Key Takeaways

• Vitamin D plays a neuroprotective role, influencing serotonin synthesis and brain plasticity, relevant for mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.
• Deficiency in vitamin D is linked to increased risk of depression, ADHD, anxiety, and suicide, with supplementation showing potential benefits.
• Testing vitamin D levels is essential in psychiatry to identify deficiencies and tailor treatment, supporting personalized mental health care.
• Despite research limitations, vitamin D supplementation is a simple, effective intervention that can enhance standard mental health treatments.

Of the many researched integrative medicine interventions for the treatment of mental health conditions, perhaps one of the simplest is vitamin D. While controversy around its use remains, including recent guidelines that recommend against testing vitamin D levels for virtually any reason,1 my own clinical experience combined with the latest research strongly suggest benefits for a number of mental health conditions.

For 40 years, Americans have been told that lying in the sun without skin protection from ultraviolet (UV) rays is a dangerous thing. After all, the incidence of melanoma − the most dangerous form of skin cancer − has been increasing globally.

But a new study from the University of Edinburgh of 360,000 people living in the United Kingdom indicates that when the health benefits of sun exposure are factored in, we might rethink the issue.

Correcting for confounding factors of age, gender, smoking, socioeconomic status, and exercise, the study found that sunbed users had a 23% lower rate of cardiovascular (CV) death and a 14% lower rate of cancer death in general.

A recent follow-up to the MAVIDOS trial confirms that vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy improves offspring bone mineral density, with benefits persisting up to seven years of age.

Previously, the MAVIDOS trial reported that vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy significantly improved offspring's bone mineral density (BMD) when measured at four years. In a recent study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers examine the persistence of this improvement in BMD into later childhood years.

NEWS RELEASE

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TORONTO, ON (August 20, 2024) – A large, cohort study from the UK has reported that people who have higher exposure to UV through sunlight or sunbeds have a lower risk of all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality. The study adds to the growing evidence that the health benefits of UV exposure may outweigh the risks in low-sunlight environments.

The Vitamin D Society has been educating people on the benefits of non-burning UV exposure – the body’s primary source of vitamin D - for 15 years. This is the first time that sunbed users have been included in a large study of health benefits and mortality.

The health benefits of spending time in the sun could outweigh the risks for those living in areas with limited sunshine, a study suggests.

In low-sunlight locations such as parts of the UK, exposure to higher levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation – found in sunlight – was linked to a drop in deaths due to cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Adapting public health advice to reflect both the risks and benefits of UV exposure may help to reduce disease burden and improve life expectancy in low-sunlight countries, the research team says.

Experts caution that measures should still be taken to protect the skin when UV levels are high, to prevent sunburn and the development of skin cancer.

Neuroscientist and TED speaker Sarah Baldeo joined CTV Morning Live’s Kent Morrison on the importance of sunny vacations and taking breaks.

Kent Morrison: Vacations are not just a way to escape the ordinary, they can actually have a big impact on your brain in a good way. Sarah, I'm very much looking forward to this conversation here in August, when a lot of people are on vacation. What happens to our brain when we take a break?

Sarah Baldeo: Your brain is kind of like an engine, right? You've got all these pistons firing, and the worst thing is when you're overloading one piston. So imagine you go on vacation, you get all this great stimuli, and that lights up multiple areas of your brain, and it really distributes the energy across all those pistons. That's what we want. We want that real big brain energy.