At the Fancy Food Show, one of the exhibitors asked me what I did. I said I studied how food affected the brain. That’s interesting, she said. She proceeded to tell me that Vitamin D3 has really helped her.
When do you take it? I asked.
First thing in the morning, she said.
Why? I asked. Because she had tried taking it at bedtime and it hadn’t worked. So she switched to first thing in the morning and it worked well. It gave her energy and raised her mood. Her 28-year-old son had the same experience.
I told her I had seen the same pattern several times. The time of day really matters, I said. She said she had never thought of that — that what was true for her was true for other people. She had told lots of people about the benefits of Vitamin D3 but she hadn’t told them what time to take it.
I hope to interview this woman at length and get more details.
As far as I’m concerned, the totality of evidence, including this story, is overwhelmingly persuasive. Taking Vitamin D3 at the right time of day is crucial. Take it at the best time of day (first thing in the morning), it will have a powerful good effect. Take it at the worst time of day (evening), it will have a bad effect.
Why Vitamin D researchers missed this, and how long it will take them to stop dismissing “anecdotes” about it, are interesting questions.
Seth,
What does this mean for multivitamins?
I usually skip breakfast. Should I still take the vitamin D first thing in the morning ?
Based on my experience, yes. I skip breakfast and take Vitamin D first thing in the morning.
It means you should take a multivitamin since Vitamin D3 requires co-factors to work properly.
Which co-factors does Vitamin D3 require? I googled around for it but all I could find were discussions about keeping a (roughly) 2:1 ratio between vitamins A & D (e.g. 10k IU of Vitamin A needs 5k IU of Vitamin D3 to balance).
Yes, Vitamin A is the known co-factor of Vitamin D. Perhaps there are others.
Taking vit D early in the morning has been a game changer for me. I take it first thing after getting out of bed. I take 15k IU.
I started doing this after reading the suggestion on your blog. I’d been taking it for years at different times of the day but never early in the morning. It hasn’t helped my sleep but the upgrade in mood and energy has been staggering.
I started taking vit K and CLO (for the A) along with the D and the affect diminished. I dropped the K and CLO and it came back.
I wish I had thought to try this years ago. Thanks for passing the tip along.
Vitamin K2 is another co-factor, with a role in bone and arterial health.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_K#Vitamin_K_and_bone_health
Apparently D3, A, and K2 are all needed to carboxylate osteocalcin, and osteocalcin is what keeps calcium in the bones and out of the arteries. (When it’s undercarboxylated, osteocalcin can’t ‘hook’ the calcium molecules, so they aggregate in the circulatory system, and show up on calcium scans.)
Many people don’t get enough of D3, A, or K2.
I too discovered independently that D3 first thing in the morning works. I have also found that the best time of day for 5HTp, if you need that, is about 40 minutes before bed. And by the way, if you wake up stiff- thinking you are getting old, try the 5HTp. Muscles need serotonin too, and stiffness will show up before depression.
Tomorrow, I’m going to start taking D3 first thing in the morning. I am having a very hard time getting up in the morning when I need to. Last week I began eating breakfast (two eggs scrambled with bacon and cheese) soon after waking (within 30min). By the end of the week, waking up was not any easier. Let’s see if adding D3 helps.
Re: multivitamins.
Yes, but if the timing is important, when do you take the multivitamin?
I take Vit-D in the morning and magnesium at night. but my multivitamin has both what to do then?
Rather than taking a multivitamin, you could get the other necessary vitamins from whole foods. Liver, dandelion greens, carrots and sweet potatoes are the top 4 sources of vitamin A. Vitamin K is usually pretty high in dark green, leafy vegetables.
I am about to run a self-experiment on using timing and levels of Vit D ingestion to combat jet lag.
Does anyone else have experience with this method?
Thanks
I grew up in England, for the past few years I have been in NZ, does the change in locations make a difference. I will let you know.
P Winter.