Self-Care for SAD
That carpet of grey clouds sitting above the UK during winter can suffocate us with feelings of sadness, anxiety, dread and even despair. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can be crippling and hugely impact our ability to function in our daily life.
But winter can also be a wonderful season, filled with crisp blue-sky days. With changes to our diet and lifestyle we can armour ourselves against the affects of SAD, to enjoy the changing seasons, wonder in winter’s unique characteristics and explore different activities that are only possible during winter.
Understanding SAD?
There is still more to be understood about SAD. Medical treatments include medication from your GP, light therapy and psychological therapies. However, there are also natural ways to reduce the symptoms of SAD.
The NHS website lists three causes of SAD; High Melatonin (the sleepy hormone) levels can lead to symptoms of SAD; changes in the body’s circadian rhythm affecting your body clock and functioning patterns; lastly and the most commonly considered is the lack of Serotonin present in our body due to the reduction in Vitamin D from lack of exposure to sunlight.
SAD & Serotonin
Serotonin is the neurotransmitter, somewhat like a chemical messenger, that sends signals between your nerve cells. One of its key roles is as a mood stabiliser. Therefore a lack of Serotonin can obviously lead to symptoms of SAD. Understanding how it is produced in our body can help us get a better understanding of how to boost our Serotonin levels.
Serotonin is located in our gut, blood and central nervous system. It starts out as an amino acid called Tryptophan and the body uses Vitamin D3 to convert Tryptophan into Serotonin. Our main source of Vitamin D is from sunlight. Vitamin D is made from cholesterol in your skin when it’s exposed to the sun.
To improve our Serotonin levels we first need to ensure we have enough Tryptophan and Vitamin D present in our body for the process to take place.
Eat Yourself Happy
Unfortunately our body does not produce Tryptophan. We have to source it from the food we eat. Tryptophan can be found in protein-rich foods such as eggs, milk, turkey and chicken. It can also be found in fruits such as bananas, pineapple, plums and kiwi.
You can also increase your Vitamin D levels by eating fortified cereals, eggs and fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines. Taking a supplement over the winter months can also help to top up Vitamin D levels.
You also need energy to fight the symptoms of SAD, and for the chemical processes above to take place in your body. Don’t neglect your carbohydrate intake, but instead try switching refined foods like white bread, white pasta, biscuits and cakes for whole foods such as whole grains, beans, vegetables, potatoes, oats, lentils, quinoa and barley.
Sun Seek
As mentioned earlier, Vitamin D helps to convert Tryptophan into Serotonin and is made from cholesterol in your skin when it’s exposed to the sun. Hence why SAD is more prevalent during winter when the days are shorter, there are more clouds in the sky and the bad weather discourages everyone to spend time outdoors. Forcing yourself outside daily during winter can increase Vitamin D levels.
Exercise Outdoors
Exercise also stimulates the release of Serotonin as well as Dopamine and Norepinephrine which are all mood boosters. Try to make the effort to include 30 minutes of exercise into you day; even if its just a brisk walk on your lunch break.
Couple this with outdoor activities over the weekend such as hiking, running or cycling. With the correct clothing choice you can stop the cold and rain hampering your active lifestyle. Someone once told me: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choice.”
Self-Care
Don’t forget to be kind to yourself. If you are feeling sad you should make time for yourself and do activities that usually boost your mood; from relaxing in the bath, reading a book or seeing friends.
Touch therapy is also said to boost mood, so why not book in for a relaxation deep tissue massage in which we turn up the relaxing tunes, switch on the lavender diffuser and provide you with an hour of mood-boosting ‘me time’.
With tweaks to what we eat, coupled with more effort to get outdoors regularly, we can all fight the symptoms of SAD and enjoy winter.
If you are struggling with the symptoms of SAD you should also seek advice from your GP. For more information on SAD visit the NHS website or read more via Healthline.com
*This blog forms part of Supple CPD and is not written by a qualified nutritionist or doctor. Resources are from an article in FHT magazine Autumn 2022 Edition: “How can nutrition help S.A.D sufferers” by Yvonne Wake.