The Mood Vitamin

Vitamin D could well be called the mood vitamin in my view; it is one of the key vitamins needed by the body to maintain balance. As we get older our body’s ability to activate Vitamin D will reduce which is the factor that causes a reduction in our ability to assimilate calcium, leading to increased risk of osteoporosis most especially in menopause.

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Vitamin D is essential during winter months

Vitamin D has a close relationship with calcium both impacting the brain activity involved in the neurotransmitter processing and the adrenal and pituitary glands health. Hence if Vitamin D is deficient then calcium may lose its power, so it is worthwhile ensuring a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D.

Essential to ensure optimum brain function and we all need to supplement this into our diet every day. For years we have associated Vitamin D with stronger bones and teeth (due to its ability to help absorb calcium), it is now well known that Vitamin D plays a key role in both sex hormone production (when women are deficient in vitamin D, it reduces estrogen levels) and mood. A lack of Vitamin D diminishes the body's ability to produce feel-good brain chemicals including serotonin and dopamine, as such it is an essential aid to help reduce anxiety.

We can get Vitamin D from food sources but we are only able to take a very small amount from food of that which we require daily. The main food sources are eggs, oily fish, cod liver oil, shitake and button mushrooms and red meat. I would strongly suggest supplementing with an oral Vitamin D spray (a higher dose in winter and a lower dose in summer). As Vitamin D is an oil soluble vitamin there can be challenges in absorbing it which makes the spray more effective with rapid absorption into the bloodstream.

When next having a blood test it is worth getting your levels checked as most people these days are deficient in this vital vitamin.