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Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

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Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#71

Post by binsquare »

b800h wrote: post #10

Can I just add: In addition to this, if you struggle with anxiety or have some sort of ADHD, then try cutting out caffeine entirely . Not just switching to "decaf" (which isn't), but cutting out tea and coffee, and switching to an alternative like Barleycup. Doing this has had a massive positive effect for me, and combined with decent nutrition and daily exercise, has been wonderful.

I did the same thing and experienced the same effect.

I'd add that my ability to sleep naturally was negatively affected as side effect of medication. I tried a various combos to induce sleep and found the best solution to just be... exercise.

No caffeine, exercise, sleep lead to a significantly reduced anxiety and more.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#72

Post by notTooFarGone »

Iolaum wrote: post #14

Your body makes Vitamin D when in sunlight. Could it be that sunlight - and the whole being outdoors situation - is the thing that helps rather than vitamin d levels?

What drove you to write this comment? There are enough countries where sun is an exception in winter and this is a valid problem.

Comment is neither helpful nor is it funny.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#73

Post by Der_Einzige »

isoprophlex wrote: post #43

Because it's common to hate on antidepressants, I've always personally had a bias against them. For the past 15-20 years, november thru february are basically a writeoff due for me due to seasonal affective disorder. Cold showers, exercise, no alcohol, strict sleeping rituals. Vitamin d. I can still sleep 11 hours and feel like reheated cat shit. Enter citalopram. "It will take up to six weeks to dial in" they said.…

[flagged]

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#74

Post by amai »

Coincidence? "Vitamin D is currently the only Essential Vitamin or Mineral which appears to have deficiency rates at a similar level to Magnesium"

https://examine.com/supplements/magnesium/research/#nutrient

Dai (2018): Magnesium status and supplementation influence vitamin D status and metabolism: results from a randomized trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30541089/ "Our findings suggest that optimal magnesium status may be important for optimizing 25(OH)D status. "

So it might well be that general deficiency in Vitamin D is caused by the deficiency in magnesium status. This would also be an explanation why we see Vitamin D deficiency in sunny Africa: https://theconversation.com/think-vitamin-d-deficiency-is-no...

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#75

Post by [deleted] »

isoprophlex wrote: post #43

Because it's common to hate on antidepressants, I've always personally had a bias against them. For the past 15-20 years, november thru february are basically a writeoff due for me due to seasonal affective disorder. Cold showers, exercise, no alcohol, strict sleeping rituals. Vitamin d. I can still sleep 11 hours and feel like reheated cat shit. Enter citalopram. "It will take up to six weeks to dial in" they said.…

[deleted]

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#76

Post by canucker2016 »

brushfoot wrote: post #30
vegancap wrote: post #2

I found this to be the case. Tried Sertraline for a while, gave me headaches and made me feel sick. Then as part of a new gym plan, started taking Omega 3+VitD daily, and I just felt a sense of calm and peace after a few weeks. The massive uptick in exercise probably also helped. I also felt quite an extreme uptick because I was a vegan for 10 years, and found out I had basically zero Omega 3 in my blood. I suspect o…

> I was a vegan for 10 years, and found out I had basically zero Omega 3 in my blood I see your disclaimer, but just for more context, vegans can get Omega 3 without taking pills per se. Flax seeds are an excellent source. I often add a spoonful to a bowl of oatmeal or as a pancake topping along with fruit sauce and granola.

Grind the flaxseed before eating them so your digestive system can access more of the nutrients in flaxseeds.

from https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-maga... :

  Eating ground flax seeds gives you more benefits than whole seeds, as whole seeds remain undigested and pass through the system.
from https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/must-you-grind-flax...

  Most people can’t chew flaxseeds effectively, so they grind them first or swallow them whole. (They are tiny.) Nutrition experts do recommend grinding them first to release the fiber and the beneficial fatty acids. Flaxseeds are helpful for constipation and may lower cholesterol as well.

  Ground flaxseed goes rancid easily, however, so it should be kept in the freezer until you are ready to use it. If you buy it ground, you wouldn’t have to use the blender or coffee grinder to break those seeds up before you have breakfast.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#77

Post by grumbelbart2 »

RandomTeaParty wrote: post #56
r1ch wrote: post #4

Please do not take 5000mg/day of Vitamin D. The author confuses IU and mg which is very dangerous.

Is "IU" another case of xkcd 927?

No, it's to make it easier to dose different kind of biologically active substances. They can have significantly different "recommended weight to eat of this per day", IUs make that sort-of comparable and easier to remember.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_unit

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#78

Post by zelphirkalt »

krona wrote: post #70
zelphirkalt wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only recently again I read in the newspaper, that most products are overdosed. There is a typical number that the vitamin D products usually show, and in the article it said, that only up to 800 IU is safe, and everything above is an overdose. There are many products out there with 2000 UI or maybe even more. Beware. EDIT: Wow, the HN-local doctors at it again. Imagine getting downvoted for sharing information from n…

Being at the beach (in summer) for a half an hour will produce 10,000 and 25,000 IU for the average european. See: Vitamin D and health: evolution, biologic functions, and recommended dietary intakes for vitamin D (293 citations)

So? What's your claim here? Are you claiming that our skin works the same way as our digestive system? That would be a ridiculous claim. And fyi, many people get a proper sunburn, if they stayed in the sun for 30 min straight without protection, at least in summer. So your 30 min statistic doesn't really tell us anything about something being healthy or not.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#79

Post by isoprophlex »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #73
isoprophlex wrote: post #43

Because it's common to hate on antidepressants, I've always personally had a bias against them. For the past 15-20 years, november thru february are basically a writeoff due for me due to seasonal affective disorder. Cold showers, exercise, no alcohol, strict sleeping rituals. Vitamin d. I can still sleep 11 hours and feel like reheated cat shit. Enter citalopram. "It will take up to six weeks to dial in" they said.…

[flagged]

Yes only I wrote it while taking a shit. Sorry man.

A kinda strained endeavor, I must say. It's not bad but the SSRI side effects make continuous hydration obviously important. A small price to pay.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#80

Post by smallerfish »

Xunjin wrote: post #38
r1ch wrote: post #4

Please do not take 5000mg/day of Vitamin D. The author confuses IU and mg which is very dangerous.

It's unbelievable crazy what the author suggests, even say "10,000 IU if you're feeling daring / have darker skin / live in less sunny climates.". Just a simple look at the side effects of high dosages: Safety and side effects Taken in typical doses, vitamin D is thought to be mainly safe. But taking too much vitamin D in the form of supplements can be harmful and even deadly. Taking more than 4,000 IU a day of vitam…

To my understanding Vitamin D is regularly underdosed. Several points:

1) There are lots of studies that correlate Vitamin D production with sunlight exposure. For example, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20398766/ this one lands on 1/4 of a MED = 1000 IU. Of course now we have a MED definition problem, but we're roughly talking single digit numbers for a white person in midday sun in NYC to reach 1/4 of a MED.

2) If you also supplement with Magnesium, a lot of your side effects go away. Vitamin D3 depletes Magnesium absorption.

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