A study by researchers in Trinity College Dublin shows that a deficiency in vitamin D substantially increases the risk of depression. Vitamin D, or the ‘sunshine vitamin’, is essential for bone health and deficiency, and has recently been linked with other non-bone health outcomes such as inflammation and diabetes. The current study investigated the links between vitamin D and depression in older Irish adults and then re-examined the participants four years later to see if vitamin D status affected the risk of developing depression. Moreover, only around 8% of older Irish adults report taking a vitamin D supplement.”“Given that vitamin D is safe in the recommended intakes and is relatively cheap, this study adds to the growing evidence on the benefits of vitamin D for health. It also helps to continue to impress the need on our public health bodies to develop Irish vitamin D recommendations for the general public.

Source: Evening echo December 05, 2018 10:52 UTC