Vitamin D and Sleep - Robert Seik, PharmD

Vitamin D has many roles: it is important in reducing the risk of cancer, infections from viruses and other pathogens, reducing inflammation, and improving mood. This video is specifically on Vitamin D Sleep and Video, and its importance.

Vitamin D is a critical vitamin and many believe that it should not be called a vitamin. The chemical structure of vitamin d actually looks more like a hormone. Vitamin D has numerous benefits and actions in the body. Its role is important in reducing the risk of cancer, infections from viruses and other pathogens, reducing inflammation, and improving mood. This video is specifically on vitamin d and its importance in sleep.

Robert Seik, PharmD often recommends vitamin D to many, many people because in America, we consume more prescription sleep aids per capita than any other country. We also don't get very much sun exposure. In Las Vegas, Nevada, the average person has a very low vitamin D level when measured in the blood. It's measured by hydroxy vitamin D, the chemical form.

Vitamin D is made in the skin when exposed to sun. Have you ever noticed how much better you sleep during a beach vacation? Most of us, however, on a daily basis cover up our bodies with maybe only the arms and neck exposed to the sun and that is just not enough surface area for vitamin D production.

There are different rates of vitamin d production based on skin type, but if you expose Caucasian skin to the sun 25,000 Units of vitamin D can be produced with a large amount of surface area exposed.

If vitamin D level is high, it allows the brain to release melatonin, which is the primary hormone of sleep made in the pineal gland. The pineal gland only releases melatonin if the level of vitamin D is high enough and this induces the sleep cycle. There is a separate program on melatonin so that you understand its importance, but vitamin D is a key regulator.

There are also many other benefits of vitamin D. There are many research articles on the benefits of vitamin D and Robert often hands people a list of over 43 clinical studies showing the benefits. Vitamin D can help you sleep with out the toxicity of drugs, with out becoming dependent on a medication. It reduces the cancer risk of prostate and breast cancer and reduces the rate of respiratory infections from viruses, reduces inflammation and increases bone density, just to name a few.

Triton Nutrition has two options for vitamin D. They offer D3 Ultra Drops, which is a miscellized form. This means that the Vitamin D is surrounded by a little vessel of fat and these drops can be placed under the tongue. This increases absorption. One drop is equal to 1,000 Units. Robert recommends that people take 3-5 drops at night and if you do this before bedtime it will enhance your sleep.

Some people ask about overdosing on Vitamin D. Since Caucasian skin can make 25,000 Units, the dosage that Robert recommends is far above the RDA. The USRDA is barely enough to prevent and index disease known as Rickets, brittle bone syndrome, which is caused from severe Vitamin D deficiency.

Las Vegas residents will often have levels of hydroxy Vitamin D from 20-90. Robert likes to see people at levels of 70-90. If people are deficient at around 30 and they take the 3-5 drop dose of the D3 Ultra Drops, it would take them a very long time to catch up. In this case, when levels are that low, Robert has the person squeeze the dropper bulb and fill up the entire glass dropper and put that under their tongue every day for 2-3 weeks. Afterwards, they can drop down to the maintenance dose of 3-5 drops at night.

There is an article on the website that you can read on vitamin d and the importance of sleep and its many other important functions and also the importance of Vitamin D in athletes.

Some people like to have a more portable form of Vitamin D, so Triton Nutrition offers capsule form in D3 5000.  Each capsule is 5000 mg and a recommended maintenance dose is one capsule at night.

There are studies showing Vitamin D supplementation at up to 30,000 Units to be safe and there are European studies that show 150,000 Units for three days to treat upper respiratory tract infections that may be viral in nature.

So Triton Nutrition offers a 5000 dosage which is more than you would see at most health food stores, but at Triton Nutrition makes sure they offer meaningful nutrition at an appropriate dose that matters, which is much more than the typical USRDA.

So if you want a cheap, easy, non-toxic way to enhance your sleep, try taking vitamin D. The D3 Ultra Drops are approximately 20 dollars a bottle and it contains 600 drops in it. If you take the 3-5 drops a day it will last you between 4-6 1/2 months.

Vitamin D and Sleep, getting a better nights rest.

by Robert Seik, PharmD