Gloomy weather bringing Winnipeggers down

WINNIPEG — The dark, dreary, and dull stretch of weather the city is seeing has some Winnipeggers feeling a little down.

The days are even shorter with the end of daylight savings time which puts sunshine at even more of a premium.

“People do react to a lack of sun, there’s a vitamin D application from the sun but it’s also a brighter day, darker days means darker thoughts,” says Mood Disorders Manitoba volunteer coordinator Adam Milne.

The change in mood can be significant for some and develop into a type of depression known as seasonal affective disorder.

“People tend to stay inside more and isolation can lead to the same things and then they don’t go out as much so that also leads to the lack of Vitamin D,” says Milne.

There are several ways to increase your vitamin D levels including drinking fortified milk, eating fatty fish and eggs, and using a fluorescent lamp available through Mood Disorders Manitoba.

But the easiest way may be taking a vitamin D supplement, “We definitely recommend it at this time of year and in fact most of the recommendations now are for Vitamin D supplementation all year long,” says regional manager of the clinical nutrition community, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Colleen Einarson Rand.

Rand says there are other complications that can arise from a vitamin D deficiency including compromised bone health.

There has been controversy over how much vitamin D people should be getting every day. Health Canada recommends children and adults between 9 and 70-years-old get at least 600 IU but no more than 4000 IU.

Some studies have claimed that number should be significantly higher.

People in northern climates like Manitoba are particularly vulnerable to vitamin D deficiency because of the shorter days and lack of sunlight absorption in the winter.