Mountain and stream

Boulder Residents May be Low in Vitamin D and Have Depression

By
Kelly Parcell, ND

According to the CDC up to one quarter of the population is deficient in vitamin D. Many people are on the low end of normal as well. Vitamin D is perhaps the single most underrated nutrient in the world. Even in Boulder many patients are low! The reason has a lot to do with sunscreen in the Summer and layes of clothing in the Winter. As we move into Winter in Colorado, it’s a good time to have your vitamin D level checked by a simple blood test. A normal 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test will register above 30 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). Previously it was thought that levels 21 and below needed treatment, though more recently anything below 35 is addressed by many forward thinking practitioners. Using these levels, it is estimated that one billion people are deficient in vitamin D. Optimal levels are thought to be between 50-80 ng/ml.

Recent studies reported in the New England Journal of Medicine and by the Vitamin D Council, are indicating a link to depression. Canadian researchers reviewed 14 studies, consisting of 31,424 participants and found a strong correlation between depression and a lack of Vitamin D. The lower the Vitamin D level, the greater the chance of depression.

If you are depressed get your vitamin D levels checked! About 75% of the patients we check are low.