Vitamin d can improve mental health & bull; hello healthy

Besides maintaining a healthy physical condition, maintaining a mental state is an unforgettable part of living a healthy life. Vitamin D is one of the nutrients needed to maintain physical health and mental health. The brain, as an organ that affects how a person behaves, has several vitamin D receptors. This is why, getting enough vitamin D will affect our brain or our mentality.

The importance of mental health

Mental health is closely related to emotional and psychological conditions. These two components determine how he thinks, feels, and behaves in everyday life. In addition, mental health also determines how a person deals with stress and socializes with others.

Although mental health is influenced by many things, a person's biological mechanisms such as genetics and the work of the brain also influence a person's mental processes. In addition, it is not uncommon for various physical conditions to cause us to think and behave abnormally or to experience mental illness. One of them is depression.

Mental health disorders: depression

Depression is a mental illness that can be caused by various factors, one of which is a person's physical condition. Although it does not directly cause bodily function disorders, depression is still categorized as a serious illness that can worsen a person's physical health condition. Depression can be triggered by stress or sadness caused by various social and health problems. Depression is characterized by easily recognizable behavioral changes, such as looking unhappy and withdrawing from social situations.

Depression is also the most common type of mental illness because it has various risk factors, including:

1. Disease - Hormonal disorders and chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or cancer can cause a person to experience excessive sadness.
2. Unhealthy lifestyle - habits such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, and lack of physical activity make it more difficult for a person to deal with stress.
3. Women - women more often experience emotional disturbances that cause depression.
4. Elderly - various physical and life changes in the age range 45-64 years cause a person to experience confusion and lose self-confidence and lead to depression.

How vitamin D can affect a person's mental state

The benefits of vitamin D in maintaining mental health have been studied for more than a decade. The results of one study stated that low levels of vitamin D in the body are associated with the appearance of depression symptoms in the elderly. Meanwhile, other research also shows that giving vitamin D reduces the number of symptoms experienced by people with depression. Depressive conditions caused Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) that occurs in winter is also associated with low levels of vitamin D in the body.

Vitamin D is one of the fat soluble vitamins needed at every level of body function. Every tissue in the body has receptors for vitamin D, including the brain. In the brain, the vitamin D receptors are located on the same part of the brain that exerts the effects of depression. Therefore, lack of vitamin D will have an impact on physical and mental health. Vitamin D also functions to activate the immune system and release the hormones dopamine and serotonin which affect brain function and development.

Additionally, vitamin D may have anti-depressant effects that affect the brain. Vitamin D can affect the levels of the hormone monoamine, which is required by the brain. This is the same way that some types of anti-depressant drugs work to increase the monoamine hormone in the brain to treat depression.

Although mental health disorders such as depression have various causes, vitamin D intake is still needed to improve brain function. Depressive conditions can be exacerbated by the presence of a brain hormone imbalance. With the consumption of vitamin D, it will speed up the recovery of the brain and alleviate the symptoms of depression.

Where do we get vitamin D?

The need for vitamin D can be met by consuming various foods, supplements, and synthesizing from sunlight. However, natural intake such as from food and solar synthesis will be much healthier because it has a very small risk of hypervitaminosis. Various food sources rich in vitamin D besides cow's milk, including:

• Oily fish: salmon, sardines, mackerel
• Red meat
• Chicken's liver
• Egg
• Fortified food

In addition, in Indonesia, your body will easily synthesize vitamin D because it has a lot of sun exposure. Getting outside in the morning will make it easy for your body to get vitamin D on most days of the year.