Vitamin D and sleep: The surprising connection Early research suggests it is inversely related to melatonin, your sleep hormone. Increasing vitamin D levels may suppress melatonin levels. So, it makes sense that taking it at night could disrupt your sleep.
Growing evidence has demonstrated that vitamin D has a role in sleep regulation [12]. Specifically, vitamin D deficiency (VDD) can increase risk of sleep disorders and is associated with sleep difficulties, shorter sleep duration, and nocturnal awakenings in children and adults [13,14,15].
However, increasing vitamin D levels with supplements may suppress melatonin generation, leading to sleep disturbances. For this reason, people should take vitamin D supplements in the morning to replicate how the body synthesizes them from sunlight rather than taking them at night.
Although there is no adequate scientific evidence on how vitamin D supplementation at night may affect sleep, health professionals recommend it is best to take vitamin D in the morning. ⁵ Taking it at night interferes with melatonin production, affecting sleep quality.
Melatonin production relies on vitamin D: Vitamin D helps the body produce melatonin, a hormone that supports sleep. Low levels of vitamin D could result in low levels of melatonin, leading to sleep problems.
Excess Vitamin D
You may also develop kidney stones or kidney damage. Other symptoms of vitamin D toxicity include weakness, fatigue or tiredness, vomiting, weight loss, itchy skin, constipation and muscle control issues.
However, taking too much vitamin D in the form of supplements can be harmful. Children age 9 years and older, adults, and pregnant and breastfeeding women who take more than 4,000 IU a day of vitamin D might experience: Nausea and vomiting. Poor appetite and weight loss.
Some side effects of taking too much vitamin D include weakness, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, and others. Taking vitamin D for long periods of time in doses higher than 4000 IU (100 mcg) daily is possibly unsafe and may cause very high levels of calcium in the blood.
Can you take vitamin D and magnesium together? Yes. In fact, it's probably best to take both together. Because so many people have low magnesium levels, vitamin D supplements on their own aren't very helpful for a large portion of the population.
Kunutsor et al suggested that supplementation with vitamin D significantly reduced diastolic blood pressure (DBP) by 1.31 mm Hg in participants with preexisting cardiometabolic conditions (16).
Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency may include:
Fatigue. Not sleeping well. Bone pain or achiness. Depression or feelings of sadness.
“Adding an over-the-counter vitamin D supplement can make improvements in just three to four months time.
While it is possible to take enough vitamin D once a week to keep yourself balanced, the best results were found to be a lower dose (1,000-2,000 IUs or 25-50 mcg ) taken daily. Taking vitamin D consistently with a meal containing healthy fats will ensure that your body absorbs it properly.
B Complex Vitamins
I would discourage people from taking a B complex and instead get it from food sources. Especially since taking one before bed can keep you awake.
He suggests taking your dietary supplements at night isn't advisable. “Digestion slows down during sleep, so taking your nutrient supplement late at night would not be associated with an efficient absorption.”
Magnesium
Magnesium is perhaps the most important vitamin or mineral when it comes to sleep. It plays a key role in the bodily function that regulates sleep and studies have shown that sleep suffers without optimal vitamin intake.
Therefore, conditions that affect the gut and digestion, like celiac disease, chronic pancreatitis, Crohn's disease, and cystic fibrosis, can reduce vitamin D absorption.
"Adequate levels of magnesium in the body are essential for the absorption and metabolism not only of vitamin D but of calcium as well," Dean states. "Magnesium converts vitamin D into its active form so that it can help calcium absorption.
There are quite a few differences between vitamin D and vitamin D3, but the main difference between them is that vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that regulates calcium and phosphorous levels in the body, whereas the vitamin D3 is the natural form of vitamin D produced by the body from sunlight.
What's more, taking too much vitamin D can also negatively impact our health as well as our joint pain because our body simply can't cope! If toxic levels of vitamin D build up in the body it can interfere with your body's absorption of calcium.
Together with calcium, vitamin D also helps protect older adults from osteoporosis. Vitamin D has other roles in the body, including reduction of inflammation as well as modulation of such processes as cell growth, neuromuscular and immune function, and glucose metabolism [1-3].