Caution Advised in Vitamin D Use to Prevent Excess
The importance of vitamin D is increasingly studied as a possible factor in mental health issues. A recent study carried out by Júlia Dubois Moreira, professor at the Department of Nutrition at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), established a relationship between this vitamin deficiency in the elderly and depression. Those consulted with low levels were 2.27 times more likely to have a mental health issue and this number increases to 2.9 if the analysis is carried out in the long term (from 2 to 5 years).
Doctor Omar Jaluul, responsible for the outpatient clinic for elderly people without illness at the Geriatrics Service of the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of USP, comments on the discovery: “We have always known the importance of vitamin D for bones and muscles, and now We have studied it in several diseases.” The current consensus is that 30 nanograms per milliliter is the healthy minimum for proper tissue function.
Causality still under debate
Despite being a study with potential for new advances in the area of psychological disorders, this is still an “open field”. The expert has reservations about hasty conclusions, indicating that the effects of cause and consequence need to be better analyzed: “In relation to other diseases, and especially mental illnesses, such as depression, there is a lot of controversy about these effects and I think we have You have to be a little careful.”
The article, according to him, is an ‘observational study’, that is, it indicates a relationship, but does not necessarily establish a cause and consequence. An example he gives is that elderly people already suffering from depression may leave the house less and, therefore, sunbathe less, which is what enables the synthesis of vitamin D.
To understand the real role of vitamin D in mood disorders, more information and more studies are still needed. The author herself recognizes the issue : “The results as a whole are not yet conclusive, that is, we cannot yet categorically state that vitamin D can be used as a prevention or adjuvant treatment for depression.”
Excessive care
While the relationship between vitamin D and mental health is still unknown, and even though it is beneficial for several functions, it is necessary to be careful with exaggerations. Jaluul comments that we cannot turn it into a ‘panacea of beneficial things’. “Before knowing if it’s good, we have to know if it’s not harmful,” he says. Taking unregulated doses of vitamin D is not a good strategy. He recalls that there were two cases last year of patients who underwent dialysis, an artificial procedure that removes waste and excess water from the blood, due to excess vitamin D.
To stay healthy, it is recommended to follow medical advice and not take supplements without proper guidance. In the case of vitamin D, as it is synthesized only through sun exposure, it is recommended that everyone have around 30 minutes of contact with the sun daily, with at least 40% of their skin exposed. The Brazilian Society of Dermatology also recommends avoiding times between 10 am and 3 pm, when radiation can be excessive.