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 that is similar to having a daily argument with someone.  If your energy systems are already borderline or your plate is full with things to do, the addition of this weather stress can be significant. 

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 that is similar to having a daily argument with someone.  If your energy systems are already borderline 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 you will crave.

The combination of cold and longer periods of dark causes the 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 to go (a genetic urge), but eating some produces only 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 wants you to think that being in the sun will kill you unless you have their toxic sunscreens on.  The sun’s interaction with you 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 which 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 are 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 were 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 the 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 very undesirable to have cracking skin in the winter as germs can simply march right on into 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 6 stable rings 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 but 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!

Energy is the backbone of life.  All systems in your body need energy to function properly.  How you produce and distribute energy is complex; thyroid hormone function has a major impact on all of your energy systems.  However, not all fatigue or tiredness is due to thyroid malfunction.  How do you tell the difference?

Energy is the backbone of life.  All systems in your body need energy to function properly.  How you produce and distribute energy is complex; thyroid hormone function has a major impact on all of your energy systems.  However, not all fatigue or tiredness is due to thyroid malfunction.  How do you tell the difference?

Thyroid hormone governs the basal metabolic rate, which is like the idling speed of a car engine.  Even when you are sitting in a chair or sleeping your 100 trillion cells keep making energy.  This type of energy production is the foundation for all other energy and hormonal systems.  If it is not up to par, no other system in your body works as well as it should. 

When you step on the gas pedal during the day, this is not thyroid hormone that goes into action.  Increased activity of any kind is controlled by adrenaline, muscle activity, increased calorie burning, and an increased speed at which your cells make energy.  If you have a sluggish thyroid you may still be able to make yourself have the energy to do things based on adrenaline-driven necessity.  You may also notice that you have too much reliance on stimulants such as caffeine, sugar, or cigarettes. 

A demanding day may deplete muscles of fuel and induce enough wear and tear so that natural tiredness follows.  Such fatigue is normal and why we need to sleep.  Even pushing it day after day and cutting sleep short may not be a thyroid problem.  However, such a poor lifestyle is pushing your system and you may eventually develop a thyroid problem as a result.  Getting less than seven hours of sleep per night is asking for trouble.

Thyroid-related fatigue starts to show up when you cannot sustain energy long enough, especially when compared to a past level of fitness or ability.  If the thyroid foundation is weak, sustaining energy output is difficult.  You will notice you just don’t seem to have the energy to do the things you used to be able to do. 

The menstrual cycle, pregnancy, exercise, stress, and physical demands are all examples of increased energy demands requiring increased energy output.  Thus, PMS is almost always a thyroid problem to a degree.  The increased energy demands of the menstrual cycle are simply too much, partly due to an underlying thyroid weakness.  Pregnancy is always a major test of the thyroid, as one’s thyroid is called upon to do metabolic work for two bodies.  This is why thyroid issues often flare up during or following pregnancy. 

Thyroid hormone is synergistic with growth hormone in muscles, and when these two are working properly together then muscles feel fit.  Exercise conditions thyroid hormone to work properly to assist general energy production and a lack of exercise contributes to poor thyroid function.  The more fit your muscles feel, the less likely thyroid-related fatigue will be an issue for you.  If you have poor thyroid function you frequently feel like you don’t have the energy to exercise and usually don’t on a consistent basis.  Muscle weakness is a classic hypothyroid symptom.

One of the key symptoms of thyroid fatigue is a heavy or tired head, especially in the afternoon.  Thyroid hormone activity is regulated differently in the brain than anywhere else in the body, as brain cells themselves convert T4 to T3 (active thyroid hormone).  Your head is a very sensitive indicator of thyroid hormone status.  This is different than low blood sugar symptoms from not having eaten for a while.  The head just feels sluggish or tired, lacking clarity or sharpness.  When this head tiredness occurs too many hours in the day then you will feel like you want to sleep all the time and you will feel depressed, signs of more advanced thyroid-related fatigue.

Another key sign of thyroid fatigue is conking out as soon as you sit down and don’t actually have to do something (there is no necessity making you have to do something).  In this case it feels like your body is a car idling too slowly at a stop sign and it just stalls and goes to sleep.  This is a clear sign of thyroid fatigue.

You either do or don’t have the symptoms of thyroid-related fatigue.  If you wake up energized, maintain decent energy throughout the day, are able to maintain mental alertness/sharpness, have energy as needed to meet demands, and your muscles feel fit, you do not have thyroid-related fatigue.  The more you don’t feel this way, the greater the problem.  No lab test is needed.  In many cases thyroid lab tests may still be normal, even though you clearly are not.  The symptoms tell the story and they never lie.