Light therapy, right eating help alleviate SAD symptoms

As the gloomy winters set in, the days get shorter and darker. This slump in natural daylight triggers depressive symptoms such as lethargy, failing interest in sex and increased sleep problems, all impacting people both socially and physiologically.

An estimated 7 percent of Britons exhibit SAD symptoms, with another 17 percent experiencing ‘winter blues’, a milder form of SAD.

Light cafés could alleviate SAD symptoms
Light cafés, enclosures that install intense bright lights with strength up to 3,000 lux (measure of brightness), could aid in easing SAD symptoms, opines Victoria Revell, expert in chronobiology at the University of Surrey.

“They are beneficial both physiologically and socially. Using light therapy in this way can help our sleep patterns, energy levels and performance,” Revell highlighted.

Why SAD kicks in
During winters, when light levels are low, our body produces excessive amounts of melatonin, the sleep hormone, and cuts down on the production of the serotonin, the ‘feel-good’ hormone.

“One key role of light,” Revell reveals, “is to synchronize our circadian body clock to the 24-hour day." SAD sufferers, thus, require a greater light intensity to regulate their body clocks.

Role of food and healthy lifestyle
Although exposure to intense lighting could help SAD sufferers, maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle and eating the right foods could also make people feel happier and more content during the gloomy winter months, experts say.

Eating foods like eggs, milk, fish, nuts, bananas, dates, oats, chocolate, known to be rich in tryptophan, a chemical that boosts serotonin, could ease SAD symptoms.

Likewise, eating complex carbohydrates found in wholemeal products aid slow-release of energy, making a person feel active throughout the day.

Researchers also urge people to spend as much time as possible outside in natural daylight.