Feeling blues and blahs are common on winter when less natural light is available. Find natural food cures and activities to beat winter blues and SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Keep your outlook bright by eating banana shakes — read more…
According to University of Minnesota researchers that during the dark, cold, winter months a whopping 75% of women struggle with blah moods. And 25 million of us develop full-blown seasonal affective disorder (or SAD) — a type of depression triggered by lack of sun exposure.
Natural Food Cures to Erase Winter Blues
• Eat Banana Shakes to Increase Happiness
Eating a banana plus 1 cup of milk daily and toss in vanilla and honey for a delicious smoothie! This smoothie increases happiness in 70% of women.
Bananas are rich with amino acid tryptophan, when added with milk’s calcium, it increases the production of serotonin — your brain’s own mood-boosting hormone.
• Ginseng Tea – Rev Up Your Energy
Drinking 2 cups daily soothes irritability in as little as 48 hours, researchers say, by boosting electrical activity in the left side of the brain — which is responsible for happy upbeat feelings.
NOTE: Ginseng tea may raise your blood pressure.
• Apple Scent – Quell Edginess and Anxiety
There’s a strong connection between smell and emotion. Apple is a soothing scent that calms the central nervous system, says Matthew James, Ph.D., president of Hawaii’s Kona University.
Simply smelling the scent of an apple is enough to quell edginess and anxiety for almost 9 in 10 folks within minutes!
Activities to Reduce Stress
• Listening to Nature Sounds
Studies have shown — that spending 20 minutes daily listening to the sounds of nature — whether it’s birds chirping, wind blowing or branches crackling — erases blue moods within 1 week.
James explains, “nature sounds calm the adrenals, reducing production of mood-sabotaging cortisol.”
You can check out a CD of nature sounds from your library or create your own at NatureSoundsFor.me
• Avoid Multi-Tasking – Focus on One Thing
A Harvard study found that multi-tasking reducing feelings of happiness by 50%. To stress less and feel on top of the world, try emptying your mind of worries and focusing in one thing, whether it’s baking cooking, washing dishes or reading magazine, suggests lead researcher Matthew Killingsworth, Ph.D.
Light Therapy
Are you feeling edgy right now? Turn on more lights! Seeing clearly calms the brain’s anxiety center, reducing tension in as little as five minutes.
Feeling Blue? Try Natural Cures and Drug-free Strategies
It’s still smart to try natural cures or home remedies. A new study found that people who used prescription antidepressants were almost twice as likely to suffer a major relapse compared to folks who stuck with drug-free strategies.
“Once your brain becomes dependent on antidepressant meds, it can lose its natural ability to keep serotonin production steady.”
~Lead researcher Paul Andrews, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at Canada’s McMaster University
Source: Woman’s World, p. 16, 1/2/12