It’s November, and for people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder, it’s always a scary time. You know that it’s coming. You can feel the depression creeping in. Sometimes all you can seem to do is baton down the hatches, tie up your loose ends and get ready for it to wash over you. You can throw on that great Amanda Palmer song “Runs in the Family” and blame it on your genetic disposition. You can begin to eat your feelings and blame it on the holidays. You can pretend it’s not happening. I’ve done them all, and they usually only serve to make things much worse.
I personally suffer from seasonal depression and I have for the past seven years. Every year, I learn a little trick of the trade that makes it a little easier to get through. I have a blue light that I bought when I was spending all of my time indoors as an administrative assistant. I take St. John’s Wart. I make sure to sleep regularly and get enough exercise. This year, I had a blood test that might change the way I deal with my seasonal depression all together.
I just got my full panel blood work back yesterday, and found that I have very low vitamin D levels. I never thought I had a deficiency, so I didn’t realize the connection between low vitamin D levels and depression. It makes sense. I hate the cold, so I generally hole up during the winter months and my skin rarely sees the sun. I’m going to make more of an effort to get out and let my skin synthesize D3 by using UV rays.
I’ve also found that I generally eat a diet that’s naturally low in vitamin D. I don’t drink fortified milk (which doesn’t give you much vitamin D, at any rate. I don’t really consume enough fish for it to have an affect on my D levels. Eggs only give you about 20 mg of vitamin D, per egg, which isn’t nearly enough to balance out a deficiency.
| Food | International Units(IU) per serving | Percent DV* |
|---|---|---|
| Cod liver oil, 1 Tablespoon | 1,360 | 340 |
| Salmon, cooked, 3½ ounces | 360 | 90 |
| Mackerel, cooked, 3½ ounces | 345 | 90 |
| Tuna fish, canned in oil, 3 ounces | 200 | 50 |
| Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 1¾ ounces | 250 | 70 |
| Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D fortified, 1 cup | 98 | 25 |
| Margarine, fortified, 1 Tablespoon | 60 | 15 |
| Pudding, prepared from mix and made with vitamin D fortified milk, ½ cup | 50 | 10 |
| Ready-to-eat cereals fortified with 10% of the DV for vitamin D, ¾ cup to 1 cup servings (servings vary according to the brand) | 40 | 10 |
| Egg, 1 whole (vitamin D is found in egg yolk) | 20 | 6 |
| Liver, beef, cooked, 3½ ounces | 15 | 4 |
| Cheese, Swiss, 1 ounce | 12 | 4 |
It seems that cod liver oil supplements are your best bet in building up your vitamin D levels. I’m a big fan of Nordic Naturals. They have great, pure products and they practice thorough sustainability measures. I’m going to faithfully take the cod liver oil and make sure to get ten minutes of natural sunlight per day and combine that with all of my other efforts. I’ll let you know how it goes this winter.
Do you have seasonal depression? What do you do to ward off the ‘winter blues’?