Scientists have confirmed that vitamin D helps with depression

Meta-analysis of over 40 studies confirmedThe effect of vitamin D supplementation on depressive symptoms in adults: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials / Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutritionthat vitamin D supplementation can help relieve symptoms of clinical depression. The work was carried out by scientists from Finland and Australia, who received a grant from two Finnish foundations.

More than 53,000 people participated in the original studies, some with and without diagnosed depression. Some of the subjects took more than 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily, while others took a placebo. As a result of observations, it turned out that the most effective vitamin was with a course of up to three months.

However, even healthy people who received a placebo showed a slight improvement in depressive-like symptoms as a result. In this regard, scientists have come to the conclusion that vitamin D can be useful for people with depression, and for those suffering from less pronounced mental problems.

A new use of the substance would be very helpful. The thing is, depression face up to 280 million people annually, this is one of the leading causes of disability. In such circumstances, antidepressant treatment is not suitable for every patient.

An additional beneficial effect of taking vitamin D may be due to the participation of this substance in the control of chemical elements in the brain, which confirmedMesolimbic dopamine system and its modulation by vitamin D in a chronic mild stress model of depression in the rat / Behavioral Brain Research animal experiments.

However, scientists do not risk feedback, claiming that vitamin D deficiency is necessarily associated with depression. Yes, previous studies tryingAssociation between Vitamin D Supplementation and Mental Health in Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review / Journal of Clinical Medicine confirm this theory, and did not come to an unambiguous conclusion.

These findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation may indeed be beneficial in treating depression. But the authors of the meta-analysis are not going to stop there. They plan to conduct their own experiments on patients with depression to fix their reaction to taking a nutritional supplement in order to identify dosages with the greatest effectiveness for such patients.