Tips to Beat the Winter Blues

So many of us are affected by the winter blues or seasonal affective disorder. This article includes natural and more holistic treatments to prevent and fight this condition. 

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In this episode of the Clean Eating for Women podcast, I talk about:  

• How Seasonal Affective Disorder is considered a type of depression.
• The signs of major depression.
• Signs and causes of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Some highlights of this episode:

1. How Seasonal Affective Disorder is a depression that starts in the late fall or early winter and goes away in spring or summer. [13:37]
2. Major depression is feeling depressed most of the day, problems with sleep, frequent thoughts of death, feeling hopeless or worthless, losing interest in activities, changes in appetite or weight, and difficulty concentrating. [16:31]
3. Symptoms of seasonal depression include having low energy, hypersomnia, overeating, weight gain, craving carbohydrates, and social withdrawal. [17:12]
4. Risks factors are being female, living where you don’t get as much sunshine, family history of depression, you’ve had depression before, and being younger. [18:19]
5. Serotonin levels can be a cause. As well as over producing melatonin. Vitamin D deficiency can also be a cause. [20:12]
6. Treatments include light therapy, antidepressants, cognitive therapy or a therapist, and vitamin D supplementation. More natural treatments include herbs, supplements, movement, and diet. [23:48]
7. My experience of feeling like I had Seasonal Affective Disorder last year. I had a lot of risk factors including family history of depression. My cat died. I was under-medicated for thyroid issues. I stopped going to the gym.  [25:44]
8. Ideas of how I came out of this include seeing a functional medicine doctor, switching up my exercise, getting foster kittens, and I went to Hawaii with my husband. This year I try to get outside for at least 20 minutes, spend time with friends, I have a lamp for SAD, I take Vitamin D, St. John’s Wort and 5 HTP. [30:48]
9. Stay on your diet and exercise routine, focus on your self-care, eat clean, talk with your healthcare provider about supplements, and get quality sleep. [41:03]

Here’s a little slideshow, too:

Links mentioned in this episode (some affiliate links included):

• Clean Eating 101 Starter Kit – Leave an iTunes review – take a screenshot – email that screenshot to Carrie@CleanEatingKitchen.com
• Enviromedica Ancient Minerals magnesium Goodnight (use code CLEANEATING1 for 15% off during checkout)
• Otto’s Naturals Cassava Flour (use code CLEANEATING for discount during checkout)
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1 800 (273) – 8255
• Desktop lamp for light therapy (like the one I have).
• 5-HTP 50mg in a clean formulation (this is the one I use)
• St. John’s Wort (this is the one I use; check with your healthcare professional first)
• Link to Beverly Meyer’s great podcast episode and blog post on vitamin D

Additional References:

• About SAD: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/seasonal-affective-disorder/index.shtml
• Light Therapy: Nussbaumer B, Kaminski-Hartenthaler A, Forneris CA, Morgan LC, Sonis JH, Gaynes BN, Greenblatt A, Wipplinger J, Lux LJ, Winkler D, Van Noord MG, Hofmann J, Gartlehner G. Light therapy for preventing seasonal affective disorder. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Nov 8;(11):CD011269. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011269.pub2. Review. PubMed PMID: 26558494.
• Vitamin D: Kerr DC, Zava DT, Piper WT, Saturn SR, Frei B, Gombart AF. Associations between vitamin D levels and depressive symptoms in healthy young adult women. Psychiatry Res. 2015 May 30;227(1):46-51. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2015.02.016. Epub 2015 Mar 5. PubMed PMID: 25791903; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4420707.
• St. John’s Wort: https://nccih.nih.gov/health/stjohnswort/sjw-and-depression.htm#science
• 5-htp and SAD: http://www.lifeextension.com/Protocols/Emotional-Health/Seasonal-Affective-Disorder/Page-04

 Show sponsors:

• Enviromedica Ancient Minerals magnesium Goodnight (use code CLEANEATING1 for 15% off during checkout)
• Otto’s Naturals Cassava Flour (use code CLEANEATING for discount during checkout)

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