000 IU before I give up on this, even though I'll end up rattling. Should I do that tomorrow, or should I give the 1000 IU dose a bit more of a chance? And how long should I stick with the higher dose before giving up and fleeing south for a holiday in the sun? (Why yes, I *am* a pessimist. But I could be a happier, more human-feeling pessimist than I am right now, if the sun would only shine...)Vitamin D is a steroid vitamin from a group of fat-soluble pro hormones. Vitamin D and pregnancy are important together. Expecting mothers need to make sure they get the recommended amounts of vitamin D during pregnancy for both their own well being and the healthy development of their baby. The most significant compounds for human development are D2 and D3.
It is unlikely your prenatal vitamin provides enough vitamin D. A recent study found women taking 4,000 IU of vitamin D daily had the greatest benefits in preventing preterm labor/births and infections. The study confirmed vitamin D at this level is not only safe for you, but for your baby, and the researchers from this study now recommend this daily dosage of vitamin D for all pregnant women. The average prenatal vitamin only contains 400 IU of vitamin D, so additional supplementation should be taken daily. Vitamin D is beneficial for your own personal health. Vitamin D now has extensive research supporting its role in immune function, healthy cell division and bone health. Vitamin D is necessary for the absorption and metabolism of calcium and phosphorus. Many studies are finding a connection between low serum vitamin D levels and an increased risk of certain types of cancers, autoimmune disease, neurological disease, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease. Vitamin D invests in the well-being of your baby by supporting healthy bone development.
Deficiency with vitamin D is also related to preeclampsia. At this time, 40-60% of the entire U.S. population is vitamin D deficient, including pregnant women. The reasons for this widespread deficiency are many, and to begin to unfold this issue you can start with understanding there is a very short list of foods that contain vitamin D. These foods are egg yolk, salmon and cod liver oil, however, most vitamin D is consumed through fortified foods like milk. For the 75% of the population that is lactose intolerant, fortified milk products are not a reliable source of vitamin D consumption. Additionally, many factors influence the body’s ability to make and absorb vitamin D. These factors include: where you live, the season, how much time you spend outdoors without sunscreen, skin pigmentation, age, obesity, pollution, and having healthy intestines with optimal absorption capacity. These factors come in to play because Vitamin D is actually a hormone and needs sunlight, in order for the body to manufacture it properly.
At this time, a large part of the U.S. population falls into one, or more, of these categories: You can begin by making an effort to eat more vitamin D containing foods. Next, research suggests sensible sun exposure (usually 5-10 min of exposure of the arms and legs or the hands, arms, and face, 2 or 3 times per week) can help as well. However, the best way to really ensure adequate vitamin D is through simple supplementation. When supplementing, your choices will be between two forms of vitamin D. Ergocalciferol is the vegetarian form of vitamin D and cholecalciferol is the animal-sourced form, usually derived from fish liver oil or lanolin from sheep. The cholecalciferol form is the most absorbable and utilized form for the body, but if you are vegan you should choose ergocalciferol. We recommend Nordic Naturals Vitamin D3 (1000 IU per soft gel) in the natural form cholecalciferol form. The carrier oil is organic, extra virgin olive oil and they come in small, soft gels that are very easy to swallow.