Can Vitamin D Improve Sleep?

Below is an article/study that shows the results of how sleep is either improved, or not, by increasing Vitamin D supplementation. It is well worth the time to read the study results.

https://examine.com/nutrition/can-suppl ... log-082217

This article is from "Examine.com" which provides a wealth of unbiased information about many supplements. They do not sell any supplements, nor do they ever even mention any brand names. I highly recommend that you bookmark this site and review any supplements that you may be taking for any reason, or you may find some that would be very beneficial to you if you start taking some. An excellent site.

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sptrout wrote:Can Vitamin D Improve Sleep?

My husband and I both think he should try Vitamin D supplementation to see if his sleep improves. Both of us are currently traveling heavily on business and do not have much time to read and investigate. Could you tell us how much to supplement for a 175-lb./6-foot man?

Cereal Killer wrote:

sptrout wrote:Can Vitamin D Improve Sleep?

My husband and I both think he should try Vitamin D supplementation to see if his sleep improves. Both of us are currently traveling heavily on business and do not have much time to read and investigate. Could you tell us how much to supplement for a 175-lb./6-foot man?

https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/why-doe ... 000-iuday/

Cereal Killer wrote:

sptrout wrote:Can Vitamin D Improve Sleep?

My husband and I both think he should try Vitamin D supplementation to see if his sleep improves. Both of us are currently traveling heavily on business and do not have much time to read and investigate. Could you tell us how much to supplement for a 175-lb./6-foot man?

Before taking any supplement, I believe one should test whether, or not, it is needed. If it is needed, fine. If it is not needed, then it is a waste of money and could cause harm.
The vitamin D council, referenced by Palerider above, and many others recommend a vitamin D3 serum level of around 50ng/ml, even though something around 30 is still considered normal. The Council also recommends that one not exceed serum levels of around 90ng/ml, as high levels may cause undesirable side effects.
To effectively manage appropriate serum vitamin D3 levels, testing is essential.
https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

Most people in temperate climates are Vitamin D deficient, especially in the winter, and need supplementation. 1000 or 2000 daily will bring most people up to par. Vitamin D supports general health and helps keep all the other systems working so it probably indirectly helps with sleep. The main problem with D supplements is the same with all supplements. Quality control is all over the map and it's pretty much impossible to know what's actually in the pills you're taking.

To me, there are some major red flags about the reliability of the study. 1. Was it peer-reviewed? 2. Where was it originally published, and was this a respected source? 3. Was the study in Farsi and, if so, who is responsible for translating it and how do we know the translator didn't improvise? 4.What was the quality control for the D3 supplement? 5. How was sleep quality measured? It was subjective, no objective data! 6. Participants hadn't had a previous sleep disorder diagnosis, but did this mean they didn't have a sleep disorder? No telling.... 7. Where did they come up with the dosage? 8. Who was in charge of administering the dosage and recording compliance? 9. Were there other conditions (e.g. being summer time) that may have skewed the results?

The docs thought my sleep problems might be from low D, which was undetectable. I had to take twice the amount of D3 as in the Iran study. Yes, that's 50,000 mg once a week at the same time.

Look at the bottle on your night stand....... Consider that 50,000 mg is likely to be a whole cereal bowl of the capsules you have on your night stand.....

It's very hard to comply with a 50,000 mg dose of D3 taken all at once, even if you have a prescription for mega-capsules. It makes you sick.....

My D3 levels normalized (plus it's the sunny time of year).

Anyway, I went through all that..... AND..... my sleep issues are WORSE. Ergo, the sleep study and OSA diagnosis.

So, I take this study with a massive grain of salt. Before my experience, I could have well believed the conclusions. Now, it looks like sloppy work.

It would be important, though, to do more studying in this area.

xxyzx wrote:have you doctor do a blood test he will tell you how much you need

A doctor may, or may not, feel one needs supplementation if serum levels are around 30, since that is still the "official" normal. As I stated above, many others feel it should be higher.
When tested, my D3 was around 30. I supplemented with 4000 IU daily until I got it up to around 50 and now maintain that level with 2000 IU daily. My opinion is that my sleep became less fragmented after supplementation. However, along with D3 supplementation, I also took other steps, like better sleep hygiene, to improve my sleep, so I can't say for sure the decrease in fragmentation was due solely or in part to D3 supplementation, but I've continued to take it, since, as SleepyBob says, it seems to be an important hormone that is used by many systems of the body.

Hi, Zeds,

If you want to pursue a review of the article cited, here are a couple of links of interest:
Instructions to Authors--scroll down to read about Peer Review: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/autho ... eer_review

It's a journal begun in 1998 (print version) that has moved to online format that requires a subscription to view the full article. Click here to see abstract and purchase information: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10. ... ccess=true
Ask at your local library to see if they can get you a copy at a lower rate through interlibrary loan.

The major university near me has the journal title in its library holdings (for the medical school and related programs), so I'm confident it is a respected source. And it is abstracted to respected indices used by researchers.

Examine.com has simply read the article, quoted from it, and provided an analysis of the information, inserting another person/interpretation between the original article and the reader. I always think it is best to read the original item, dictionary at hand if necessary.

Jean

Zeds, I don't believe you can get a prescription for 50000 units of D3. You were most likely give D2. Different animal.

xxyzx wrote:we were taught that you could get too much d3 when i was in schoolhas that changed

Jay Aitchsee wrote:The Council also recommends that one not exceed serum levels of around 90ng/ml, as high levels may cause undesirable side effects.

https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/testing-for-vitamin-d/ wrote:You do not want to have a level over 100 ng/ml and in fact anything over 150 ng/ml is considered toxic.

As I said,

Before taking any supplement, I believe one should test whether, or not, it is needed. If it is needed, fine. If it is not needed, then it is a waste of money and could cause harm.
The vitamin D council, referenced by Palerider above, and many others recommend a vitamin D3 serum level of around 50ng/ml, even though something around 30 is still considered normal. The Council also recommends that one not exceed serum levels of around 90ng/ml, as high levels may cause undesirable side effects.

I take magnesium every night to help me sleep. It works.

Sheriff