You Vs. Winter: Beat the Winter Blues with Vitamin D

How often do you hear “It’s winter” as an excuse?

“I’m sick because it’s winter.”

“I’m not motivated to go out tonight because it’s winter and it’s freezing.”

The combination of cold, wet, ice, snow, and lack of sunlight seems to be responsible for making people sick, sleepy, depressed, and unmotivated. Sometimes it is even held accountable for breaking bones.

We see the effects of winter all around us on a day-to-day basis. There are more sick-days taken. People gain weight. The number of hipbone fractures significantly increases in the winter months. Nobody goes out anymore. There is even a condition called SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), which is essentially a medical disease name for what we all call “the winter blues.”

It’s easy to recognize all these hardships and many of us simply accept it. We place the blame on winter. We resign to the idea that there’s nothing we can do about it except battle through until spring. With the return of spring, it’ll bring our motivation, inspiration, desire to socialize, and even restore our health.

It is obvious that our environment plays a significant role in determining our health, as we see by how we hold winter responsible for these health concerns. However, the health of our body is not only determined by external environmental stressors (or lack there of), but also by our bodies ability to weather these stressors.

Like winter, Vitamin D is also linked to all these health concerns.

Long known only as the body’s catalyst for proper absorption of calcium, thus playing a role in osteoporosis (a cause of hipbone fractures), recent research shows its link to the immune, nervous, and endocrine systems as well. Inadequate Vitamin D levels has been linked to heart disease, cancer, musculoskeletal pain, depression and seasonal affective disorder, diabetes, asthma, obesity, lowered immunity, rheumatoid arthritis, among many others.

 So what does Vitamin D have to do with winter?

Vitamin D, also dubbed as the “Sunshine Vitamin”, is mainly obtained from exposure of our skin to the sun. However, in northern latitudes such as in Canada, people are at a higher risk for Vitamin D deficiency due to the lack of sunlight during the winter months.

Aside from a lack of sunlight, Vitamin D levels in our body is also depend on our skin tone, dietary sources, absorption in the digestive tract, aging, genetic susceptibility, breastfeeding, and medication interactions. This is where we can take charge and make up for winter’s lack of sunlight.

To aid your body to maintain adequate amounts of Vitamin D, ensure that your overall health is at its best. This is vital to allow for proper absorption. After optimizing your health, you can then begin to look at other sources. Your diet should include foods high in Vitamin D and Vitamin D supplementation can be considered.

One of the most common and best sources of Vitamin D is fatty fish such as herring and salmon. Others include dairy, egg yolks, and mushrooms. 

When looking for Vitamin D supplementation, it is important to ensure that the appropriate form of Vitamin D is used: Vitamin D3.

Vitamin D3 is often derived from animal fat, so for vegans and vegetarians, it is important to know that it is also possible to get Vitamin D3 from sheepskin oil which is collected during shearing.

Excess Vitamin D is toxic so before supplementation, be sure to consult with a naturopathic doctor or another healthcare professional. They can determine if you are deficient, if supplementation is appropriate, and if so, the course of supplementation that is best suited to you.

While vitamin D deficiency is a preventable disease and treatment for deficiency is affordable, safe, and simple, it has been estimated to be one of the most common medical conditions in the world. As Vitamin D deficiency is linked to number maladies, I would recommend that individuals  get their levels checked to reduce risk factors for disease and to help you achieve your best possible health.


Dr. Cristina, Naturopathic Doctor at The Health Loft

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References

Banderia, F., Griz, L., Dreyer, P., Eufrazino, C., Bandeira, C., & Freese, E. (2006). Vitamin D deficiency: a global perspective. Arquivos Brasileiros de Endocrinologia & Metabologia. 50(4), 640-6.

Holick, MF., & Chen, TC. (2008). Vitamin D deficiency; a worldwide problem with health consequences. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 87(4), 1080S-6S.

Holick, MF.  (2004). Sunlight and vitamin D for bone health and prevention of autoimmune diseases, cancers, and cardiovascular disease. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 80(6), 1678S-88S.