A Little Ray of Sunshine

There is no doubt that we human's love sunshine - a beach on a summer's day, a sunny clear ski slope or a misty rainforest are all made better by the sun's gentle kiss. We sing many songs to celebrate the sun as well - Sunshine on my shoulder, Walking on Sunshine, Here comes the Sun and Blister in the sun (that may be about a different celebration of course, but I wouldn't know). Our love of the sunshine may be a primal understanding about one of the sun's great gifts to humans - Vitamin D.

Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with a raft of health problems including rickets, bone density issues, heart disease, hypertension, bowel cancer, infections and autoimmune diseases. It has also been linked to our mood and mental illness. In a study published in the journal Psychopharmacology, this association was discussed. The authors reported that hypovitaminosis D ( medical jargon for low vitamin D) had been associated with several mental illnesses including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression. However, there was an impact even on the general mood of those without a diagnosis.

Researchers excluded people with conditions that may have made it difficult for them to make vitamin D, such as certain kidney, blood and hormonal conditions. It also excluded those who had mental illness or first degree relatives with mental illness. They then checked both their vitamin D status and personality traits "along the dimensions neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness." (p734) The results were then correlated and relationships were identified.

Now I know what some of you are thinking (well nerdish critics anyway) - Correlation does not equal causation. Without the jargonese, that means that just because two things are related it doesn't mean one made the other one happen. Correlations are important indicators and I think you'd have to be half way to dead to not wonder if something isn't going on here.

So, what are we wondering about? Researchers found that extraversion and openess were more closely correlated to increased vitamin D levels, and that there was a partial relationship between concentration and vitamin D too. They also discussed vitamin D deficiency and it's suspected role in schizophrenia and other psychosis. The role of vitamin D in regulating our seasonal rhythms, our anti-inflammatory responses, our neurotransmitters and our glucose metabolism make it a very likely suspect in producing our sunshiny dispositions.

Vitamin D can be taken in supplemental form, as once you are deficient, it's highly unlikely that you'll bring your vitamin D levels back up via sunlight. A nutritionist or nutritionally trained doctor can help you with that.

As it's night here now, we may just have to sing ourselves happy. I think Jimmy Cliff can manage that. Here's to you Vitamin D :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jsw_r0hILQ&feature=related

The article discussed here was Ubbenhorst A, Striebich S, Lang F, Lang UE. Exploring the relationship between vitamin D and basic personality traits. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2011 Jun;215(4):733-7.

We'd like to thank our good friends at Time for Wellness for bringing this article to our attention and wish them a little more sun in the UK. Check out their fantastic blog here
http://www.timeforwellness.org/blog