Got the Winter Blues? The Sun Will Make You Shine!

By Jon Herring

Do you get a little sadder in the winter, when darkness falls early and the sun is hidden in the clouds? If so, you're not alone. Seasonal changes cause more than 25 percent of the population to get the "winter blues" - technically known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

The symptoms include increased cravings for sweets and carbohydrates, longer sleep patterns, lethargy, fatigue, irritability, weight gain, insomnia, lowered motivation, and decreased sociability. In some cases, the long dark winter can even bring on full-blown clinical depression.

But there are several ways to prevent and treat this common condition:

• The best way to conquer SAD is to spend time outside in bright, natural sunlight. It's especially good to go out and play in the snow. There is a lower incidence of SAD in regions that get regular amounts of snow, probably because the snow reflects light.

• Phototherapy can also help lift your spirits in the winter. It involves exposing yourself to a light box that approximates the spectrum of daylight for 30 minutes to two hours a day.

• Most important, be sure to take a vitamin D supplement during the winter months. In clinical trials, vitamin D has been shown to relieve depression more effectively than broad-spectrum light exposure. In fact, in one study that compared vitamin D supplementation with the daily use of a light box for two hours, the symptoms of depression in the vitamin D group were resolved completely. Meanwhile, the phototherapy group saw no significant improvement.

If you're not able to spend time in the sun during the winter, you will need a good bit more vitamin D than the government's recommended daily allowance of 400 IU. Dr. John Cannell of the Vitamin D Council suggests 5,000 IU per day for adults during the winter months, and 1,000 to 2,000 IU per day for children. I don't know of any multivitamins that contain this much vitamin D, but Carlson's makes a convenient 2,000 IU soft gel that you can find here.

By being proactive, you can fight back against seasonal depression and enjoy winter... and the holidays... just like you did when you were young.

[Ed. Note: Jon Herring, a copywriter for Early to Rise, is co-author, with Dr. Al Sears, of the book Your Best Health Under the Sun.]

It's Good to Know: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

The story of plucky Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a deeply ingrained piece of Christmas mythology. So it may surprise you to learn that it is not a traditional folk tale. A young copywriter named Robert May created Rudolph in 1939 as a promotional tool for the Montgomery Ward chain of department stores.

The company printed up the story, and gave away 2.4 million copies of the booklet to customers that Christmas. It was so popular that millions more copies were given away over the next several years. It wasn't until May persuaded his bosses to turn the copyright over to him that it became a financial success. Under May's direction, Rudolph appeared in cartoons, books, songs, and more over the years, securing both May's fortune and the story's place as a holiday staple.

(Source: Snopes.com)

Word to the Wise: Denizen

"Denizen" (DEN-uh-sun) is another way to say "dweller" or "inhabitant." The word is derived from the Latin for "from within."

Example (as used by Peter Gay in My German Question): "Goethe, who visited Berlin only once, found the 'wit and irony' of its denizens quite remarkable."

Michael Masterson
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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2231, 12-21-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

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