Vitamin D and Me

So, I've struggled with depression this winter more than I ever have before.  I now think I know why.  

After I weaned Katie last fall, I found that milk wasn't agreeing with my stomach very well anymore by the glassful.  I found I could drink it on cold cereal, but that was about all I could tolerate.  Yogurt was having the same effect, so I quit eating it, as well.  Cheese and ice cream were fine, as long as I didn't go overboard.

When I eat oatmeal, I prefer just some sugar and applesauce, and that was what I ate for breakfast for most mornings this past winter, which means I wasn't getting much milk at all.  And where does vitamin D come from?  Fortified milk and sunshine.  Neither of which I got much of over the past 6 months.

So, last week I saw my doctor for a physical.  We discussed my dietary change, and he asked me how I was getting vitamin D into my diet.  I told him I wasn't sure - did it come in green and leafy veggies?  No dice.  He decided to do a blood draw, and sure enough, my levels were through the floor.  The recommended level is between 33 & 100 units - I was at 11.5.  The nice part is that all I need is a supplement of D-3 (the kind the sun produces in our bodies naturally).

It turns out vitamin D deficiency can cause depression, along with a lot of other illnesses.  Vitamin D is what helps calcium become absorbed in our bodies, so even if we eat a lot of calcium-rich foods other than milk, without enough vitamin D, we can become calcium-deficient.  

I know people who move to Minnesota often have a hard time with winter blues, due to the lack of sunshine.  I've even felt it over the darkest days of winter, to some degree, before this year.  Now I know why, and how to fix it!