The Politics Of Health: Feature ArticleCold Weather Mood Shock: How to Avoid the Winter BluesTuesday, May 01, 2007Byron Richards, CCN The combination of a lack of sun and cold weather invariably strains your mood as well as your metabolism. It is an energy-depleting form of stress, similar to having a daily argument with someone. If your energy systems are already low or your plate is full with things to do, the addition of this weather stress can be significant. This year’s early deep freeze in northern climates sets the stage for a long and potentially difficult winter. On the eating side, the cold triggers “hibernation metabolism” and the desire to eat more sweet food. This urge is helped along by the holiday season. Invariably, the lower your energy the more food you will crave. Additionally, the combination of cold and longer periods of dark causes your body’s internal clock to stress out – otherwise known as the winter blues. Melatonin is the primary hormone that governs your body’s clock. Melatonin does its work at night, synchronizing repair and getting you ready for the next day. During winter months peak levels of melatonin are not produced at the right time of night. Instead, your body can try to keep making more melatonin even after you’ve woken up – all in an effort to reach the “proper level.” This can make your daytime feel like nighttime. It can get so bad it feels like you are dragging a 100 pound lead ball around with you. This is a distinctly different kind of low energy feeling – you just feel as if you are dragging and can’t get in gear. You will crave sugar to spark your energy (a genetic urge), but eating it produces only a short term benefit before you return to the state of sluggishness (along with weight gain). Supplemental melatonin can markedly improve this problem.* I recommend Melatonin in 0.5 mg capsules, as this way you can easily control for the exact amount you need. 3 mg capsules are far too large a dose to properly modulate melatonin levels and do not work very well for most people (unless it’s the dose you actually need). Some people take melatonin all year long (usually 0.5 to 1.5 mg per day), as the proper levels of melatonin decline with age. Many individuals past age 40 are lacking around 0.5 mg of melatonin and notice they sleep much better when taking some before bed, even in the summer.* Many other people only need melatonin when it is darker and colder.* In general, the colder and darker it is the higher the dose that is needed. The right dose of melatonin helps you to go to sleep better and wake up feeling more refreshed – as well as not having that dragging feeling during the day. A dose that is too high gives a mild headache or groggy feeling, more or less producing the symptoms that it is supposed to be getting rid of. Melatonin is normally taken before bed (1-6 capsules of the 0.5 mg amount). Start out with 1 and work your way up as needed until you find the right number. The number may change if the temperature drops 20-30 degrees and stays there for a while. A small percentage of people have the symptoms of needing melatonin but it either doesn’t seem to help or doesn’t seem to feel right on any dose. These people should try taking melatonin first thing in the morning. Doing so may signal to the brain that levels are now adequate; the brain stops trying to make more – thus the “sleep hormone” will no longer be produced in the day. The energy of the sun is poorly understood by modern science and Western medicine. In fact, the industry of surgery-promoting cosmetic specialists want you to think that being in the sun will kill you unless you have toxic sunsceens on. The sun’s interaction with your skin produces vitamin D, a nutrient woefully lacking in the winter in northern climates. Vitamin D is vital to calcium metabolism, proper immunity, good mood, and breast or prostate health.* During the winter at least 2,000 IU of vitamin D should be consumed in the form of dietary supplements. This level can be reached by taking our common levels of bone support nutrition (5 Daily Bone Xcel and 3 Bone Helper per day). Additionally, the sun also produces photon energy. Photon energy is stored in cell membranes. Your ability to do so is based on the amount of omega 3 fatty acids in your diet. For example, along the equator there is plenty of sun and very little omega 3 fatty acids in the food. There is no winter blues. In the north, the traditional Eskimo diet was very high in omega 3 oils all year long (whale blubber and other deep sea fatty fish). There was no winter blues until Eskimos started eating the omega 3-lacking Western diet. In the traditional Eskimo diet the high concentration of omega 3 oils in summer months would store up photon energy of the sun adequately to get them through the winter months. This is of course why every person likes a winter vacation in the sun – to get some photon energy back into the brain. Knowing this information, I routinely tell my clients who I know are prone to the winter blues to increase their essential fatty acid intake during the fall, so as to prepare for the winter.* This would mean taking 6 of our DHA capsules a day or 3 Leptinal capsules per day. Boosting up these essential fatty acids in the winter is also a good idea and will generally help boost mood.* The fastest way to get photon energy back into your brain in the winter months is with an oil called squalene.* Squalene is an ideal winter-time supplement. It is the very best product for reducing dry or cracking skin.* A dose for this purpose is 3-6 per day. It is undesirable to have cracking skin in the winter – as germs can simply march right on in to one’s body. Squalene is also one of the best supplements to help a person warm up, especially in the extremities.* A person whose hands are always cold or whose extremities react poorly when exposed to cold typically notices dramatic improvement on 3-6 Squalene per day.* The unique structure of squalene enables it to hold and deliver oxygen and photon energy.* Like an essential fatty acid, squalene has many unsaturated bonds. However, unlike an essential fatty acid, these unsaturated bonds form 3 stable rings of 6 isoprenoid units that are not prone to oxidation. This means that squalene can carry oxygen and photon energy without being damaged. This unique “transporter property” of squalene enables it to deliver lacking nutrients vital to brain function.* Not only does squalene help skin and circulation, I have seen it routinely boost mood in the winter months.* The common dose is 3-6 per day. Many nutrients help your body make energy and any of these can be boosted up in the winter, as needed, to support a better energy level. A better energy level will invariably produce a better mood, since your brain uses energy as a communication molecule to produce neurotransmitters. The above energetic suggestions are based on the unique stress that colder and darker days pose to your mood and metabolism.* Enjoy the winter!
Copyright © 2007 Wellness Resources, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Other Feature Articles:
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Senate Attempts Damage Control – House Braces for Onslaught Senators were taken off guard by the public outrage over the passing of bill S.1082 with language that can be used to seriously harass dietary supplements by enabling the FDA to apply drug-related risk analysis to the safety of food and food ingredients (and thus dietary supplements).
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The Senate has sold out the American people. Anyone voting for change in the last election can now plainly see the shenanigans of a Democratic-controlled Senate. Under Republicans no FDA reform ever took place. Big Pharma owns so many Republicans that all meaningful legislation to curtail the deaths and injuries of American citizens at the hands of Big Pharma and the FDA had been completely thwarted for the past six years. Under Democratic control sweeping FDA reform favorable to Big Pharma was proposed and the majority of meaningful reform was blocked or seriously watered down. Which is worse? As Kennedy stated in his opening remarks today, S1082 (the Kennedy/Enzi FDA bill) was an “elaborate scheme.”
For approximately four days Americans lived in a delusional state that they may soon pay drug prices the same as every other country in the civilized world. Euphoria over breaking the Big Pharma monopoly turned to disgust as the chameleon, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), changed sides and lead a contingency of Democrats against fellow Democrats lead by Byron Dorgan (D-ND). By passing the Cochran amendment the Dorgan amendment is poisoned and will no longer be effective. Maybe Democrats are now learning what Republicans have known for some time – you can’t trust Kennedy.
In May of 2006, after months of research and investigation, I published my ominous findings in the book Fight for Your Health: Exposing the FDA’s Betrayal of America. Everything I predicted in this book is on the fast track to becoming reality. A majority of Americans, not informed on current events and unaware of the history involved, are silent. Mainstream media, one of Big Pharma’s largest clients, is silent. Only the power of the internet, which rivals the invention of the printing press in significance, is making it possible for individuals to understand what is going on.
There is still time to stop FDA, Inc. Bill S1082 is a bill that helps fund the FDA with Big Pharma money. It is known all over Capital Hill as Big Pharma-designed legislation. It is running into all sorts of credibility problems. A vote is likely on Monday – delayed due to all the opposition flooding the Senate by “we the people.”
S1082 Update – Tuesday’s Activity. Fight Erupts on Senate floor: As the Senate continues to debate the Big Pharma-friendly sweeping reform of the FDA a new problem for Big Pharma’s prize Senators has erupted and quickly turned into confrontation on the floor of the Senate. At stake is at least 10 billion dollars per year in exorbitant Big Pharma profits. In one corner is Big Pharma-puppet Orrin Hatch (R-UT), representing the Kennedy/Enzi drug cartel. In the other corner is a majority of Senators lead by Byron Dorgan (D-ND).
The combination of a lack of sun and cold weather invariably strains your mood as well as your metabolism. It is an energy-depleting form of stress, similar to having a daily argument with someone. If your energy systems…
S1082 Update – Monday’s Activity at the bottom of this article. Bill S1082: The Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act (also called the Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 2007) is one of the greatest scams and con jobs ever foisted on the American public. Current FDA management is grossly incompetent on the subject of drug safety.
A new attack against health freedom, drug safety, and dietary supplements was launched last week by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) with major support from Michael Enzi (R-WY). It is called the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act (S1082). This legislation was planned over the past few years working hand-in-glove with the FDA’s dysfunctional management and legal team – meaning this legislation was written for the profits of Big Pharma and Big Biotech AT THE EXPENSE OF SAFETY AND HUMAN HEALTH.
Americans are up in arms that our pets are being injured and killed by a toxin sent to America by a Chinese company. Melamine, a toxic fertilizer used in China, is the suspected culprit behind the deaths and injuries to potentially hundreds of thousands of our pets. The FDA assures us that this toxin has not entered the human food supply – does anyone believe in the competence of the FDA? It is only a matter of time before this type of problem happens to humans, as the inept FDA has no control over imported food intended for humans, let alone pets.
On February 13, 2007 the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations opened hearings lambasting the FDA regarding the safety of drugs. The opening statement by Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) set the tone, “It is clear … that the FDA is badly broken. I expect that before we finish this investigation, which is just getting underway, we will discover whether the problems we have found are due to the work of scoundrels, irrational penny-pinching, or because the doors to the FDA “hen house” have been thrown open to foxes. It may be a combination of all three.”
Wall Street, international bankers, President Bush, pharmaceutical companies, new biotech companies, the Rockefeller empire, and the FDA have created a new plan for public health. It is a grand vision based on profit. It will use the FDA and, as needed, the Department of Homeland Security as the regulatory police force that ensures compliance in the name of public safety. Legitimate objections may be overpowered in the name of national security.
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