Massive Review Shows Vitamin D Really Does Seem to Ease Depressive Symptoms

Our bodies need the right amount of vitamin D to function as normal, and there's a growing amount of evidence showing that a lack of it can lead to depression.

According to a new meta-analysis of 41 previous studies, taking vitamins D and D2 can relieve symptoms of depression in people who have been diagnosed with the condition.

As well as controlling levels of calcium andphosphate in the body, it's thought thatvitamin D helps to regulate various functions in the central nervous system - and earlier research on animals suggests it could even contribute to the control of chemical balances in the brain

"These findings will encourage new, high-level clinical trials in patients with depression in order to shed more light on the possible role of vitamins D and calcium in the treatment of depression," says Tuomas Mikola, PhD, lead author of the study.

People with and without depression, people taking vitamins and people taking placebos were included in the new meta-analysis.

The average daily dose of the supplement was 100 micrograms. People with depression were found to be more likely to take vitamins D and D2 than placebos.

The researchers found that the best time to take a supplement is under 12 weeks. It was placebos that had a bigger impact on depression in healthy people.

The researchers wrote in their paper that their results show that vitamins D can be beneficial for people with major depression and for people with mild depression.

Depression is now recognized as the leading cause of disability in the world and more treatment options need to be explored.

The data we have so far isn't enough to prove that depression is caused by lowvitamin D levels, or that supplements are effective in treating it. Previous research hasn't been as conclusive as the new meta-analysis shows.

While a meta-analysis is helpful in comparing results across a large number of people, the different approaches and factors in each individual study make it more difficult to draw broad conclusions.

By studying larger general and clinical populations, as well as observing different dose amounts and treatment durations, more statistical crunching will be required to know what the story is.

The heterogeneity of the populations studied and the risk of bias associated with a large number of studies make for low certainty of evidence.

The research was published in a journal.