Our Vitamin D Levels Can Affect Our Quality of Sleep
What are those nutrients?
- Recent studies looked at the results of various randomized but controlled trials to ascertain which dietary supplements were more successful in improving quality of sleep.
- The studies found that those supplementing with amino acid, melatonin - and vitamin D - had the most improvement while magnesium, zinc, resveratrol and nitrate showed promise.
- Magnesium (which should be taken at night) was found to show considerable improvements in insomnia severity, sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep onset latency, the regulation of sleep related hormones - and the decrease in restless leg syndrome during sleep.
- Further studies and clinical trials (involving vitamin D and sleep) have found a definite correlation between low or lower vitamin D levels and poor sleep quality and/or duration.
Why is vitamin D one of the important aids to better sleep?
How are your own vitamin D levels?
- If they are low and you find that insomnia and other connected issues are a problem, it could well be that you should try to raise your vitamin D levels as soon as you can.
- A simple blood test can tell you how you stand in the levels table and put you on the right track to an improved sleeping pattern as well as the many other health benefits of having a higher vitamin D level.
Raising those vitamin D levels
During the warm and sunny summer months, spend at least twenty minutes out in the sun with as little clothing as possible (and minus any sunscreen) until your skin starts to turn pale pink.
During the winter months, start a course of good quality vitamin D3. When supplementing with vitamin D3, you will also need to add in magnesium and vitamin K2. Take with a spoonful of fat (such as grass fed butter or coconut oil) as vitamin D is fat soluble. Make sure you have calcium in your diet by including dairy products and dark green leafy vegetables.
It can be difficult to know what dosage to take if you have not been tested but most suggested doses of vitamin D are too low and it is hard to overdose. 40 ng/mL is a good level to aim for initially, rising to 60 or 70 if you can for optimum health. In the meantime, a suggested dose when supplementing with vitamin D3 is 5000 IUs per day.
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Written by Jane Chitty
Jane writes for Healing Natural Oils, a producer and retailer of high-quality, all-natural treatments for a variety of conditions as well as a range of beauty products. Apart from writing about those various conditions, she also covers general health, environmental and other subjects of interest. She has lived in Kenya as well as Cape Town, South Africa and spent time in San Diego, USA. She now lives in Somerset, England with regular visits from her far-flung children and grandchildren. She is a keen gardener and enjoys growing fresh fruit and vegetables with her husband on their joint allotment. As a result, there is something available to use in the kitchen virtually all year round. Her regular posts can be found on our blog.