Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Symptoms, Causes & Natural Solutions That Work

Transcript:

Melanie: Hello, and welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition. I'm Melanie Beasley, a Registered and Licensed Dietitian with Nutritional Weight & Wellness. And before we start today's episode, if you enjoy listening to Dishing Up Nutrition, the best way that we can share our real food message with more people is by spreading the word from our faithful listeners like you. So if you know someone who might benefit from this or other episodes, please share our podcast with them. Tell them that you've been thinking about them. And it's a great way to show that you're caring about them.

Now, let's get into today's topic. We're talking about something a lot of people experience every year at this time, and it's seasonal depression, or those winter blues that seem to creep in when the days get darker and colder and shorter. And with me today is my fellow dietitian and friend, Britni Vincent. We're going to walk through how food and simple lifestyle habits can make winter feel a little brighter emotionally and physically. Britni, have you ever had; I haven't ever had seasonal affective disorder.

Britni: You know, I feel lucky that I haven't either, but I have people close to me that have, so I've seen the effect of it. And I think, you know, living in Minnesota, it's quite prevalent here.

Melanie: Yes. You wonder, is it because I'm just in the house all the time and I'm cold;

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: …when I go outside? Or is it actual a chemical thing?

Britni: Yes. You know, some of you might relate to noticing every fall and winter, I think it often hits really hard this time of year. You feel more tired, more down, more moody. You want to sleep more, you have trouble focusing.

Melanie: No motivation.

Britni: Yeah, basically. It's hard to do things and because of that, maybe you're noticing you rely on sugar more because it gives you a quick pick me up.

Melanie: Little comfort with food. And you know, we hear a lot about seasonal affective disorder. That's different than a diagnosis of depression because depression is a complex diagnosis that we're not really going to talk about. We're specifically talking about a seasonal affective disorder, such as, you know, depression because it's the winter blues.

Britni: Yep.

Neurotransmitters matter for SAD (think protein)

Melanie: We also want to talk about how as nutrition, it can affect this condition because what you have in your kitchen can definitely make a difference with how you're feeling.

Britni: 100%. And I think in those times where you're not feeling motivated, it can be difficult to think about nutrition, but let's start with the big picture here. We have neurotransmitters; our feel good brain chemicals. You know the most common ones we hear about: serotonin, dopamine, GABA. They make us feel happy, calm, focused, motivated.

Those neurotransmitters are literally made from amino acids, which guess where they come from? Food, specifically protein. So if you are skimping on protein, it's harder for your brain to make enough of those feel good messengers. That's where we see more of those mood dips, more of those cravings, and it can just really exacerbate that seasonal affective disorder.

Melanie: You know, Britni, it's interesting. I feel like you and I have talked about protein a lot…

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: …these past few months.

Britni: Mm-hmm. Yes, we have.

Melanie: So if you are somebody who's thinking, I've been thinking about protein. We have several podcasts…

Britni: Yes, we do.

Melanie: …talking about protein, that would be an interesting listen if that's something you're interested in. We go into more than just how protein can make neurotransmitters. So if you're interested, do a little dig into Nutritional Weight & Wellness website. You can in the search engine, put in the term protein, and you're going to get a lot of information, maybe more than what you want.

We talk about protein a lot here at Dishing Up Nutrition, but one of the reasons we talk about it is because of the effect on blood sugar. Protein is a wonderful neutralizer of blood sugar spikes, which can lead to disease. So we want protein for a lot of things.

Britni: Yeah. Before we dive into more about blood sugar and how it can affect seasonal effective disorder, I have a little client story. One of my clients, she has for decades struggled with seasonal affective disorder and you know, one of the biggest things we have been focusing on for her is increasing her protein, and she, she's an older woman, and so she's gotten used to skimping on her protein. But this fall and winter, she is eating way more protein than she ever has. And in addition to using her SAD light box every morning, she is feeling like better than any winter she can remember.

Melanie: Oh my gosh.

Britni: Mood wise. Energy wise, she's actually feeling motivated to do things, whereas in the past it would be hard for her to do anything.

Melanie: It's almost hard to enjoy your fall. Because you know that this feeling of depression is coming. So what a gift to her.

The blood sugar connection to mood

Britni: Yeah, it's been really great for her. So I think it goes to show the power of protein and its effect in our brain and in our body systemically. And you know, before I shared that story, you mentioned blood sugars. So when we think about blood sugar, those blood sugar spikes and crashes, they are sneaky little mood wreckers, especially in the winter.

When we eat a lot of sugar or refined carbs, our blood sugar's going to shoot up. At some point it's going to come back down and you're not going to feel good at that point.

Melanie: You know, Britni, that makes me think of, we're seeing more and more teens and people in their twenties with depression.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: It really makes you wonder, that's sort of the era where you're eating a lot of processed foods, but not a lot of protein.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: And the processed protein bars and the processed protein cereals and the processed protein chips is processed food. Your body doesn't utilize it, doesn't really know what to do with it because it's not real food. But I wonder, you know, this is definitely a piece that can be so helpful with anyone who struggles with depression, not just seasonally.

Britni: Yeah. I think you are absolutely correct. When we are having these big blood sugar swings and we're dipping, your body naturally wants more carbs and sugar as a pick me up.

Melanie: I think I'm thinking about a client and she came in and she was eating what she thought was a healthy breakfast. And it was oatmeal. And then she was putting berries and bananas on it, and then she had a glass of orange juice with her oatmeal and then a banana. So it all sounds like real food. Super good for you, but it's so high in carbohydrates and you didn't hear me say anything about protein.

Britni: Or fat.

Melanie: Or fat in there. So what's happening is she's spiking her blood sugar. It is crashing. She would feel within two hours she was feeling draggy and hungry.

Britni: I bet.

Melanie: So when we switched it up and we made it so she was getting definitely, you know, 30 grams of protein at her breakfast and a heck of a lot of real food carbs.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: Such as the banana and the juice. And we, you know, we swapped it out for protein sources. Her mood is better. Her energy is better. She feels better overall. So I love, what did you say? How did you say it? A mood destroyer.

Britni: Sneaky mood wreckers.

Melanie: Sneaky mood wreckers. So even if you think you're eating real food, check the quality of the protein source. And are you getting enough protein?

Britni: Yes, it is so important. And I think in the winter, turning to that oatmeal, it sounds cozy.

Melanie: That's what we grew up with.

Britni: Yeah. And so I think that becomes a very common breakfast in the winter and by the time you add all the stuff to make it taste good it's just not doing us any, any favors.

Melanie: Oh, yeah. You know, and I grew up in the south and so we had a lot of grits. We had Cream of Wheat.

Britni: Mm.

Melanie: You know?

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: It just didn't do a body well. And then in my twenties it switched to donuts, Pop Tarts. So no, these are all not your best bet for a good mood balance throughout the day.

Britni: Yeah, they are not. So I think the first step for seasonal mood support, we want to eat regularly. You don't want to go too long without eating. We've all been there. You get hangry. You want to eat anything in sight. And you know, the hanger, the anger. Some people feel that, but I've seen a lot of clients who get really anxious when that happens.

Melanie: Especially when you throw a cup of coffee in there with that situation.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: The caffeine and the blood sugar crash.

Britni: Not good.

Melanie: Your anxiety goes through the roof.

Britni: So we want to eat, be sure you're eating your three meals. If you need a snack in there to bridge the gap, then that's what your body needs. And then balancing it, making sure we're getting the protein.

Melanie: Yeah, you want to get that balance, that plate should look pretty balanced. And what do I mean by that? Something like, you know, four to six ounces of protein. Weigh it out, take a peek on a scale, how am I doing? You know, one to two cups of low starch vegetable, you know, you're getting that fiber. And then maybe a half a cup of some sort of starch. It might be quinoa or maybe you want some half of cup of berries or something like that.

And then like a little tablespoon of healthy fat that you maybe cooked; you know, if you cooked eggs or something and you want some healthy fat. But that combo keeps your blood sugar steady. You want to eat them all at one time. So I have a client and she would, over two hours, she would kind of start with one food and then the other food, you know, kind of within an hour, you want to consume these together.

And we, we had a radio show that we talked about the order of eating to balance your blood sugar. So you don't want to, we always want to stick our fork in the potatoes first, or the rice first, or eat the banana first. But always start with the protein and the fat and the vegetables and then, you know, have your berries or your half a banana or something like that.

And that combo is going to keep you steady and for winter, I love using cozy foods to hit that same sort of pattern. Like you can have a bowl of chili at breakfast, which has beans and the fiber from those beans and, and then the ground beef, and then lots of veggies, and then top it with some guacamole or sour cream.

Britni: That's delicious.

Melanie: And that's balanced. Yeah. So, yeah, and if you're not feeling motivated, you just throw some vegetables and some meat. We've got lots of sheet plan meals that you can just roast it all together. You've got one pan to clean up. You put parchment paper down. It’s even easier to clean up if you're not feeling motivated, but you deserve to eat foods that support your mood overall and your blood sugar, give yourself a fighting chance.

Britni: If you are going to choose to have a snack, if that's what your body needs, those matter, you know, I have plenty of clients who their meals are balanced, but when it comes to snacks, that's where the sugar and the processed carbs come in.

Melanie: So an apple and some peanut butter.

Britni: That could be, but we're missing the protein.

Melanie: We're missing the protein.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: And it's a whole big apple with some peanut butter, so it's still a blood sugar bomb.

Britni: Yep. Buy the little baby apples.

Melanie: You won't be tempted to finish it.

Britni: The no sugar peanut butter, and then add some protein to that.

Melanie: Beef sticks some organic, nitrate free deli meat. A couple hard boiled eggs. You know, you can keep it simple.

Britni: Yeah. And sometimes what I have found helpful with clients is thinking of snacks as little mini meals, because when our brain hears snacks, we think of chips, crackers, cookies.

Melanie: Anything that falls down in a vending machine, that's what comes to mind. If it can be in a vending machine, it's not a real food product.

Britni: Yeah. That is, that's very true. You know, you could even sip on some bone broth in the afternoon as your beverage instead of reaching for a cup of coffee.

Melanie: And people, here's what I'm finding is people are sort of “icked” out by bone broth. If you, your grandmother took a chicken and she made some soup with it, you were eating bone broth. It's not some magical voodoo broth.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: It is just simply made from meat and broth and bones. And so that's where it gets the term bone broth. We probably should change the term. It's not a great marketing term because it sounds, I don't know, very carnivorous. It doesn't sound delicious. I love to take chicken bone broth and put some baked chicken seasoning in it. And sip at it. It's like chicken soup. But who doesn't love the comfort of chicken soup? But you are getting quite a bit of protein when you're doing bone broth versus broth broth.

Britni: Easy swap.

Some downsides of sugar, including immunity suppression

Melanie: Alright, I want to talk about sugar. We touched on it, but you know, post holiday in the winter, you can have some serious cravings from having had maybe more sugar than you wanted and so they might be lasting with you. Some of the holidays can be just this long sugar buffet.

Britni: I think so, yeah.

Melanie: From if you go to event to event, or you love to bake or whatever the reason it's real, that sugar is addictive to our brain and the more you eat, the more you crave and that creates those sugar spikes. And then you know when your blood sugar goes up and then crashes and that feeds this whole cycle of depression, low energy, and wanting more sweets.

So beyond energy, sugar affects your immune system, you know, so when you're eating sugar during cold and flu season, you're suppressing that immune system and your mood. So an interesting fact is sugar competes with vitamin C at the cellular level. Well, you know, we think vitamin C, we think immunity. And when blood sugar is high, sugar is preferred transport into cells over vitamin C, which can really dampen your immune system for several hours. And if you're constantly on that sugar train all winter, you're more likely to feel run down, inflamed, just blah. Your immune system is suppressed so then you can get sick and it doesn't help with your depression.

Britni: No. In fact, it's going to make it worse.

Melanie: Always makes it worse. That darn sugar. And we are going to talk some more about how to fix these sugar cravings when we come back from break.

-----

How to overcome sugar & processed carb cravings

Britni: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. We have been talking about nutrition's role in seasonal affective disorder, and before we went to break, we touched on cravings. The reality is you have to get to the bottom of what is triggering your cravings because you can't white knuckle it. We talked a lot about blood sugar already. In my experience, that is one of the most common causes of cravings is just an imbalanced blood sugar throughout the day.

Melanie: It's kind of magic, isn't it? When you work with a client and they're doing what we're saying. Same with in our class, Nutrition for Weight Loss. I love week three asking clients, how do you feel? How are your cravings? And all of a sudden people go, oh. My cravings are gone. So it's chemistry. It's not your character. It's not because you've always had cravings.

You will always have cravings. It's getting that chemistry straightened out so you could feel like you're the boss of the food and the food is not the boss of you because no one can white knuckle it through. When you have a sugar craving, it is really hard.

Alcohol is detrimental to brain chemicals & mood

And we also have to talk about alcohol because a lot of people lean on it more and more in dark months when you're stuck inside. Alcohol gives you that short term boost of dopamine, serotonin, and GABA. But it leaves really quickly and it leaves your stores depleted, which helps explain why you might feel depressed or unmotivated by the next day.

If not the next day, definitely by the, if you do it Friday night and then Saturday and then you have the Sunday blues. If you do it Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, then you have the Monday “scaries”, because of the chemistry of what happens with the disruption of your feel good neurotransmitters. They make that, you know, postpartum depression situation lasts longer.

So if you find yourself relying on drinking alcohol for that short dopamine boost of your mood, remember there are consequences to pay down the road. More than just the disruption of your neurotransmitters, there's other consequences. But for today's purpose, when you drink alcohol, you're borrowing happiness from tomorrow.

Britni: Ooh, that's a good one.

Melanie: Yeah.

Britni: Think about that next time you want to reach for a cocktail.

Melanie: And you can even just try a weekend without. And evaluate how you feel on Monday morning.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: Yeah.

Britni: So if you do drink alcohol, and it's important not to rely on it as a daily coping mechanism, because I think a lot of people do. Instead save it for special occasions. Practice moderation. Maybe you give it up for a period of time and you see how you feel. And a lot of people do that and they just don't go back.

Melanie: Yeah. Sober January is the thing, right?

Britni: Yeah. They feel so much better.

Alcohol-free beverage ideas

Melanie: For winter, one experiment might be keep most nights alcohol free and try a creative low sugar mocktail. We've got some on our website. It's just, maybe it's the habit of just filling your wine glass or filling your cocktail glass.

Britni: I think so sometimes.

Melanie: Pick the same glass, fill it with something else. You can evaluate, you know, how do you feel? What do you like? Don't pick one that's full of sugar though. Yeah. We've got some mocktail recipes on our website that I highly recommend.

Britni: Well, or in the wintertime, a cup of tea, a cup of herbal tea at night. It can be soothing, calming. You're drinking something different than water.

Melanie: I usually have a cup of herbal tea at night. I never get through the whole thing. It's just the act of holding something hot and sip, sip.

Nutrients that can support mood (#1: vitamin D)

Britni: I agree. It's nice. Well, let's dig into specific nutrients that can support mood, especially when stress is higher, sunlight is lower. And when I'm working with someone battling seasonal depression, one of the first things I ask them is if they are supplementing with vitamin D, and if they've had their vitamin D checked.

You know, think about it. There's very little sunlight in the wintertime, and you're not going outside in it. So there is a very strong connection to low vitamin D and seasonal affective disorder.

Melanie: And what levels do you like to see Britni?

Britni: 50 to 80.

Melanie: Mm-hmm.

Britni: And if it's a little over 80.

Melanie: You’re fine.

Britni: That’s fine too.

Melanie: You are fine. There's no risk of “toxicity”.

Britni: No.

Melanie: You know, you have to be over 350 before you're toxic. I've been doing this for 40 years. Never seen a single person have vitamin D3 toxicity.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So you don't live in fear. But definitely the moods improve when you optimize.

Britni: Absolutely. Vitamin D supports serotonin, dopamine production. You know, I recently had a client, his vitamin D was really low. He has so much more energy now getting his vitamin D into more of an optimal range. So we recommended getting tested. And that is something you likely need to request. Your providers don't automatically do it most of the time. And during the winter, 5,000 IU is pretty standard dose.

Melanie: Mm-hmm.

Britni: Purchasing one with K2, that helps with the absorption, especially if you're somebody who historically has low levels. I've seen that really help to bring them up. But then everybody's different. You know, I have some clients that get tested and 5,000 isn't enough. They have to take 10,000.

Melanie: Yeah.

Britni: So that is important. If you get tested, you're low, start supplementing and then retest.

Melanie: And here's the other bonus, you are less likely to get sick. If your vitamin D is optimized, you're less likely to lose bone if your vitamin D level is optimized. So it's a win-win all the way around. If there was one supplement, someone said, what is the most important supplement if you had to pick one? I would say vitamin D3.

Britni: I've been asked that, and that is my answer.

Omega-3 supports brain health & mood

Melanie: Is it? We're the same. Similarly to vitamin D, I also think of omega-threes. The myelin sheath or the fatty acid insulation around your nerves is 70 to 80% fatty acids, and a key one in your omega-3 is DHA. So you're getting that.

You know, but you do want to optimize your level of omega-3 in your body. If you don't eat a lot of fatty fish, I would recommend supplementing with about 2000 milligrams of omega-3. That's a good place to start. Also helps with that pesky winter dry skin and dry eye. I like to use the acronym SMASH, but if you're going to be eating sources of omega-3 would be salmon, mackerel, anchovy, sardines, and herring, and omega fortified eggs are another option.

So in winter, a simple goal might be to include fatty fish a couple times a week. I usually eat salmon three times a week. And I do take omega-3, about 2000, and I find that to be, my omega-3 levels are great. So fatty fish does, does the trick if you like it. If you don't like it, supplement. If you have the fishy burps, put it in the freezer and take it out of the freezer to take it.

B vitamins support energy, mood & stress

Britni: Then we have B vitamins. B vitamins are crucial for energy and the production of neurotransmitters. And when we are stressed, which let's face it, most Americans are, we burn through our B vitamins very quickly. When B vitamin levels are low, people may notice fatigue, brain fog, low mood, increased stress. And I have actually had clients, once they start supplementing with a B complex, they really do notice a difference in their mood.

Melanie: Yes. And energy.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: Which helps with mood. And I had a friend who was really, really struggling with brain fog, but she was vegan. So she really wasn't getting what she needed. She was not getting enough. And when she optimized, started eating meat for other reasons, man, her brain fog went away.

Britni: Wow.

Melanie: Her energy came back. She could think clearly and she was a nurse, so it was really important to her.

Britni: And when your B12 is really low, you can have memory problems, severe memory, problems, so I think that just goes to show that strong connection of B vitamins and how our brain functions.

Melanie: Yeah. And if your B12’s really low, you can have some tingling neuropathy symptoms. It might just be your low vitamin B12 level.

Britni: Well, I mean, think about food sources: animal proteins, meat, dairy, eggs, fish. And you know, I think for a lot of people it is not a bad idea to add a B complex or a multivitamin that has higher levels of B vitamins. When you are looking at a B complex or a multivitamin, I would make sure you are looking for one that says methylcobalamin as a source of B12 and methylfolate as a source of folate.

Melanie: So methyl is the term. You know, I read an article, a research article that says 60 plus percent of us have a methylation issue. So with that being said, you need to supplement with methylated B’s on the regular basis. And here's the thing, if you start a methylated B vitamin complex, B12, folate, you're going to see your urine turn yellow, the darker yellow, and that's the metabolites of the usage of the B vitamin is not that you are just urinating out what you just paid for.

So don't let that alarm you or think, well, I'm not even absorbing this. It's actually the metabolites after the B vitamin's been used that is showing that yellow color in the urine.

Sleep quality & SAD relationship

Britni: I'm glad you brought that up. Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's move into lifestyle. Because seasonal depression isn't just about what you put on your plate, it's about how you're living your day-to-day life. And the nice thing is these changes work best with your nutrition habits. So we have to talk about sleep.

Melanie: Yes.

Britni: Most of us probably find ourselves wanting to sleep more during the winter time. You feel like kind of hibernating, but it's still important to keep a regular sleep schedule and that's, you know, I've seen more recent studies come out about the importance of that consistent sleep schedule helping your overall sleep quality. So if you find yourself having a harder time waking up in the morning, you would try to go to bed earlier. Get that extra sleep in.

Melanie: And you don't want to do that nap. That nap really disrupts your circadian rhythm. So even though it feels like, whoa, it's a snowstorm, it's really cold. I've got a two hour break in my day. I'm just going to take that nap. Boy, can that mess up your circadian rhythm.

Britni: Yeah, it can.

Melanie: We love a nap, but it does mess up your sleep cycle.

Britni: If you're not getting enough sleep and it's an issue of timing, what are you doing before bed?

Melanie: Hmm.

Britni: Stop scrolling.

Melanie: Yeah.

Britni: That does not set our brain up to be in a good place to get a good night's rest. And then I think when you wake up feeling tired, you're gravitating for more caffeine, more sugar as a pick me up, which just makes your sleep worse the next night.

Melanie: Well, let's talk a little bit about caffeine.

Britni: Yeah. It's a bad, bad cycle. So caffeine, I mean, for some individuals even one cup is too much.

Melanie: Yeah, me.

Britni: I would say as a general rule of thumb, not having anything after noon. Because the half-life of caffeine is longer than you would think, so it can still be in your system if you're having a 2:00 PM coffee and you're going to bed at 10:00 PM.

Melanie: I have thoughts about this. We just had, someone come in and she was looking for actually B vitamins, and we had this conversation in the lobby and she was just struggling with sleep, and she was in her sixties and she has one cup of coffee and I said, let's try this.

Try weaning completely to a decaffeinated cup of coffee and here's why. Caffeine stays full strength seven hours, then it goes half strength seven more hours, then it goes quarter strength, seven more hours, and the older you get, the less you clear it. I used to be able to drink coffee up to on my bedside table set, set down my caffeinated diet Dr. Pepper and sleep.

That is not the case. I am that girl now if I have a cup of coffee at 6:00 AM that's caffeinated, I am not sleeping well the next night. I can fall asleep, but I do that surf sleeping where I just don't sleep well and I, who doesn't love that caffeine bump in the morning? It feels great, but if it is stealing your quality of sleep, then you need it again the next day, and then you're just in this vortex of caffeine to keep me awake, which is keeping me awake. Now I'm not sleeping well. It's a terrible pattern, and not getting enough sleep is so miserable.

Britni: Yeah, it really is. And if you like the routine of having a cup of coffee, I think that's how a lot of people feel about it. They wake up, they like that routine, that warm mug, like you said, get a decaf. Get a water processed decaf so there's not chemicals used.

Melanie: Lower in caffeine too. So it's good. I can't even have, like a conventional Starbucks decaf after two o'clock. Like just, there's enough caffeine in there. I don't sleep well. So you might be sensitive, like me. So just test it out.

Sample menu of mood supporting foods

So just to give an idea, we we're talking about real food. What does it look like? Mood supporting foods. Okay. Let's just break down a simple little menu of what we both do. I'll, I'll breakfast for me, I'm, I'm not a big eggs person. I will do it on the weekend, but I don't want eggs every day.

I don't love the flavor of them all the time. So, and I can't do dairy, so the whole cottage cheese trend is not for me. So what I do is I love to make a protein chia pudding, and I think I've shared this before on other podcasts, but I will do, in the blender, I do three cups of like organic unsweetened almond milk, and then I do six tablespoons of chia seeds, and then I do three scoops of my protein powder. I blend the whole thing. If I want to add a flavoring, I do like vanilla extract, sometimes pistachio. You can add cocoa powder if you want it chocolate. And then in the bottom of three wide mason jars, I will do a half cup of berries.

Britni: Yum.

Melanie: And then pour, pour, pour. I split that between three mason jars over the berries, and then I drizzle over the top I like sunflower seed butter or pumpkin seeds, sometimes sunflower seeds. If you make a chocolate one with cocoa powder, you can always put peanut butter over the top. But that is a delicious, easy grab and go spoon it in my nod to like an overnight oat.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: But it's not the spike of the oats and I get great fiber, great protein, some, you know, antioxidants in the berries. Mood supporting. It's easy.
Now if I don't want something cold, we were talking last time we were together you do a smoothie bowl that sometimes is warmed.

Britni: Yeah. I mean, I've been doing chia pudding a lot this winter, but I might warm it up, or if I'm making it right that morning, I will use a hot liquid.

Melanie: It blooms the chia seeds so much faster.

Britni: It does. Yep. Yep. So when I'm making my coffee and I'm boiling water for that, I'll make a little extra boiling water, add a little bit of that, and then sometimes I'll or warm my almond milk. Yeah, that's great. I'm with you, not a huge egg fan. This morning, I had leftovers for breakfast.

If you can get over and accept that breakfast does not need to be breakfast food, it makes your life so much easier. I had a chicken breast, a few, a little leftover purple potato, and a side salad. Very yummy, very filling. For lunch, I have a stew that I made with curry powder, canned coconut milk, lentils, lots of veggies, chicken.

Melanie: Yummy.

Britni: Yeah, it feels nourishing and you're getting all sorts of nutrients and fiber in there, and it tastes delicious.

Melanie: Our website has a fantastic chicken pot pie soup recipe.

Britni: Yeah, that's great one.

Melanie: Everyone loves it. That's a big comfort food. And there's dairy free option on there. I love to do a leftover hash, so if I've got leftover steak or pork chop or hamburger, or you could do kielbasa, anything like that. And then chop up leftover vegetables that you have, and then you could do like a quarter of the whole mix could be lentils or beans of some sort, or quinoa or wild rice or sweet potato, some sort of concentrated carbohydrate source there.

And then you stir it all together and all you have to do is do a big bowl. Make sure you're getting four to six ounces of protein in it. So it's very protein heavy. You warm it up and you can top it with salsa or guacamole or Frank's hot wing sauce or you know what, salsa verde, or whatever you love in there and or nothing. And you've got this great, easy, used up my leftovers, feeling good about my budget food.

And it's delicious. It's easy. It's always changing because your vegetables are changing, your protein is changing, your topping is changing. You don't have to be a cook.

Britni: No, it does not need to be complicated. You do not need to spend hours and hours in the kitchen. It can be simple.

Recap

Well, let's recap what we've talked about today. Think about your nutrition. I think top priority is balancing your blood sugar. So that means getting adequate protein. Because that also increases neurotransmitter production.

Melanie: Mm-hmm.

Britni: Combine that with the healthy fat, being mindful of the amount of carbohydrates, adding those veggies in there for fiber and doing that for three meals in the day and a snack if you need one. You're going to feel a lot better.

Melanie: You're going to feel a lot better. It's more than just the healing power of food.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: You know, which I love. Dar Kvist, who's, you know, the owner and the founder of our company would always say there's the healing power of food, the healing power of food. But it's so true. You know, it was wisdom in that comment is that you are healing. It doesn't have to be fancy.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: It just has to be real food, adequate protein. And there's more than just when you were preparing the food and taking the time, there's a message in that seasonal affective disorder struggle, there's a message of I matter.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: When you prepare food for yourself, it's a form of self-care and nurturing, and the brain is registering that you are saying I matter in this. So take the time, make some real food, maybe some sheet pan meals and some soups and stews in the crockpot. Nothing fancy. Maybe the hash that I was talking about.

That's so important. And then you want to be focused on what is my vitamin D level? Because that's a huge deal for depression, anxiety, or total health. So your vitamin D, if you're supplementing on the regular basis and you have been for years 5,000 D3 with some K2, you probably don't need to be tested.

It, it's not going to hurt you if you, if you double it when you struggle during the winter. That's, that's a wonderful thing and, and we talked about adequate sleep.

Britni: So important prioritizing that sleep.

Melanie: And watching the alcohol.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: You know, because the alcohol can undo everything you are trying to do. You know, just for that little blast of dopamine that's short-lived.

Britni: And makes your sleep worse.

Melanie: Makes your sleep worse. Taking care of yourself does take some effort, but if you preemptively do it, start doing it in the fall, especially next year before that winter hits. It's a big deal and it's very, very important to care for yourself because when you're caring for yourself overall, your total body will be healthy.

Britni: Yeah. Think of this food as nourishment. It's brain food and if you are somebody that needs some extra support, we are always here for you. You can make one-on-one appointments with one of us. There are many insurance providers that do cover our services, so you can learn more about that at weightandwellness.com. You can call us at (651) 699-3438.

Schedule Nutrition Counseling

Melanie: Make an appointment with us and we would be glad to sort through some of the things that we've told you. Maybe find an area that you need improvement, walk along beside you, and if you have a friend or a family member who is struggling with this particular terrible time of year that really affects them, share this episode.

It's your way of showing, hey, I was thinking about you. I care about you. I want you to hear this, and we'd be happy to help them as well. Our goal at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to help each and every person experience better health through eating real food. It's a simple yet powerful message. Eating real food is life changing. Thank you for joining us today.