Can Lack of Vitamin D Cause Depression

We have known about SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) for many decades although it is not fully understood. But we do know that it is related to sunlight and depression. The rate of SAD in Florida is 1.4% and the rate of it in New Hampshire is 9.7%.

This is a big difference. This article was written February 23, 2014. Webmd.com has an article called Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Depression. It says:

The women received vitamin D therapy for eight to 12 weeks to replenish their blood levels. After treatment, their levels increased to 32 to 38 ng/mL. The women also reported corresponding improvements in symptoms of depression following vitamin D therapy.

There is also a PubMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine) article called Vitamin D Deficiency and Depression in Adults. It says:

Our analyses are consistent with the hypothesis that low vitamin D concentration is associated with depression.

Psychology Today has an article called Vitamin D Deficiency and Depression. It says:

Of note: Canadian researchers reviewed 14 studies, consisting of 31,424 participants and found a strong correlation between depression and a lack of Vitamin D. The lower the Vitamin D level, the greater the chance of depression.

Sunscreens -- from the strongest to the weakest -- prohibit the body from making vitamin D by 95 percent. In light of this, there is a theory that more individuals are depressed these days because EVERYONE uses sunscreen and they're not taking vitamin D supplements.

There are many different causes of depression so this is just one of them. For more on this see What is the Purpose of Depression. We do know that our ancestors got a lot more time out in the sun, got more exercise and ate a lot less processed foods.

I am not saying that everything that our ancestors did was good for health, but these 3 things can make a big improvement in health. Since drug companies are trying to sell a group of drugs known as sunscreen, they are advertising that it is important to use. So this way people are paying money for something to make them depressed. See The Highest Paid Model in the World Does Not Wear Sunscreen.

In the pictures on the right you have Emma Watson (from the Harry Potter movies), Chloe Moretz [or Chloë Grace Moretz] (from Carrie, Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2) and Britt Robertson (in TV series The Tenth Circle and Life Unexpected and great movie called Avalon High) getting free vitamin D from sunlight. Below is a video of God talking to a guy that promotes sunscreen. Also below that is one about how and why we have been lied to. This is a bigger scam than the Bernie Madoff scam.

People can get vitamin D from the UV-B light from sunlight if the UV index is 3 or more. To get the benefits of vitamin D, you need to be getting enough of it. Some experts say that you need lifeguard levels of vitamin D. One study showed that lifeguards in Australia have the lowest rates of skin cancer.

You cannot get too much vitamin D from sunlight since the body stores it in an inactive form. People can get too much vitamin D from supplements but it is rare. For more on this see How Much Vitamin D Should You Take Daily.

Vitamin D is really not a vitamin but a neurosteroid hormone according to PubMed. It greatly helps the cardiovascular system preventing heart attacks and strokes. But the body can also create nitric oxide from the UV-A light from sunlight even if the UV index is less than 3. Nitric oxide relaxes the artery walls and this also helps cardiovascular health. It also helps to lower blood pressure in people that have high blood pressure. See Greatly Improve Circulation with Nitric Oxide to see more benefits of nitric oxide.

People also get endorphins from sunlight that makes them feel good. Wikipedia says about endorphins:

They are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during exercise,[2] excitement, pain, spicy food consumption, love, and sexual activity,[3][4] and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being.

Enough vitamin D in pregnant mothers and babies can greatly help to prevent type 1 diabetes and autism. See Type 1 Diabetes, Like Autism, is Preventable. There is a terrible bone disease that 90% of the children in North America and Europe had called rickets in the late 1800s. Vitamin D was the cure for it. Children in Africa and South America got much brighter sunlight so they did not get it. Millions of people died from scurvy but vitamin C was the cure for that.

Vitamin D helps the body get rid of toxins that are also associated with autism and cancer. Doctor of Public Health, Cedric Garland, says that if women got enough (lifeguard levels) of vitamin D, it would virtually eradicate breast cancer. Moores Cancer Center proposes that cancer is a vitamin D deficiency. For more on this see Cancer and the Power of Vitamin D.

Please note that many pets die of cancer and they are not out in the sunlight as much as they could be or as much as wild animals are. I was taking a walk in Southern Arizona in the summer and the temperature was over 100 degrees. I stopped a while and watched a bunch of horses that were in a fenced area. They had the choice to be in the shade or out in the sun. I noticed that they spent all the time that I watched them out in the sun. Also I saw them again when I walked back and they were still out in the sun.

Any person can get more and more sunlight so that their skin darkens. Getting too much when you are not ready for it can cause sunburn. If a person is pale and got sunburn, there was a point that if they would have gotten out of the sunlight, they would not have gotten a sunburn.

Under the picture of Emma Watson I wrote that she is also earthing or grounding. Walking on the beach in the water is a great way to get rid of extra charges that have built up in the body from walking with shoes on or walking on artificial services indoors.

When I visited Long Beach I made sure to walk for an hour on the beach with my feet in the water. I felt great after doing this. So if you live near a beach, make sure to take advantage of this. See Health Benefits of Grounding or Earthing. A lot of these strategies for living healthier can be called Back to Nature strategies.

Of course the reason that people put on a bathing suit and go out onto the beach is not because of the benefits that are listed above. They do it because it makes them feel good. When I was growing up, during every summer, we would spend the entire time in a fancy hotel on the beach. In case you do not know this, kids love being on the beach.