Here is a little something to keep all of you up to date with the latest research. A study presented on May 6th, 2018 showed some exciting things. With all the talk going back and forth claiming vitamins work and don’t work, it’s great to finally get a meta-analysis study slamming the door shut on this controversy. We know for a fact that Vitamin D supplementation can help reduce depressive symptoms, new results of an updated meta-analysis show.
“People who were vitamin D deficient and depressed seemed to respond best to supplementation, but there was some evidence that supplementation improved depressive symptoms in people who even had a normal level of vitamin D,” Marissa Flaherty, MD, of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, told Medscape Medical News.
Globally, more than 300 million people suffer from depression. It’s the number one cause of years lost to disability worldwide. In the United States, the overall prevalence of vitamin D deficiency hovers around 42%.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of five randomized controlled trials published from 2011 to 2016 that examined the effect of vitamin D supplementation (vs. no supplementation) on depressive symptoms.
In the pooled data analysis, Flaherty and her colleagues found that vitamin D supplementation improved depressive symptoms.
“I think all doctors should check vitamin D levels and supplement when needed,” said Dr Marissa Flaherty. Gregory Dalack, MD, chair of the Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, said, “This is a good update of the literature. In general, having low vitamin D is not helpful, not just for depression but for bones and all sorts of things.”
Dalack emphasized the importance of looking at the big picture for patients with depression.
Based on the studies, a dosage ranging between 3-6 capsules a day of Optimal Longevi-D-K2 will provide the whole food vitamin D needed (based on doctors’ recommendations).
American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2018. Poster P3-096, presented May 6, 2018.
