How to Get Better Sleep By Taking Vitamin D3

Keith@Zeo's picture
published by Keith@Zeo on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 09:03

Seth Roberts is a pretty interesting guy.

He’s a bestselling author, a psychology professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Berkeley.

He’s also a big believer in the power of Vitamin D3.

Dr. Roberts believes that taking 4000-5000UI of Vitamin D3 in the morning can help to improve one’s sleep and mood.

Vitamin D3 is a hormone commonly associated with sunlight. Since our circadian rhythm (and by extension, sleep) is regulated by light and darkness, the hypothesis is that taking Vitamin D3 in the morning will provide a big signal (zeitgeber) needed to keep you alert during the day and help you sleep at night.

Vitamin D3 is fairly inexpensive ($4-15) and can be found in health stores, some grocery stores, and through on-line retailers.

Here at Zeo, we love any advice on how to get better sleep. So we thought, why not issue a call to arms, get some fellow Zeolots to try this out?

As part of this limited edition Zeo Sleep Hack, you’ll learn about Vitamin D3, how it can affect your sleep, and get to see the results for yourself.  

This 8-day series will take you on a sleep hacking journey, culminating in a Hangout where you can compare your results with other sleep hackers as well as ask questions of Seth Roberts.

This challenge, should you choose to accept, consists of the following steps:

Monday – Wednesday Night:  3 nights of baseline sleep. Don’t deviate from your normal routine or start adding anything new. These nights will function as your “before VD3”.

Thursday – Sunday Night:  Start taking 4000-5000IU of Vitamin D3 in the morning when you get up.

Post your Weekly Sleep Data on Zeo’s Google+ page:  Share your results with your fellow self-experimenters and sleep hackers.

Join our Google+ Hangout & TweetUp with Seth Roberts on Monday, Feb 27th to discuss your results, talk Vitamin D3, and the importance of self-experimentation for self-knowledge and growth.

For those of you who haven’t tried any self experimentation before, this is great jumping-on point, especially if you want to get better sleep.

Who knows, you might even become a believer in Vitamin D3! Sign up here.

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Comments

Sheila Johnson (not verified)

Thu, 02/16/2012 - 22:22

I have always taken D3 for chronic pain (big believer). Regardless of my blood levels (which were low when I was first prescribed by a pain specialist), if I skip D3, my pain soars back within a week. I have always taken at night, however. I am struggling with my sleep but also extreme daytime fatigue. I am adjusting several meds and moving them to different times of day but D3 was not one my docs identified. I definitely will try and report!!!

Tim (not verified)

Fri, 02/17/2012 - 22:49

i look forward to the vitamin D3 challenge , I am interested in seeing what it will do to my ZQ number

Hypnagog

Sun, 02/19/2012 - 04:39

I've had some good results with D3 http://hypnagogia.squarespace.com/blog/2012/1/15/vitamins-minerals-break... (but only 1000 iu) I was thinking of upping the dose to see what happened. This is a perfect excuse :)

It'd be great to pool all the data for the week.

Deb (not verified)

Tue, 02/21/2012 - 12:32

I too have been taking 5000iu of D3 at night. Never heard this theory about kickstarting your morning. I am going to refrain from taking D3 for three days, then shift to taking it in the morning to see if I feel any difference!
Thanks!

Norman (not verified)

Wed, 03/21/2012 - 16:35

Good to know, and I guess it's 'common sense' to take Vitamin D3 in morning or at least not at night.
Good Experiment idea. (But I don't believe in the 'mega' doses suggested. 1000 IU's or maybe? 2000 IU's, but 4000-5000 IU's??!! We're hoping for a benefit from a practical, long term, regimen, not just a 'few weeks study to prove a concept/effect', aren't we?)
Experiment suggestion 2: Does this propsed affect apply at all to Vitamin D2 ('vegan' version of Vit. D)?
For lovers of science (if they don't get enough vitamin D from sunlight), I suggest (for vitamin D): start with lower amounts, take regularly, and have an annual blood test. Be patient. Wait for that 'yearly' result.
A recent study (published Jan. 2012) found correlation of higher Vitamin D blood levels, even over '21' [which is just above the low end of so called 'normal range'], with higher 'C-Reactive Protein' ["CRP, an indicator of inflammation that is linked to cardiovascular disease"].
[article, e.g., http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/health/research/risks-when-too-much-vi... ;]

Norman

Wed, 12/12/2012 - 19:14

A new study (published in December 2012 issue of the journal "Diabetologia") suggests (maybe for everyone?) that assuring Vitamin D levels of at least '24' might be advisable.  [article, e.g., http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/low-vitamin-d-level-tied-to-type-1-diabetes/ [NYTimes, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, [in the weekly Science section], page D6, "Low Vitamin D Level Tied to Type 1 Diabetes"] ]. Study participants with vitamin D levels '24' to '40', and above '40', had no increased likelihood of developing Type 1 Diabetes.
    This suggests that a vitamin D level '24' or greater:  either helps 'healthy things to be going on'; and/or, conversely, lower vitamin D levels [even ['20'] '21' - '23' [which according to some, are within 'normal/acceptable range'] ] - provides an opportunity for 'not healthy things' to be going on.
    [ The study covered in the above New York Times article was published in journal article: Diabetologia, December 2012, Volume 55, Issue 12, pp 3224-3227, "Lower prediagnostic serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration is associated with higher risk of insulin-requiring diabetes: a nested case–control study", by: E. D. Gorham, C. F. Garland, A. A. Burgi, S. B. Mohr, K. Zeng, H. Hofflich, J. J. Kim, C. Ricordi .]

    

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shepalmer

Mon, 05/07/2012 - 01:19

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