Consider using light therapy to combat the winter blues.

Has the winter season got you down?  If so, you’re not alone.  Because today, the third Monday in January, is Blue Monday—the most depressing day of the year.

I’m not sure how Blue Monday came to be, but apparently a lot of research has been done on this day, and work absenteeism has historically been high.

When you stop and think about it, I suppose it makes sense that this day is so depressing:  Spring seems like it’s light years away, the Christmas season seems like it was months ago, it’s dark outside when you leave for work and it’s dark outside when you come home from work, and there’s just a general sense of blah about life in general.

Of course this kind of thinking gets us nowhere, and as difficult as it may be, you have to actively seek out the positives in every situation life throws at you.  As the song says, you have to “always look at the lighter side of your life.”

And speaking of light, one way to make this a reality is through light therapy.

Our underexposure to light in the winter months has a serious impact on our overall health, our mental health included.  The sun simply doesn’t appear as often in the winter months as it does the summer months (damn that daylight saving time!), and this lack of light has a serious impact on our moods, our behaviors, our thinking processes and our immunity from diseases (studies show that vitamin D deficiency increases the incidence and severity of osteoporosis, fractures, osteopenia, infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases).

In light of this (pardon the pun), a new study from the University of California says that the recommended intake for people in the winter months ought to be increased from 200 IUs per day to 2,100 IUs for people with dark complexion and 3,100 IUs for people with light complexions.  The study says that the only way for people to achieve a vitamin D sufficiency is through high doses such as these.

To combat the winter blues and future Blue Mondays, I highly recommend getting at least 20 to 30 minutes of direct sunlight.  This is difficult to do on overcast days, but when the sun does shine, make good use of it.  Spend at least 30 minutes outdoors, preferably between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.  That’s when the sun’s rays are most direct.

Now, obviously, we all have personal and professional lives, and life’s daily tasks don’t always permit our basking in the sun.  If you find that this is the case for you, I highly recommend purchasing a light therapy box.  The light that these boxes emit is obviously not natural sunlight, but it’s as close to the real thing as it gets by mimicking the effects sunlight has on our psyche.

(Note:  Light therapy boxes produce a special kind of light, so don’t think that turning on more lamps and wall switches in your home will solve the problem).

Blue Mondays have to be fought and you can win that battle through the beneficial effects of light therapy.

Sources:
mayoclinic.com
nutraingredients.com
cbc.ca
dailymail.co.uk

Utah researchers find evidence suggesting levels of vitamin D influences risk of death.

Vitamin D just can’t seem to stay out of the news, this time making headlines in one of the country’s healthiest states, as two-thirds of Utahns are deficient in this all-important vitamin.  And because they’re deficient, Utahns are at an increased risk for death!

It doesn’t seem to make sense, does it?  How can a state that’s consistently ranked among the country’s healthiest states (likely due to the state’s high Mormon population, as Mormons have a rather strict health code) be so at risk for dying?  Could vitamin D really play that big of a role for overall health?

According to researchers from the Heart Institute in Salt Lake City’s Intermountain Medical Center, absolutely!

They realized vitamin D’s importance after charting the vitamin D levels of 28,000 50-year-olds, all of whom had no history of heart disease.  Based on where those levels tended to hover over the year of observation, they were put in one of three groups:  normal, low, or very low (as many reports have indicated in past years, vitamin D levels among Americans overwhelmingly tend to be too low than too high).  They were also interested to see if any health complications resulted over that time period, paying special attention to symptoms and signs indicative of heart disease.

Their findings?  In a word, sobering.

For example, individuals with “very low” levels of vitamin D were 77 percent more likely to have died in that year, 45 percent more likely to have coronary heart disease, and 78 percent more likely to have had a stroke.

The findings, published in the journal Clinical Endocrinology, further emphasize health officials’ need to review the recommended vitamin D levels for all individuals.  Health officials have already increased the recommended levels of vitamin D for kids, doubling the recommended amount from 200 IUs per day to 400 IUs per day.  Despite this recommendation, it’s estimated that 6 million kids in the country are still deficient in this all-important vitamin.

The time has come for health officials to institute a recommended increase for all individuals, regardless of age or gender.  According to the Institutes of Health, people are recommended to consume the same amount as kids:  400 IUs per day.  This is woefully inadequate, and—given the fact that the 400 IU vitamin D recommendation came over a year ago—woefully outdated.

Unless you’re a descendant of Benjamin Button, none of us are getting any younger.  As we age, our bones grow more and more brittle, so adults need vitamin D—i.e., bone food—every bit as much growing kids do.  Thus, this study’s researchers recommend as much as 2,000 IUs to 5,000 IUs per day.

The best source of vitamin D is the sun, but other sources include salmon and mackerel.  A four ounce serving of each has around 350 IUs, so you’ll need to either spend some time in the sun or supplement with a high quality vitamin D supplement as well.

You can find out about your vitamin D levels with a simple blood test.

(Note:  For those interested in why Utahns are so low in vitamin D levels, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune, it’s due to a multitude of factors, including the sun not emitting the same amount of UV radiation on Utah due to its geographical location).

Sources:
sltrib.com
msnbc.msn.com
sciencedaily.com
nutraingredients.com