Vitamin D for a Better Mood

Vitamin D is extremely important for our bones and teeth. Why? The key minerals for maintaining healthy bones are calcium and phosphorus, and vitamin D helps our body absorb these important minerals.

In the colder seasons and the transitional period of significant temperature differences, it is even more important to strengthen our immune system. We can also help the body fight infections and diseases with vitamin D.

What about the impact on our mental well-being? Low levels of vitamin D may be associated with depression and anxiety. Vitamin D helps our body produce neurotransmitters. One such neurotransmitter is serotonin, which is very important for our mood.

The vast majority of adults are not even aware that they are deficient in this vitamin.

The number of people who are deficient in vitamin D is considerable. It is very difficult to get it solely through food or sun exposure. You’ve probably thought about vitamin D while basking in the spring sun. If you have, you’re right.

The sun is a great way to get vitamin D, but unfortunately, we cannot get enough vitamin D from sunbathing, especially in our heat zone.

Here, enough vitamin D is produced only from March to October. In addition, we would have to expose ourselves to the sun three times a week if we wanted to meet the need for vitamin D. This would of course only happen if we did not use any protection or sunscreen.

Such exposure to the sun, on the other hand, is not recommended as it can lead to skin diseases.

The amount of vitamin produced by our body is also affected by certain factors. People with darker skin may not be able to produce as much vitamin D from sunlight as those with lighter skin. Age can also be an important factor, as our body becomes less efficient at producing vitamin D as we age.

So we won’t opt ​​for excessive sunbathing, but what about taking vitamin D through food? We can get a certain amount of vitamin D from food. Good sources of vitamins are, for example, fatty fish such as salmon and tuna, and fortified foods such as milk and cereals.

We must definitely include these foods in our diet, but this will not be enough for a sufficient intake of vitamin D. To achieve this, we would have to eat a large piece of salmon every day, which would endanger our health in another way.

To protect bones, we need 800–1,000 units of vitamin D daily, which corresponds to 20–25 mcg of vitamin D.