{"id":371,"date":"2015-11-13T16:03:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-13T16:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/?p=371"},"modified":"2021-11-08T14:30:54","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T14:30:54","slug":"how-to-beat-the-winter-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Beat the Winter Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

The nights are getting longer: Every October the UK has Daylight Saving time which means that the clocks go back one hour, resulting in it being darker even earlier. Some look forward to the long nights of winter, however, a number of people suffer real physical consequences due to the lack of light. They suffer from \u201cSeasonal Affective Disorder\u201d (SAD) often referred to as the \u201cWinter Blues\u201d.<\/p>\n

Year after year, during Autumn and Winter, those experiencing SAD develop depression<\/a>, which, if left untreated does not lift until late Spring.<\/p>\n

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that keeps us happy and active and that needs light to form. If (serotonin) levels are low, we are more likely to suffer from depression: in fact many anti-depressant drugs work by affecting serotonin levels. Some people \u2013women more than men \u2013 are prone to low serotonin and the shortfall due to the lack of light, can tip them over the edge into depression. Symptoms are feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, irritability, the loss of interest in activities they usually enjoy, and they often withdraw. Sufferers tend to crave carbohydrate foods \u2013 such as cakes, biscuits and sweets \u2013, and many put on weight over the winter.<\/p>\n

While serotonin needs light to develop, another neurotransmitter \u2013 melatonin \u2013 requires darkness. We need melatonin to be able to sleep, but high melatonin levels can make us feel sleepy even during the day. Sleepiness is another common symptom of SAD. Melatonin is formed from serotonin, which is made from a chemical called 5-hydroxtryptophan (5-HTP). The precursor for that is the amino acid tryptophan, which is found in some protein foods: spirulina, dairy products, eggs, red meat, poultry, fish, chocolate, oats, dried dates, chickpeas, almonds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, bananas and peanuts all contain tryptophan. Although turkey is often quoted as the best source of tryptophan, it is no richer in the amino acid than other poultry meats. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, which means that the body\u2019s only source for it is food. It cannot synthesize it. Unfortunately, tryptophan from food cannot access the brain very easily. This can be enhanced by combining tryptophan-rich foods with healthy carbohydrates such as brown rice, wholegrain bread or oats.<\/p>\n

The first line treatment of SAD is exposure to light, which promotes the development of serotonin and stops its conversion into melatonin. Commercially available full-spectrum light boxes are being used very successfully, and 70% of suffers respond well. It is, however, necessary to spend 30 minutes in front of the light box every day, and this time commitment for months and months can be difficult. Another option, though not quite as effective, is the replacement of light bulbs in the house and office by \u201cfull-spectrum\u201d or \u201cdaylight\u201d light bulbs: Their light is brighter and not as cosy as that from ordinary light bulbs, but it can make a big difference to a person suffering from SAD.<\/p>\n

Vitamin D is another chemical, which greatly affects mood. It is not abundant in food, but is made in our skin when it is exposed to sunlight. Those living in the Northern hemisphere would find it difficult to make sufficient vitamin D at the best of times. During the short days of winter it is virtually impossible. A way of increasing your intake of Vitamin D within your diet is by eating oily fish, such as salmon, mackerel, herring and sardines as well as eggs.<\/p>\n

Vitamin D can also be obtained as a supplement: although like all fat-soluble vitamins, excess vitamin D is not excreted, but stored, so toxicity is possible. It is easy to check Vitamin D levels by a blood spot sample.  The test is easily obtainable and affordable, or you can ask your GP whether you are eligible for a test. If not, your nutritional therapist will be able to arrange the test for you.<\/p>\n

One of the most efficient ways to beat the winter blues is exercise, particularly outdoors during daylight hours if that is at all possible. Among the symptoms of SAD are of course listlessness and fatigue, which is going to make it very hard to get motivated, but if you manage to get yourself moving the benefits will be considerable. It really is worth it.<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.patrickholford.com\/blog\/how-the-sunshine-nutrients-and-exercise-can-boost-happiness<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/newsinhealth.nih.gov\/issue\/jan2013\/feature1<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every October the UK has Daylight Saving time which means that the clocks go back one hour, resulting in it being darker even earlier. <\/p>\n

Read more <\/em><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[14,45],"class_list":["post-371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition","tag-depression","tag-sad"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Beat the Winter Blues - The Body Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every October the UK has Daylight Saving time which means that the clocks go back one hour, resulting in it being darker even earlier.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Beat the Winter Blues - The Body Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every October the UK has Daylight Saving time which means that the clocks go back one hour, resulting in it being darker even earlier.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Body Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-13T16:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-08T14:30:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sad.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Louise\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Louise\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Louise\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/610111b177e0009a3fe8a8ff858c338b\"},\"headline\":\"How to Beat the Winter Blues\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-13T16:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-08T14:30:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":721,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/sad.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"depression\",\"SAD\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Nutrition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Beat the Winter Blues - The Body Matters\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/sad.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-13T16:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-08T14:30:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/610111b177e0009a3fe8a8ff858c338b\"},\"description\":\"Every October the UK has Daylight Saving time which means that the clocks go back one hour, resulting in it being darker even earlier.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/sad.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/sad.jpg\",\"width\":725,\"height\":460},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Beat the Winter Blues\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Body Matters\",\"description\":\"Sports Injury Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/610111b177e0009a3fe8a8ff858c338b\",\"name\":\"Louise\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a281fb22635aac53646a2d727d863962af01b424a4b534e6e3571d30dfa0f629?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a281fb22635aac53646a2d727d863962af01b424a4b534e6e3571d30dfa0f629?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a281fb22635aac53646a2d727d863962af01b424a4b534e6e3571d30dfa0f629?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Louise\"},\"description\":\"Louise brought a long-held dream to life when she opened The Body Matters in 2008. That dream was to create a friendly and informal centre of trained, screened and specialised therapists \u2013 providing the perfect balance of mind, body and soul.\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Beat the Winter Blues - The Body Matters","description":"Every October the UK has Daylight Saving time which means that the clocks go back one hour, resulting in it being darker even earlier.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Beat the Winter Blues - The Body Matters","og_description":"Every October the UK has Daylight Saving time which means that the clocks go back one hour, resulting in it being darker even earlier.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/","og_site_name":"The Body Matters","article_published_time":"2015-11-13T16:03:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-08T14:30:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":460,"url":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sad.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Louise","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Louise","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/"},"author":{"name":"Louise","@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/610111b177e0009a3fe8a8ff858c338b"},"headline":"How to Beat the Winter Blues","datePublished":"2015-11-13T16:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-08T14:30:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/"},"wordCount":721,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sad.jpg","keywords":["depression","SAD"],"articleSection":["Nutrition"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/","url":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/","name":"How to Beat the Winter Blues - The Body Matters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sad.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-13T16:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-08T14:30:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/610111b177e0009a3fe8a8ff858c338b"},"description":"Every October the UK has Daylight Saving time which means that the clocks go back one hour, resulting in it being darker even earlier.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sad.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sad.jpg","width":725,"height":460},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/how-to-beat-the-winter-blues\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Beat the Winter Blues"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"The Body Matters","description":"Sports Injury Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/610111b177e0009a3fe8a8ff858c338b","name":"Louise","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a281fb22635aac53646a2d727d863962af01b424a4b534e6e3571d30dfa0f629?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a281fb22635aac53646a2d727d863962af01b424a4b534e6e3571d30dfa0f629?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a281fb22635aac53646a2d727d863962af01b424a4b534e6e3571d30dfa0f629?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Louise"},"description":"Louise brought a long-held dream to life when she opened The Body Matters in 2008. That dream was to create a friendly and informal centre of trained, screened and specialised therapists \u2013 providing the perfect balance of mind, body and soul."}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2486,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371\/revisions\/2486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}