Fall and winter bring shorter days. During this time of year, many people experience periods of sadness or feeling unlike their usual selves. These mood changes often begin and end when the seasons change. You can counter seasonal mood changes naturally, without getting caught up in antidepressant medications.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression characterized by a recurrent seasonal pattern. Most people with this challenge report seasonal depression, fatigue, and/or low mood.

The Circadian Rhythm Connection

SAD is often connected to circadian rhythm, which is a natural oscillation between wakefulness and sleep. The hypothalamus gland in our brains regulates this oscillation based on light, sound, and activity. The shorter days and colder temperatures in winter tend to shift our lives to a darker, quieter, and more sedentary state.

While nature would have us falling asleep earlier and sleeping longer, that’s not what people usually want to do. Before the days of alarm clocks, most people rose with the sun and might sleep 12 hours on a winter night. That is rare these days.

I often have clients who struggle with feeling low energy or lethargy, and I start with talking to them about morning sunlight. Are you a “don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee” person? Getting sunlight in your eyes soon after you wake up will help to shift your circadian rhythm to boost your energy.

If that is not available when you wake up, getting a full-spectrum light box will help. Sit with it in front of you while you drink your coffee and at other times during the day before your evening meal. Many people find this alone will turn things around for them.

The Vitamin D Connection

Vitamin D deficiency often plays a part in SAD as well as other chronic diseases. Vitamin D is actually a hormone, and like other hormones is critical to many body functions and controls many genes.

Low Vitamin D influences illnesses like cancer, diabetes, autism, heart disease, hearing loss, macular degeneration, and more. Low D’s short-term effects can drive higher incidence of colds and flu as well as depression.

During the warm summer months, our skin produces Vitamin D for us. That is, assuming we spend at least 15 minutes outside with less clothing and no sunscreen.

Intense sun radiation works with the cholesterol in our bare skin and makes up to 15,000 IUs of Vitamin D in that time. But if you live in the northern climates, you only get the possibility of intense sun exposure for about 5 months of the year.

Check Your Vitamin D

The best way to know your Vitamin D levels is to ask your doctor for a blood test. Be sure the test is measuring the active 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D.

Then look at your test level – don’t just accept your doctor saying, “you’re fine.” Lab reports consider 30 ng/ml to be normal, but there’s a difference between “normal” and “optimal.”

Medical research suggests you would want your Vitamin D levels to be at least 50 ng/ml. Higher can be protective, and substantially higher can be beneficial if you have an autoimmune disease. To raise your levels, you can take a Vitamin D3 supplement at 5,000 IUs a day, along with 400mg Magnesium Glycinate.

The D3 form is active and more easily used by the body. Too often, I have new clients come to me taking supplemental Vitamin D but without added Magnesium. Doing so can limit your body’s ability to use the Vitamin D while also depleting your Magnesium.

The Omega-3 Connection

Omega-3 essential fatty acid deficiency can cause mild depression that is often paired with dry skin and generalized fatigue. EPA and DHA are two Omega-3s present in fish or other marine oils.

DHA is preferentially found in the human eye and brain cells. It is recognized as supporting better cell function and neural communication in the brain.

When choosing an Omega-3 supplement, look at the label to find the amount of EPA and DHA included. If you struggle with depression or SAD, I recommend that you aim for 1.4g of DHA daily for 2-3 months. That may mean you are taking a double dose of the supplement to get that level initially, and then you can taper down to the normal dose.

Hope Without Medication

If you notice that you are out of sorts or feeling glum with the shorter days, you have the power to reclaim your life. Start with these suggestions – a full-spectrum light box, supplemental Vitamin D, and Omega 3. Wouldn’t it be better to experience life fully even throughout the year, rather than struggling in the winter?

I welcome the opportunity to talk to you about what you are experiencing. I have worked with clients to resolve their IBS, Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, and more. Why would you want to simply maintain your disease when you can be free of it? Let’s change your future!