Seasonal Affective Disorder

Feeling the Winter Blues?

If you’re feeling blue during the winter months, you’re not alone. A cold, dark winter triggers feelings of sadness, loneliness, hopelessness, and fatigue in millions of Americans. These feelings are often accompanied by atypical cravings for sweets and carbohydrates and then, ultimately, weight gain. It appears the levels of melatonin and serotonin in your brain change as a result of exposure to light and darkness. Most people feel better when spring arrives.

If a move to the sunshine state of Florida, where I live, is out of the question, there are still several things you can do to combat the wintertime blahs.

Add more Vitamin D to your diet. If you take only one supplement, make sure it’s Vitamin D The “sunshine” vitamin boosts your immune system and enhances calcium absorption, strengthening your bones. It also works on your brain to balance your mood. Since most of us use sunscreen, which blocks Vitamin D, we are woefully short on this key vitamin.

Try 5-HTP. Related to L-tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptophan, or 5-HTP, is a natural extract that your body’s normal processes can convert to serotonin. Serotonin is an important brain chemical that affects your mood, attitude, behavior, sleep and appetite. 5-HTP can foster feelings of well being and promote a brighter outlook on life.

Boost your B-12. Vitamin B-12 is one of eight B vitamins important for brain function and energy. Liver, beef, shellfish, dairy, and even some breakfast cereals contain B-12. Those suffering from a blue mood are often deficient in Vitamin B-12. There’s a new absorbable Vitamin B-12 that I like from Botanic Choice called AbsorB-12. It dissolves directly under your tongue so it can get to work fast, and it tastes good too.

Spend time outdoors. Get as much daylight as possible. If you can’t, try light therapy during dark mornings or evenings. Aim for two hours of 2,500 lux (light units) per day. As a point of comparison if you were standing on a mountaintop at midday on the equator, you would experience 100,000 lux; a well-lit room is around 500 lux. You can get exposure to 2,500 lux with a full-spectrum fluorescent light, widely available online.

Try St. John’s Wort. Be sure to take at least 900 mg per day of an extract standardized for .3% hypericin, the nutrient that gives St. John’s Wort its mood-lifting power.

Work out. An hour of aerobic exercise three times a week, preferably in bright light, can boost your mood. Working out also makes you more social and eases wintertime weight gain.

Often a combination of the above with certain lifestyle changes can go a long way in combating the wintertime doldrums.

Wishing you a happy winter,

Dr. Karen Yale B.A., D.C., C.C.N., D.A.C.B.N.