For many, it’s a funk that’ll pass, and for many people it is; for others, the mood shift runs a little deeper: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression most often linked to winter. About 5% of Americans suffer from it; an additional 10% to 20% experience a milder form. The fact it gets so dark outside so early plays a role. Here’s what else you need to know:

The symptoms:

Symptoms include hopelessness, irritability and fatigue; hunger, especially for sweet or starchy foods, and subsequent weight gain; oversleeping; having a tough time concentrating; and/or wanting to avoid social situations. In most cases, symptoms appear in late fall or early winter, and fade in the spring.

The treatments:

Light therapy seems to work for most people. You might sit in front of a light box to expose you to about 30 minutes of bright light every day, which appears to affect mood-related chemicals in your brain, eases symptoms. Some people with SAD need antidepressants, others benefit from talk therapy as well. What doesn’t work: Tanning beds — the lights are high in ultraviolet rays, which harm both your eyes and your skin. Talk to your doctor if you think you have SAD.

Can I prevent it?

No, there’s no known way to stop seasonal depression from developing, but you can take steps to manage symptoms early on, and keep them from getting worse. Spend some time outside, even when it’s cloudy; natural light helps, especially within two hours of getting up in the morning. Eat well — a healthy diet boosts energy; exercise regularly to help relieve stress and anxiety; and hang out with your friends often, which can provide tremendous support during winter months.

Many experts think light therapy is underused, given its affordability and relative lack of side effects.

Patients generally sit in front of the light box, with the bright light emanating from the square surface, in the morning. With the natural dawn being later in winter, the body rhythms drift late. If you can fix the drift, you can fix the depression.

Light therapy may even help with major nonseasonal depression, experts say, and with sleep disorders. And because it has few side effects, researchers are studying whether light therapy can help with depression during pregnancy and be used to treat elderly people with dementia. It is also being investigated for the treatment of bulimia nervosa, severe premenstrual syndrome and even attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder.

But while part of the appeal of light therapy is that it can be self-prescribed, although experts recommend consulting with a knowledgeable health care provider before starting treatment to rule out other medical conditions and to help with monitoring and adjusting bright-light exposure.

• Socializing and exercising. OK, not exactly what you crave when you’re feeling depressed, but forcing yourself to be active and meet people can really turn your mood around.
• Light therapy. Waking up in the dark can be tough on your body’s rhythms, so try to wake up in bright light. You’d think Daylight Saving would actually help with this one, but the disruption of the time change can outweigh the bit of extra light.
• Massage. Good news, massages aren’t just about pampering yourself. “There are many, many, many studies on depression and massage showing that there is not only a decrease in symptoms of depression but also underlying changes that are happening physiologically and biochemically,” says one doctor.
• Deep breathing. You can call it yoga, meditation, or just focused breathing, but the results are still just as helpful. Under stress, blood pressure rises, but a few deep breaths can reverse that and help calm you down again.

You can read the full article here.

The key is to time light therapy according to your internal clock, not the clock on the wall.

SAD Lights can help with:

Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder

Advanced Sleep Phase Disorder

Free-Running or Non-24-hour Sleep-Wake Rhythm

Jet Lag

Shift Work

Yahoo News recently had a video about how bright light therapy can help you trick your brain into thinking it’s summer all year long.

Click HERE to watch the video.

If you have more questions about bright light therapy click HERE.

Broad spectrum vs Full spectrum, click HERE.

Or if you just received your light box, and may have questions on how to start using it, click HERE.

The good news is that most people get enough vitamin D, according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

However, if you don’t spend enough time in the sun or if your body has trouble absorbing the vitamin, you may not get enough. Here are 12 ways to ensure adequate intake.

Sunlight  or Light Therapy

Sunlight spurs the body to make vitamin D. But because of the skin-cancer risk, there isn’t an official recommendation to catch some rays. However, a small amount of sun exposure without sunscreen can do the trick.

“If you’re going to get it from the sun, about 20 to 25 minutes of exposure is helpful,” says Stephen Honig, MD, director of the Osteoporosis Center at the Hospital for Joint Diseases, in New York City.

The sun is less likely to provide your daily needs at higher latitudes, in the winter, or if you’re older or dark skinned (skin pigment blocks light and the process is less efficient with age). And FYI: Light through a window won’t work.

Obviously if you live in a darker area during the winter, light therapy can help. 30 minutes in the morning, every day, and you’ll be feeling a difference usually within a week. Plus if you use a light box that uses broad spectrum bulbs, you don’t have to worry about those harmful UV rays.

Fatty fish

Fatty fish can be a good source of vitamin D. Common options include salmon, trout, mackerel, tuna, and eel.

A 3-ounce sockeye salmon fillet contains about 450 international units (IUs) of vitamin D—a good portion of the 600 IUs that is the Institute of Medicine’s recommended dietary allowance (800 IUs if you’re over 70).

And you get a bonus—heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids!

Canned tuna fish

Fresh fish aren’t the only way to boost your vitamin D intake; you can get vitamin D from a can, too.

Canned tuna fish and canned sardines both contain vitamin D, and are usually less expensive than fresh fish.

Plus, a longer shelf life makes the canned products easy to stock up on and use at your leisure. Canned light tuna has the most vitamin D—about 150 IUs per 4 ounces—while canned albacore tuna has about 50 IUs per 4 ounces, and canned sardines have a little more than 40 IUs per two sardines.

Certain mushrooms

Just like humans, mushrooms have the capacity to produce vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet light.

Mushrooms, however, are usually grown in the dark and don’t contain the vitamin. Specific brands, however, are grown in ultraviolet light to spur vitamin D production.

Check to see if vitamin D–rich ’shrooms, like Dole’s Portobello Mushrooms, are available at a store near you. They’re perfect for vegetarians looking for plant-based foods that contain the vitamin. Dole’s portobellos will give you 400 IUs of vitamin D per 3-ounce serving (about 1 cup of diced mushrooms).

Fortified milk

Almost all types of cow’s milk in the U.S. are fortified with vitamin D, but ice cream and cheese are not.

In general, an 8-ounce glass of milk contains at least 100 IUs of vitamin D, and a 6-ounce serving of yogurt contains 80 IUs, but the amount can be higher (or lower) depending on how much is added.

Some soy and rice milks are fortified with about the same amount, but check the label since not all contain vitamin D.

Some types of orange juice

Not a dairy fan? No problem. You can get vitamin D from fortified orange juice.

One 8-ounce glass of fortified juice usually has around 100 IUs of vitamin D, but the amount varies from brand to brand. Not all brands are fortified, so check the label.

Two fortified brands, Florida Natural Orange Juice and Minute Maid Kids+ Orange Juice, contain 100 IUs per 8-ounce serving.

Supplements

Vitamin D supplements can help you get your proper daily dose, and as Dr. Honig points out, you don’t run into the issue of skin cancer as you might with UV rays. “And it’s not like calcium,” he says. “You don’t have to split up your vitamin D dose; you can take it all at one time.”

Too much vitamin D can be toxic, however. The IOM sets the upper limit at 4,000 IUs for people aged 9 and older. That includes all sources—food, sun, and supplements.

Talk to your doctor before choosing a dosage.

Egg yolks

Eggs are a convenient way to get vitamin D. They’re popular in many breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert recipes.

Since the vitamin D in an egg comes from its yolk, it’s important to use the whole egg—not just the whites. One yolk will give you about 40 IUs, but don’t try to get your daily vitamin D just from eggs.

One egg contains about 200 milligrams of cholesterol, and the American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 300 milligrams a day for heart health.

Fortified cereal

If you’re a vitamin D seeker looking for a crunch, look no further than fortified cereals. Choose a low-calorie fortified cereal like Multi Grain Cheerios to get part of your daily fill of vitamin D. You can pair it with fortified milk and a glass of fortified OJ too.

A 1-cup (29 gram) serving of Multi Grain Cheerios with one-half cup of fortified milk is 90 IUs; add in an 8-ounce glass of fortified orange juice, and your total is close to 200 IUs.

]]> http://alaskanorthernlights.com/blog/easy-ways-to-get-your-daily-vitamin-d/feed 0 http://alaskanorthernlights.com/blog/back-to-school http://alaskanorthernlights.com/blog/back-to-school#comments Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:45:52 +0000 Alaska Northern Lights http://alaskanorthernlights.com/blog/?p=640 Kids, teens and young adults all over the country and starting to head back to school, which means their summer vacation is over.

All parents know that it is usually difficult to get your kids to get up in the morning. Some have to resort to turning lights on, slamming doors, pouring ice water on their heads.

The typical teenager needs to have nine hours of sleep per night. But with this day and age with TV and internet, they never get to sleep on time.

USA Today recently had an article about how to get your teenager up in the morning.  They suggest keeping a log of their sleep habits, not letting them sleep past 10 am on the weekends, using a light box with their alarm in the morning.

For the full article, click here.

Risks Of Light Therapy

Many people worry that light therapy is unsafe.   However, many people use light therapy to treat SAD, and there are no serious risks involved.  Yet, like any prescription, there are a few side effects to be aware of.

Side Effects

Research indicates the following could be possible side effects from using light therapy treatments.  According to all studies, the side effects tend to be mild and will most likely disappear if the patient decreases the light dosage.

-Headache
-Eyestrain
-Nausea
-Agitation

If your side effects do get worse, you may want to talk to a doctor and make sure that light therapy is the best option for treating your condition.

Light therapy has been used extensively for sufferers of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) with some success, and is now being recommended for mothers with mild to moderate postpartum depression as well. Clinicians recommend exposure to light in a light box for a duration of thirty to ninety minutes daily during the morning hours of the day. The patient is instructed not to focus the eyes directly on the light but to keep the eyes open. Not only does the light therapy seem to have a positive effect on alleviating depression symptoms, but unlike some of the medications on the market for treating depression, it is safe for mothers who are breastfeeding their babies.

Mothers who reside in climates prone to extended periods of darkness, such as Alaska, experience higher rates of postpartum depression, leading researchers to believe in a link between reduced light and PPD specifically. Employing light therapy in such situations has proven highly effective in bringing relief to depression sufferers. Ongoing studies and practical application should fine tune this remedy for depression, widening the options for sufferers who cannot or who choose not to use chemical pharmaceutical treatments.

As hot weather approaches, those with summer SAD sleep less, eat less, and lose weight. They’re extremely irritable and agitated. (It’s the reverse for people with winter SAD, who sleep more, gain weight and crave high-carb foods, and tend to slow down and socially hibernate from late fall to early spring.)

It is thought that summer-onset depression affects less than one  percent of the population, making it much rarer than the winter SAD that is experienced by about ten percent of the population.

In its most severe form, people with summer seasonal depression may be more at risk for suicide than cold-weather SAD. Suicide is more of a concern when people are depressed and agitated rather than depressed and lethargic.

Experts recommend staying cool with cold showers, air conditioning, swimming in cold lakes, or heading north to cooler climes if you can. Since people tend to drink more alcohol in the summer, be careful of your consumption, since alcohol is a depressant. Although these treatments for hot-weather depression are useful for some, they lack the staying power that light-box therapy has on winter SAD.

Summer SAD

A person with summer SAD can stay inside, crank up the AC, and darken the room but then go outside into the heat and it’s as if they’ve never been treated. Another idea is that it might be the light itself that’s aggravating sufferers, whether it’s the intensity of sunlight or the angle it’s coming at people.

Still another possibility is that there may be two kinds of warm-weather depression. There might be one group of people who have an unpleasant reaction to the heat and humidity — a discomfort with the climate.

For those that have their circadian rhythms misaligned during the summer, it might be because of the longer exposure to daylight is causing some vulnerable people to cue at dusk. Dusk is shortening the typical body clock and delays a person’s sleep-wake cycle thus triggering depression.

People with summer depression have been treated with a combination of getting early morning sunlight (30 to 60 minutes daily), which shifts the body clock forward, and low-dose melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep-wake cycles. Severe symptoms may also benefit from antidepressants.