Vitamin D Deficiency Could Explain Your Restless Nights and Broken Sleep Vitamin D isn’t really a vitamin. It’s a group of fat-soluble hormones that you produce in your skin when it’s exposed to sunlight. You also can pick up a little vitamin D through your diet. Even though many foods are fortified with vitamin D2, it may actually promote poor sleep.While vitamin D is essential for healthy bones, it also supports the immune system—helping your body fight off infection and control inflammation. Lately, researchers have been investigating how vitamin D affects sleep. Dr. Stasha Gominak, a neurologist at the East Texas Medical Center, believes that sleep disorders have reached epidemic proportions because so many people are deficient in vitamin D. Sleep and vitamin D have recently come under investigation. If you havent hit the vitamin D sweet spot, you may not be getting the rest your body needs. She argues, “It seems only logical that the hormone that links us to the sun would also affect sleep, our most circadian of actions. Indeed, she found that the blood level (not the dose) of vitamin D must be within a very narrow range for optimal sleep. Vitamin D is one of the oldest steroid hormones. It helps you track your relationship to the sun and to food, influencing the most basic elements of survival—like your metabolism, your ability to reproduce, and your sleep. Areas of the brain that have been linked with sleep have receptors for vitamin D. Besides the brain, you will also find vitamin D receptors: In heart muscle Throughout the entire digestive tract (including your teeth) In your reproductive organs In breast tissue Is Inflammation Keeping You Up at Night? Vitamin D wears many hats within the body. One reason is because vitamin D regulates gene expression—which can affect many tissues and metabolic pathways. For example, vitamin D curbs the expression of the RelB gene, which plays a pivotal role in the development of inflammation. Whats more, some pro-inflammatory chemicals also regulate sleep. The ReIB gene (and inflammation) has been linked to sleep apnea—a common sleep disorder. How to Make Sure Youre Getting Enough Vitamin D Over a two year trial with 1,500 patients, Dr. Gominak saw improvements in sleep when patients maintained a vitamin D blood level of 60–80 ng/ml. In order to hit this “sweet spot,” the dose of vitamin D would be different for each person. For example, 20,000 IU a day could promote normal sleep in someone who is severely vitamin D deficient. Dr. Gominak also saw that supplementing with vitamin D2 stopped most people from having a normal night’s rest. Vitamin D2 (also called ergocalciferol) comes from plants. Some researchers have found that it is not as effective as vitamin D3 (the vitamin D that your body makes and that you’ll find in some foods). Even though many foods are fortified with vitamin D2, it may actually promote poor sleep. Some supplements also contain vitamin D2, rather than vitamin D3. The best source of vitamin D3 is your own skin when it’s exposed to sunlight (without sunscreen). Other good sources of vitamin D3 include: Cod liver oil Wild-caught salmon and mackerel Sardines Bump Up Your Vitamin D Receptors Remember those vitamin D receptors that we talked about? They are mostly found in your brain, your heart, your digestive tract, and your reproductive organs. A vitamin D receptor allows your body to use vitamin D. Cruciferous vegetables also contain a compound that helps you use vitamin D. This compound is called sulforaphane, and you’ll find it in spicy herbs (like wasabi) and pungent, cruciferous plants. Such as: Arugula Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cauliflower Cabbage Kale Fortunately, many of these vegetables are delicious (and easier to digest) when they are fermented. You can support your body’s ability to use vitamin D by including raw and fermented cruciferous vegetables in every meal.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 15:24:46 +0000
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