Authors say more research is needed to determine the benefits of supplementation with standard treatment<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, Sept. 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Vitamin D supplementation may help reduce symptoms of depression, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published online July 11 in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition<\/em>.<\/p>\n Tuomas Mikola, from the Institute of Clinical Medicine at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify studies investigating the efficacy of vitamin D in reducing depressive symptoms. Studies assessing light therapy, cosupplementation (except calcium), and bipolar disorder were excluded.<\/p>\n Based upon 41 randomized placebo-controlled trials (53,235 participants), the researchers found that vitamin D had a positive effect on depressive symptoms (GRADE: very low certainty). Vitamin D supplementation \u00e2\u0089\u00a52,000 IU per day appears to reduce depressive symptoms, even considering the heterogeneity of dosing in the included studies. <\/p>\n “Despite the broad scope of this meta-analysis, the certainty of evidence remains low due to the heterogeneity of the populations studied and due to the risk of bias associated with a large number of studies,” Mikola said in a statement. “These findings will encourage new, high-level clinical trials in patients with depression in order to shed more light on the possible role of vitamin D supplementation in the treatment of depression.”<\/p>\n