Depression treated by 50K IU Vitamin D weekly (but not 1,000 IU daily) – meta-analysis Jan 2021

---

Efficacy of vitamin D in the treatment of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Actas Esp Psiquiatr . 2021 Jan;49(1):12-23. Epub 2021 Jan 1.
Ana Lázaro Tomé 1, M José Reig Cebriá 2, Aurora González-Teruel 3, Juan Antonio Carbonell-Asíns 4, Carlos Cañete Nicolás 5, Miguel Hernández-Viadel 5

Trials using infrequent high doses did much better

 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that performs multiple functions in the body. In addition to regulating calcium and phosphate levels in the body and contributing to bone mineralization, it participates in various brain and neurocognitive processes. In fact, the deficiency of this vitamin has also been linked to various psychiatric disorders, including depression.

---

19 Meta-analyses of Depression

This list is automatically updated

---

Depression summary

• Low vitamin D is associated with most types of depression, Including: Seasonal Affective Disorder. manic depression, bipolar disorder, dysthymia, Depression during/after pregnancy, Seniors, Suicide
• Depression substantially reduced by Vitamin D, Omega-3, Magnesium, etc – many studies
• Depression 1.6 X more likely if low Vitamin D, taking Vitamin D reduces depression – umbrella of meta-analyses – Jan 2023
• Depression: Low vitamin D in the strongest of 11 risk factors – Jan 2023
• Yet another study confirms Depression is treated by weekly Vitamin D (50,000 IU)– RCT Dec 2019
• Depression treated by Omega-3 (again) – meta-analysis Aug 2019
• Supplementing with Vitamin D (or getting more sun) decreases most types of depression as well as drugs
• Omega-3, Magnesium, and St. Johns' Wort also decrease depression
  • Speculate that some combination (Vit D, Omega-3, Mg, St John's) will decrease depression even more
  • Note: Both Omega-3 and Magnesium increase the amount of vitamin D which gets to tissues
• Antidepressants reduce cellular Vitamin D, increasing fractures, CVD, etc. - Oct 2022
• There are 268 items in the Depression category in VitaminDWiki

Some recent publications

• Depression in seniors greatly reduced by Vitamin D (50,000 IU weekly) – meta-analysis June 2023
• Depression reduced if take more than 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily – umbrella meta-analysis – Jan 2023
• Post-partum depression and low Vitamin D - many studies
• Depression: Low vitamin D in the strongest of 11 risk factors – Jan 2023

---

Better than Daily has the following

33 items in BETTER THAN DAILY category

Non-daily (Bolus) is better:

1. Better compliance for everyone
   • Fewer opportunities to forget.
   • If happen to forget, just take the dose many days later
   • Fewer times to have to take a pill - for those who dislike doing so
2. Non-daily gets more vitamin D to the cells for the ~20% who have a poor Vitamin D Receptor
   • A high concentration gradient is one of 14+ ways to get past Vitamin D Receptor limitations
   • So, while 80% get no extra benefit from non-daily dosing, 20% will get an extra benefit

• Weekly Vitamin D better than daily – lower cost, less pill burden, perhaps 1.5X better response – meta-analysis Oct 2024
• Vitamin D given daily, weekly, or monthly has similar response (116 RCTs) – meta-analysis Aug 2023
• 44 percent of successful RCTs in VitaminDWiki used non-daily dosing - Nov 2020
• Monthly vitamin D dosing better for children than daily (again) - Oct 2023

Title change made Sept 2021 caused the visitor count to reset.
There have actually been 4853 visitors to this page since it was originally made