Name something more wonderful than getting a huge dose of sunshine. It’s divine—and when winter comes and the days get shorter, that lack of light is exhausting. Why? One culprit is vitamin D deficiency. Not receiving enough of this vital nutrient can lead to all sorts of health issues, from osteoporosis to depression. And it turns out that it’s extra helpful for women in menopause.

“Of the menopausal women I see, 85 percent are deficient,” said Mary Claire Haver, MD, and author of The New Menopause. Experts recommend taking 600 IU daily if you’re a woman between 19 and 70, but check with your doctor for the exact dosage.

We tapped Karen Tang, MD, a board-certified gynecologist, founder of Thrive Gynecology, and author of It’s Not Hysteria, for a deeper dive. Here are four ways getting more vitamin D can help in menopause.

Bone Health: Menopause does a number on our bones because it decreases the amount of calcium our bodies can absorb. Likewise, low vitamin D means lower calcium absorption. This double whammy can lead to a vicious cycle of dropping levels, putting us at risk for thin, weakened bones—and, ultimately, osteoporosis and bone fractures, Tang says. Since vitamin D increases your body’s ability to absorb calcium, popping a supplement is a crucial preemptive step to fortifying your skeleton.

Vaginal Health: “A trial that gave vitamin D supplementation to post-menopausal women found that it improved symptoms like dryness and pH issues,” Tang says. That’s because vitamin D helps with cell growth and turnover, particularly in vaginal tissue. It might also help with recurrent UTIs—a frequent annoyance for pre-menopausal and menopausal women alike.

Mood: People who struggle with depression and mood disturbances often show low levels of vitamin D. And women in menopause are more likely to develop depression and anxiety because of the loss of estrogen and the general stress of broken sleep. But studies have shown that vitamin D might work similarly to antidepressants by regulating and protecting the brain’s dopamine system.

Heart Health: This area is less studied, but growing evidence shows that vitamin D could protect against cardiovascular disease. When estrogen levels drop during menopause, women’s risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes increases. But vitamin D brings down inflammation and lowers oxidative stress (that’s the kind that leads to chronic and degenerative conditions like cardiovascular disease). Who knew one little vitamin could pack such a punch?

Source|Oprah Daily