'Tis To Season To Be SAD-Savvy

Today’s almonds have been activated by:

⏰ IN A RUSH?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

• Seasonal Affective Disorder often becomes common in the Northern Hemisphere around this time of year

  • Various strategies may help, but sunlight lamps are indeed a great evidence-based tool!

• Not everyone wants to skip alcohol entirely, but we'll bet you'd like to skip the after-effects!

  • Today’s sponsor, ZBiotics, have a special pre-alcohol probiotic drink that was designed by a team of microbiologists to tackle exactly that.

Read on to learn about these things and more…

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

Why Old People Can't Jump—And How to Improve (17:38)

This one’s a bit longer than we usually feature, but is really worth it if you do choose to invest the time:

Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

• 01:48 | Safety Considerations

• 02:50 | Set Reasonable Jump Expectations

• 03:58 | How to Improve Jumping Ability for Older Adults

• 05:36 | Exercises to Build Strength to Jump Safely - Abs + Hips

• 06:58 | Glute Exercises

• 07:47 | Leg / Thigh Muscle Exercises

• 08:40 | Progressing Legs, Thighs, and Hips

• 09:41 | Lower Leg, Ankles, Feet

• 10:58 | Foundational Training Frequency and Goals

• 11:21 | Deep Squats

• 12:14 | When Is It Safe to Start Jumping?

• 12:34 | Super Basic Impact Training

• 14:44 | The Next Level of Impact Training for Seniors

Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later 🔖

🌃 MAIN FEATURE

Seasonal Affective Disorder & SAD Lamps

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s that time of the year; especially after the clocks recently went back and the nights themselves are getting longer. So, what to do in the season of 3pm darkness?

First: the problem

The problem is twofold:

1. Our circadian rhythm gets confused

2. We don’t make enough serotonin

The latter is because serotonin production is largely regulated by sunlight.

People tend to focus on item 2, but item 1 is important too—both as problem, and as means of remedy.

Circadian rhythm is about more than just light

We did a main feature on this a little while back, talking about:

• What light/dark does for us, and how it’s important, but not completely necessary

• How our body knows what time it is even in perpetual darkness

• The many peaks and troughs of many physiological functions over the course of a day/night

• What that means for us in terms of such things as diet and exercise

• Practical take-aways from the above

Read: The Circadian Rhythm: Far More Than Most People Know

With that in mind, the same methodology can be applied as part of treating Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Serotonin is also about more than just light

Our brain is a) an unbelievably powerful organ, and the greatest of any animal on the planet b) a wobbly wet mass that gets easily confused.

In the case of serotonin, we can have problems:

• knowing when to synthesize it or not

• synthesizing it

• using it

• knowing when to scrub it or not

• scrubbing it

• etc

Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are a class of antidepressants that, as the name suggests, inhibit the re-uptake (scrubbing) of serotonin. So, they won’t add more serotonin to your brain, but they’ll cause your brain to get more mileage out of the serotonin that’s there, using it for longer.

So, whether or not they help will depend on you and your brain:

Read: Antidepressants: Personalization Is Key!

How useful are artificial sunlight lamps?

Artificial sunlight lamps (also called SAD lamps), or blue light lamps, are used in an effort to “replace” daylight.

Does it work? According to the science, generally yes, though everyone would like more and better studies:

• The Efficacy of Light Therapy in the Treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

• Blue-Light Therapy for Seasonal and Non-Seasonal Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Interestingly, it does still work in cases of visual impairment and blindness:

• Light therapy for seasonal affective disorder in visual impairment and blindness - a pilot study

How much artificial sunlight is needed?

According to Wirz-Justice and Terman (2022), the best parameters are:

• 10,000 lux

• full spectrum (white light)

• 30–60 minutes exposure

• in the morning

Source: Light Therapy: Why, What, for Whom, How, and When (And a Postscript about Darkness)

That one’s a fascinating read, by the way, if you have time.

Can you recommend one?

For your convenience, here’s an example product on Amazon that meets the above specifications, and is also very similar to the one this writer has 😎

Enjoy!

❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE

Make ZBiotics the first drink of the night

Not everyone wants to skip alcohol entirely, but we'll bet you'd like to skip the after-effects!

ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic Drink was designed by a team of microbiologists to tackle exactly that. Here's how it works:

When you drink, alcohol produces acetaldehyde, a by-product which is not your friend in the morning. But, when you have a ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic before your first alcoholic beverage, it breaks down the acetaldehyde while you drink. Just one small bottle lasts 18 hours, so you can confidently enjoy your night without worrying about missing your plans tomorrow.

Want to know more? Click here to visit their site, and then on Science > How It Works > Full Technology Section

(you can learn more about their patented bioengineering technology and see their lead microbiologists)

Whether for yourself or perhaps as a gift for family members in preparation for festivities, this is definitely a great "enjoy, but make it responsible" option!

Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free

🌍 AROUND THE WEB

What’s happening in the health world…

• AI that reads brain scans shows promise for finding Alzheimer’s genes

• Where and how you sit matters when getting blood pressure taken at the doctor's office

• Majority of workers at America's nursing homes unvaccinated against flu, COVID

• Getting adequate vitamin D in the fall and winter

• About 1 in 6 older Australians experiences elder abuse. Here are the reasons they don't get help

• How much vision loss impairs your driving? New study has answers

• Disturbances in sensory neurons may alter transient pain into chronic pain

More to come tomorrow!

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

No Time to Panic: How I Curbed My Anxiety and Conquered a Lifetime of Panic Attacks – by Matt Gutman

Matt Gutman is not a doctor or a psychologist. He's a journalist, accustomed to asking questions and then asking more probing questions, unrelenting until he gets the answers he's looking for.

This book is the result of what happened when he needed to overcome his own anxiety and panic attacks, and went on an incisive investigative journey.

The style is as clear and accessible as you'd expect of a journalist, and presents a very human exploration, nonetheless organized in a way that will be useful to the reader.

It's said that "experience is a great teacher, but she sends hefty bills". In this case as in many, it's good to learn from someone else's experience!

By the end of the book, you'll have a good grounding in most approaches to dealing with anxiety and panic attacks, and an idea of efficacy/applicability, and what to expect.

Bottom line: without claiming any magic bullet, this book presents six key strategies that Gutman found to work, along with his experiences of what didn't. Valuable reading if you want to curb your own anxiety, or want to be able to help/support someone else with theirs.

Click here to check out No Time To Panic, and find the peace you deserve!

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday,

The 10almonds Team