The Connection Between Sleep Disturbances and Low Vitamin D

Publié par Ben White le 7 août 2019

We love talking about the sun. We grumble about it being hidden away behind heavy rain clouds for months at a time in winter; we delight in the first breakthrough rays in spring; we marvel at its delightful warmth in early summer. Our enthusiasm for the sun makes sense — after all, humans have evolved to rely on sunlight and centre many of our activities around its presence.

Vitamin D: The Sunshine Hormone

Not unlike stimulating photosynthesis in plants, inside our human bodies sunlight sets in motion a series of biochemical events that are essential to our wellbeing. Proclaimed as a vitamin, vitamin D is actually a precursor to a fat-soluble hormone — a substance that our skin produces in response to sun exposure. Vitamin D is best known for keeping our bones healthy and strong by helping to assimilate calcium from our diet into skeletal tissues.

And it does so much more. At the DNA level, the active form of vitamin D regulates the expression of hundreds of genes, turning them on or off at precisely the right time. It is no wonder that if humans do not get enough of this “sunshine vitamin”, deficiencies can be linked to or exacerbate a variety of disorders, including seasonal affective disorder, mania [1], psychosis [2], depression [3], metabolic syndrome [4], irritable bowel disease [5], chronic back pain [6], increased severity of PMS symptoms [7], and sleep disorders [8].

Why So Many People Are Vitamin D Deficient

Shining Some Light on Low Vitamin D

Emphasised by dermatologists, the danger of ultraviolet radiation is now embedded into our psyche. Going out into fierce midday light without first applying sunscreen feels plain wrong. We have become very good at blocking harmful sun rays to prevent skin damage. However, at the same time it is easy to forget about the pathways that are nourished by sunlight — vitamin D biosynthesis being one of them.

Without adequate doses of unblocked sunlight, foods fortified with the vitamin, or straightforward supplementation, one risks falling into the low vitamin D zone. Unfortunately, there is no single symptom that indicates an overt vitamin D deficiency. But one way that such a deficiency can manifest is through sleep disturbances.

Vitamin D adequacy can easily be assessed with our Vitamin D 25-OH Total Blood Spot Test — a simple finger-prick collection at home that measures both D2 and D3 to give you a complete picture of your vitamin D status.

The Vitamin D and Sleep Connection

How Vitamin D Affects Sleep Quality

Sleep is something we often take for granted and discuss frequently in the context of its absence. When we do not get enough good quality sleep, we just do not feel right. What many people do not realise is just how important vitamin D is for sleep.

In a recent study, sleep quality was assessed in participants with sleep disorders. The authors reported that vitamin D improved sleep quality, reduced sleep latency, raised sleep duration and improved subjective sleep quality [9]. This and other studies highlight the important and powerful connection between vitamin D and sleep [10–15].

Vitamin D, Serotonin and Melatonin

The mechanism of exactly how vitamin D contributes to healthy sleep is not yet fully elucidated; however, clinical science is beginning to address this process. At least in part, it appears that vitamin D regulates tryptophan hydroxylase (TRPH) expression — the rate-limiting enzyme in serotonin (and consequently melatonin) production [16]. Vitamin D potentiates the expression of neuronal TRPH to stimulate the appropriate production of serotonin in the brain [17, 18]. Without sufficient serotonin production, melatonin levels will not rise appropriately to give the body the signal to sleep at night.

Because serotonin, GABA, dopamine and other neurotransmitters are so closely intertwined with sleep quality, it can be valuable to assess them directly. Our Neurotransmitter Testing (Dried Urine Spot) measures key neurotransmitters including serotonin, GABA, dopamine and melatonin metabolites — helping to identify whether a neurotransmitter imbalance is contributing to your sleep difficulties alongside low vitamin D.

If disrupted sleep is your primary concern, our Sleep Balance Profile Test measures melatonin, cortisol and other key hormones involved in the sleep-wake cycle — giving you and your practitioner a detailed picture of what may be driving your insomnia or poor sleep quality.

How to Optimise Your Vitamin D Levels

Sun, Diet and Supplementation

A balanced approach to direct sun exposure, eating foods rich in vitamin D (eggs, liver, fatty fish, red meat), and supplementation where needed may be helpful for people looking to increase their vitamin D levels. Whether to choose supplements or sunlight to meet your vitamin D quota is worth discussing with your doctor.

The Stress and Sleep Overlap

It is also worth noting that sleep disturbances rarely have a single cause. Elevated cortisol — particularly at night — is one of the most common hormonal drivers of insomnia and poor sleep quality. If you suspect both vitamin D deficiency and adrenal stress may be contributing to your sleep problems, our Adrenal Stress Profile (Saliva) measures cortisol at four time points across the day, including the critical evening and night-time readings that most standard tests miss.

References

Altunsoy N, et al. Exploring the relationship between vitamin D and mania. Nord J Psychiatry. 2018.
Hedelin M, et al. Dietary intake of fish, omega-3, omega-6 and vitamin D and the prevalence of psychotic-like symptoms. BMC Psychiatry. 2010;10:38.
Bahrami A, et al. High Dose Vitamin D Supplementation Is Associated With a Reduction in Depression Score. J Diet Suppl. 2017.
Schmitt EB, et al. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women. Maturitas. 2018;107:97–102.
Branco JC, et al. Vitamin D Deficiency in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. GE Port J Gastroenterol. 2019;26(3):155–162.
Ghai B, et al. Vitamin D Supplementation in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain. Pain Physician. 2017;20(1):E99–E105.
Jarosz AC, El-Sohemy A. Association between Vitamin D Status and Premenstrual Symptoms. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2019;119(1):115–123.
Zhao K, et al. Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in chronic insomnia patients. Clin Chim Acta. 2017;475:147–151.
Majid MS, et al. The effect of vitamin D supplement on the score and quality of sleep in people with sleep disorders. Nutr Neurosci. 2018;21(7):511–519.
Kim JH, et al. Association between self-reported sleep duration and serum vitamin D level in elderly Korean adults. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014;62(12):2327–32.
Bozkurt NC, et al. The relation of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin-D levels with severity of obstructive sleep apnea. Endocrine. 2012;41(3):518–25.
Gominak SC, Stumpf WE. The world epidemic of sleep disorders is linked to vitamin D deficiency. Med Hypotheses. 2012;79(2):132–5.
Gong QH, et al. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Status and Its Association with Sleep Duration in Chinese Schoolchildren. Nutrients. 2018;10(8).
Gao Q, et al. The Association between Vitamin D Deficiency and Sleep Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2018;10(10).
Dogan-Sander E, et al. Association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations with sleep phenotypes. PLoS One. 2019;14(7):e0219318.
Muscogiuri G, et al. The lullaby of the sun: the role of vitamin D in sleep disturbance. Sleep Med. 2019;54:262–265.
Patrick RP, Ames BN. Vitamin D hormone regulates serotonin synthesis. Part 1. FASEB J. 2014;28(6):2398–2413.
Patrick RP, Ames BN. Vitamin D and the omega-3 fatty acids control serotonin synthesis and action, part 2. FASEB J. 2015;29(6):2207–2222.

Originally by Dr. Kate Placzek, ZRT Laboratory. Reproduced with permission. Last reviewed: May 2026.

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