A team of researchers from Poland recently conducted a scientific review confirming that vitamin D supplementation could improve the quality of life and mental health of patients suffering from bowel disease.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBS) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are chronic gut diseases with different causes but have similar symptoms.
Along with diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating, many patients suffer from anxiety and depression. In addition, episodes of relapse and remission negatively impact the patients’ overall well-being.
Interestingly, nutritional support therapy can reduce symptoms of depression and also improve the quality of life of IBD and IBS patients by extending the “disease-free” periods.
Unfortunately, the results of most studies are not conclusive. However, current evidence supports vitamin D supplementation as having a mild-to-moderate effect on the quality of life for a short period.
Bowel diseases are usually associated with other mental deteriorations such as low self-esteem, loneliness, hopelessness, feeling worried, stressed, and even suicidal. Studies showed that vitamin D supplementation might also positively impact some of these issues.
However, for the majority of them, there’s no data available. In line with this, it is of utmost urgency to conduct more studies on chronic gut diseases in a large sample of patients and evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on other aspects of mental well-being.
