Eating too much and gaining weightLack of energyIrritability or tensionDifficulty concentratingSleep problemsDaytime drowsinessDecreased interest in sexMild anxietyMild depressionHeightened sensitivity to rejection or criticism
One of the most common complaints is feeling tired and sluggish much of the time. To their dismay, women with the body blues often lack the energy to be the patient moms, supportive partners, or fun-loving friends they would like to be. Although they know that exercise would help revive them, they rarely have the time or the motivation. (How tired is too tired? The answer, here.) Difficulty concentrating is another telltale sign, especially in women 35 and older. Trouble focusing on tasks, absorbing complex information, and remembering names can be a source of embarrassment. But the most common and vexing symptoms of all are overeating and weight gain. Most women with the body blues have little trouble controlling their appetite in the morning. But sometime in the afternoon, they begin to snack. A craving for sweets and starches is one of the defining characteristics of this syndrome. You might expect women with this disorder to have serious mood problems. But they don’t. Unlike women with clinical depression, women with the body blues don’t feel sad or tearful most of the time. When something good happens to them, they feel genuinely happy. Nonetheless, they can be very distressed by their fatigue, eating problems, irritability, confused thinking, or sleep difficulties. These symptoms interfere with relationships, frustrate ambitions, and rob women of the full enjoyment of life. It’s as though their bodies were depressed, but not their minds. More from Prevention: 4 Tips For Fighting Food Addiction [pagebreak]
One Woman’s Story
At any given time, tens of millions of women are troubled by a syndrome for which they have no name. (Sad? Depressed? Take our quiz to find out.) Take one of my patients; I’ll call her “Joanne.” She has four of the most common symptoms—fatigue, irritability, low sexual desire, and weight gain. To the casual observer, she appears to be a competent, confident woman who happens to be slightly overweight. Most nights she gets 7 to 8 hours of sleep, but by early afternoon she is overwhelmed by the need to take a nap. Because her office is in her home, she can lie down whenever she needs to, but she resents taking the time. “I’m only 39,” she told me. “I shouldn’t have to take a nap!” Joanne also feels stressed and irritable much of the time. “My employees and clients soak up most of my patience during the day,” she explains. “My son gets what’s left. And I’m much more critical of my husband than I want to be.” (Feel a fight coming on with your hubby? Here’s how to stop it in its tracks.) Even though Joanne listed fatigue as her reason for seeing me, I could tell she was even more concerned about her weight. At 5'6" and 172 lb, she’s about 30 lbs. overweight. “I have no problem controlling what I eat for breakfast and lunch,” she told me during our first appointment, “but everything falls apart in the late afternoon. I eat before, during, and after dinner. Now I’m back in my fat clothes.” As a nurse practitioner at the University of Washington’s Women’s Health Care Center in Seattle, I’ve been trained to look at the whole person, not just her symptoms. I ordered blood tests for Joanne to rule out some common physical problems linked with fatigue, such as underactive thyroid, diabetes, and anemia. They all came back negative. I also interviewed her extensively and gave her several tests for underlying mood problems. As I had begun to suspect during her first appointment, Joanne is one of the millions of women with the most misdiagnosed, undertreated, and mistreated mood problem: the body blues. Many of my patients think that their symptoms are caused by a lack of willpower, laziness, or sheer gluttony. This is rarely the case. In the past 10 years, scientists have learned that every symptom of the body blues can be traced back to some aspect of a woman’s physiology. Here’s how women’s hormonal swings contribute.
Why Women Are At Risk
Estrogen: The Energetic Hormone Low or falling estrogen levels are one of the main triggers of the body blues. Estrogen rises from the lowest to the highest level during the first 2 weeks of the menstrual cycle. This monthly surge influences virtually every aspect of a woman’s being, including her supply of serotonin, the brain’s primary feel-good chemical. When estrogen levels are high, women have more serotonin activity in their brain. Greater serotonin activity is linked to better mood, reduced appetite, more physical energy, and more resilience to stress. This makes serotonin a potent antidote to the body blues. More from Prevention: 11 Fast Fixes For Energy Estrogen also increases the amount of blood that flows to a woman’s brain. It relaxes key arteries, allowing more blood to pass through. When cerebral bloodflow is high, people have better memory and are less likely to be depressed. When estrogen levels are low or falling, women have less serotonin activity. Women have low levels of estrogen in the days before menstruation, after giving birth, while breastfeeding, during perimenopause, and during the years following menopause. These are the very times when they are most likely to have the body blues. [pagebreak] Progesterone: The Calming Hormone Progesterone also influences the symptoms of the body blues. High levels during the final 2 weeks of the menstrual cycle may cause a slight decrease in serotonin activity in the brain. But these levels of progesterone do have some positive effects, including enhancing sleep, calming anxiety, and soothing irritability. When progesterone falls off at the end of the cycle, women lose its tranquilizing, sleep-enhancing properties and are more vulnerable to the body blues. (Nip insomnia in the bud with our 24 Hours To Dreamland plan.) Testosterone: The Pleasure Hormone Testosterone is the hormone that fuels sexual desire and enhances pleasure—in women as well as men. As is true for estrogen and progesterone, testosterone levels also vary across the menstrual cycle. Testosterone is low during the first part of the cycle, peaks at ovulation, and then declines during the final two weeks of the cycle. When a woman has relatively high levels, she is more likely to think about sex, respond to a partner’s advances, and initiate sex. There is growing evidence that some symptoms of depression and the body blues—especially fatigue, anxiety, and low sexual desire—may be due to a woman’s variable supply of testosterone.
Are You Getting Enough Light?
It’s not just fluctuating hormones that bring on the body blues; light deprivation can contribute as well. The more time you spend in low light conditions, the more likely you will feel tired, eat too much, gain weight, and feel drowsy during the day—key symptoms of the body blues. Most people underestimate the difference in light levels between indoors and out. Surprisingly, there is as much as 1,000 times more light available to us once we step outside. Surveys show that most of us spend 23 hours a day indoors. As soon as we leave our home in the morning, we duck into a car, bus, or train. When we arrive at work, we scurry inside. After work, we run a few errands and then hurry back home. We spend most of our evenings cocooning indoors—reading, watching TV, catching up on paperwork, or being “mouse potatoes,” slang for those of us who’ve become addicted to our computers. As a result, we get just a fraction of the light our bodies require. Surveys show that women get even less light than men. Your 20-Minute Prescription Fortunately, you can beat the body blues in just 20 minutes a day by following a clinically proven, scientifically sound program developed by me and my colleagues at the University of Washington. It’s called the LEVITY program, a drug-free solution based on three common sense activities:
Creating a more natural lighting environmentGoing for a brisk 20-minute outdoor walk, five or more times a weekTaking six common and inexpensive vitamins and minerals
The success of our program was demonstrated by a study at the university that was published in the journal Women & Health in 2001. In just eight weeks, the women who took part in the program felt more energetic, reduced their appetite, began thinking more clearly, and had a more positive sense of well-being. On one of the tests, their depression scores were cut in half! Why does the program work? Getting more bright light, engaging in moderate-intensity exercise, and taking the right vitamins and minerals reverses many of the physical changes brought about by low or fluctuating hormones and living a light-deprived existence. These three activities boost serotonin activity in your brain, increase your cerebral bloodflow, and reduce your stress hormones. (Yoga works well, too. See which moves to do at your desk.) [pagebreak]
Step 1: Recharge Your Solar Batteries
There are three ways that bright light can help relieve the body blues. First, when sunlight falls on your bare skin, your body produces more vitamin D, a vitamin with proven mood-elevating properties. Second, when light enters your eyes, it triggers the production of a variety of feel-good chemicals. Third, bright light increases bloodflow to your brain, which relieves depression and helps you concentrate and remember. Studies have confirmed that brightening your environment boosts physical energy, helps you sleep better at night, and stimulates bloodflow to the brain to boost mood and relieve confused thinking. There’s one additional benefit of getting more bright light that has gotten very little media attention: Bright light alone can help you lose weight. It’s a four-in-one diet aid. Light does the following:
Lifts your spirits, which reduces your need to self-medicate with foodIncreases your activity level, which helps you burn more caloriesSuppresses your appetite, which lowers your caloric intakeHelps boost your metabolism
Until modern times, women got all the benefits of bright light simply by going about their normal routines. But today we have to consciously seek out the sun. All the billions of dollars that people spend on diet programs might be better spent on skylights, sunrooms, outdoor recreation, and all-weather walking gear. Light Up Your Life Here are a number of ways to light up your environment. Put a check beside those that seem most practical and helpful for you, and plan to act upon them within a week.
Go for outdoor walks five or more times a weekLook straight ahead rather than down at the ground when you walk. A level gaze can more than double the amount of light that enters your eyes.Use a transparent umbrella when it rains or snowsWear lightly tinted sunglasses to block ultraviolet light but let in all the mood-boosting visible lightOpen the blinds or curtains while you’re homeRearrange your furniture to face the windowsPaint walls a brighter colorAdd windows, skylights, glass doors, or a sunroomInstall the brightest light bulbs your lamps will safely allowChoose window seats on public transportation whenever possiblePlan a winter vacation in a sunny location
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Step 2: Walk Away from the Body Blues
New research shows that you don’t have to break a sweat to get mood-enhancing benefits from exercise. Nor do you have to join a gym, buy special equipment, put on a skimpy leotard, or even change clothes. All you need to do is put on a pair of comfortable shoes, open the door, and start walking. (Seriously. See how !) Imagine that you’ve just stepped out the door and started to walk. You are swinging your arms and aiming for a pace that is midway between a stroll and a jog. As your heart rate increases, more blood flows to your brain. The increased bloodflow enhances your ability to think and concentrate.At the same time, the brisk walk revs up your body, triggering the release of the same activating substances that are triggered by stress. But the amounts generated by walking make you feel energized and alert, not tense and irritable. In technical terms, walking produces an “energetic arousal” rather than a “tense arousal.” Though many women turn to food to relieve their anxiety, low mood, and fatigue, walking is a much better way to ease tension, reduce anxiety, and help buffer yourself against stress. A brisk 20-minute walk outdoors, 5 days a week, offers these benefits:
Increases your energy levelIncreases the serotonin activity in your brainBurns fatDecreases your appetiteConnects you with natureReduces your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, and high blood pressure
Get the Most from 20 Minutes of Movement Choose any type of moderate-intensity exercise you wish as long as it meets these criteria:
You enjoy itYou stay within the “feel-good zone,” which means exercising fast enough to stimulate your mind and body but not so fast that you feel out of breath or stressedYou exercise five or more times a week for 20 minutes or moreYou exercise outdoors or find some other way to get 20 minutes of very bright light—1,000 lux or more—each day. (Lux is a way to gauge the intensity of light; 1,000 lux is the amount you’d get from about 10 desk lamps.)
Overcome Exercise Inertia Do you have doubts that you’ll be able to motivate yourself to go for frequent walks? The good news is that the more sedentary you are, the more you’ll benefit physically and mentally from exercise. But first you need to overcome your inertia and find ways to look forward to your 20-minute exercise session. To do that, print out this page and circle the letters of the activities below that will make your exercise session more appealing to you. Then write down how you plan to put them into action. (If that doesn’t work, your workout may need a makeover. Here’s how to tell.) Making Exercise More Appealing
Exercise by myself so I can be free of the demands of other people and think my own thoughtsExercise with a group of friendsListen to my favorite musicListen to educational or inspirational tapesWalk in a beautiful settingUse a pedometer or heart rate monitorHave a destination such as a friend’s house or local storeWalk a dogDiscover new parts of the cityCome home and treat myself to a favorite ritual, such as drinking a hot cup of tea and reading the paper, or taking a soak in the tub
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Step 3: Take Your Antidepressant Cocktail
Brightening your indoor environment and going for regular brisk walks can jump-start the production of a number of mood-enhancing, stress-relieving, and appetite-suppressing chemicals. But your body cannot manufacture those chemicals unless it has the raw ingredients necessary to make them. The third and final component of the LEVITY program supplies these essential ingredients. When you add this antidepressant “cocktail” to a program of bright light and moderate-intensity exercise, you have our clinically proven remedy for the body blues. While nutrient/mood research is still in its infancy, enough reliable information exists about the safety and effectiveness of these six nutrients that I decided to make them an integral part of our program.
Thiamin (vitamin B1)—50 mg; relieves fatigue and improves memoryRiboflavin (vitamin B2)—50 mg; essential for the production of the mood-boosting chemicals serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrineVitamin B6 (pyridoxine)—50 mg; stimulates serotonin productionFolic acid—400 micrograms (mcg); helps relieve depressionVitamin D (cholecalciferol)—400 IU; stimulates production of serotoninSelenium—200 mcg; enhances dopamine activity in the brain, increasing sense of arousal and pleasure
Taking your daily supplements will be the easiest part of the LEVITY program. It requires just a few seconds of your time. The only work involved is deciding what you need to buy and then developing a simple strategy to make sure you take the tablets regularly.If you are presently taking nutritional supplements, check how much thiamin, riboflavin, B6, folic acid, D, and selenium you’re getting. Make sure that adding these to your current regimen will not put you above the safe limits. (Still confused? Check our definitve guide to the supplements your body really needs.) With Vitamins, Don’t Exceed These Upper Limits
Thiamin: 100 mg a dayRiboflavin: 200 mg a dayVitamin B6:100 mg a dayFolic Acid: 1,000 mcg a dayVitamin D: 2,000 IU a daySelenium: 400 mcg a day
More from Prevention: 5 New Ways To Cope With Sadness
