Do you Suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder?

If so, you are not alone, over 5 percent of adults in the U.S. experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in the fall/winter months.  SAD can be experienced as a major depression and be debilitating.  For some, sitting in front of a specific type of lamp is helpful. Others try anti-depressants.  Below are a few tips to beat SAD – nutrition, nutritional analysis, and acupuncture can all be extremely helpful to normalize moods and energy during this time of year.

1. Exercise in the morning.  This could be anything from going to the gym to going on a walk. Getting moving in the morning gets circulation going and cortisol levels rising, so the body and mind can feel more awake and alive.

2. Get some sunshine in the morning.  This does mean going outside, even on days where its not so sunny. Light stimulates the pineal and pituitary glands, which then affect the rest of the hormonal glands to produce energy and better mood.  This is different than just taking a vitamin D pill, which can be helpful as well.  The direct sunshine helps the organs in a way that vitamin D does not.

3. Food – limit dairy, sugar, dark chocolate, and high amounts of caffeine. These are often the foods we crave more in winter, but ultimately the sugar, chocolate, and caffeine produce swings in our blood sugar and other hormones. Dairy often times creates a sluggishness which also can depress our moods.

4. Nutritional Analysis – come in to see if any of your endocrine (hormonal) glands need a tune up! Very often they do: the pituitary, thyroid, adrenals, and pancreas all tend to get clogged up with toxicity over time, and a simple detox and mineral strengthening can go a long way in helping these organs work much better. And when these organs are working better, seasonal affective disorder is no longer such an issue.

5. Acupuncture – regular acupuncture can go also do a lot to open up the energy of the body and endocrine organs, and help you feel refreshed and alive even in these short, dark days.

Do come in!  I have helped hundreds of patients beat SAD, and it need not be a dreaded issue every winter.  Whether you do nutritional analysis or acupuncture or both – you will feel better!