Seasonal Affective Disorder

02 August 2009

If you're getting a case of the winter blues with the change in weather - you're not alone.  The winter climate can bring about a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) - a condition in which a shortage of sun can provoke anything from dark moods to full-blown depression.

In warmer months, the body can create vitamin D from the skin being exposed to direct sunlight. In winter this obviously doesn't happen.  Those afflicted with SAD may are often advised to take antidepressants.

Those looking to lighten up their mood during the darker months more naturally might be interested in research which suggests that SAD may respond to a nutritional approach.  There is an increasing body of research that suggests that vitamin D has important roles to play in the brain. These basic facts have led scientists to test whether supplementing with vitamin D might help lift the symptoms of SAD.

In one such study, just five days of treatment with vitamin D (at a dose of 400 or 800 IU per day) was found to improve winter mood. In another piece of research, the mood of SAD sufferers was found to improve more in individuals treated with a single dose of 100,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D than in those treated with light therapy. Further evidence for the potential for vitamin D to alleviate SAD came from a study in which individuals were treated with either 600 or 4000 IU of vitamin D each day for at least six months. Both dosages of vitamin D led to improvements in the participants’ mood and general well-being, with those on the higher dose of vitamin D benefiting the most.

The research strongly suggests that supplementing with cod liver oil can improve your mood and treat SAD.