Can't Sleep at Night? You May Be Vitamin D Deficient

Many people are surprised to learn that even though vitamin D is called a vitamin, vitamin D is really a hormone and not actually a vitamin. In fact, it is a fat soluble hormone.

For optimal absorption, the oral supplement “Vitamin” D3 is best taken as a liquid emulsion with dinner. A liquid emulsion is simply a vitamin D3 supplement suspended in a little fat. This is a fat soluble hormone, so taking this as a liquid emulsion improves the absorption and taking this with dinner, which often has the most fat of all the meals, improves the absorption as well. Since this is a hormone, it is best taken at night, because hormones are best absorbed at night.

This may help certain sleep disorders which are an epidemic due to vitamin D deficiency. Being Vitamin D deficient hurts the amount of sleep you get, the quality of your sleep, and your mood upon waking up.

We have this deficiency because of the way we live. We work inside, wear clothes, and use sunscreen. These are all realities of modern life, and they all take away from our vitamin D synthesis.

Eating foods rich in vitamin D, and supplementing with D3 is a necessary part of life to maintain adequate D levels. D3 supplements can be found here.

However, simply taking a ton of vitamin D is not the complete answer in the long run for preventing vitamin D deficiency. Too much or too little can have side effects, including reducing the quality of your sleep. The amount of International Units (IU) you take and time of day are important aspects in upgrading the amount and quality of your sleep.

According to the Vitamin D Council, 1000 IU’s per 25lbs are recommended each day, although using a blood test is the best way to know your ideal dose. A healthy human body utilizes about 3000-5000 IU of vitamin D per day. 

These amounts are adjusted according to your age, weight, absorption, skin color and normal sun exposure. So when you are outside with adequate sun exposure, use no sunscreen but put on a shirt or a hat if you start to get burned, and leave the Vitamin D supplements at home. More is not always better.

Too much vitamin D can cause headaches and inflammation in the body. The US Government’s upper intake level (UL) for vitamin D is set at 4,000 IU per day.  Other experts disagree, the current consensus states it should be 10,000 IU. This is the amount your skin would naturally produce from maximum exposure from the sun.  An even better way to figure out what your optimal vitamin D levels are, is through testing your body’s responses.  Start taking your Vitamin D3 today!!