How to nourish with light in the depths of winter
For many of us, tis the season of being plunged into eternal darkness, which can bring on some fun new problems like:
Having even more trouble getting up in the morning cuz it’s pitch black!
Going home from work in the pitch black!
Slowly declining levels of stored vitamin D!
Bone-deep sadness!
Chronically looking at real estate in Spain!
And that’s because humans, like all above-ground animals, are heavily dependent on sunlight for our survival, and our modern culture is unsupportive of this in a few big ways:
Historically, humans would use the season of hibernation appropriately—to slow down, rest, and nourish with available animal foods and preserved plant foods. Nowadays (what a great word), slowing down is rarely supported, and any potential nourishment is replaced with emotional support sugar, booze, and sugarbooze.
Also historically, the food we ate still supplied us with the much-needed, depression-fighting, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, the bioavailable versions of which are found almost exclusively in animal products that are less consumed these days. For example: grass-fed butter (vitamin K), cod liver oil (A and D), and nuts/seeds (E).
Now we mostly stay inside with little hope of absorbing the small amount of sunlight available to us, and instead saturate ourselves with recycled air and blue light from artificial sources.
So what’s a modern human in the depths of northern winter to do?!
We need to think of light as a form of nourishment. It plays a huge role in sending information to our bodies—just like food does.
There are a few spectrums of light that the human eye can see, and each one tells your body what processes it should be doing, like making specific hormones (“vitamin” D is one of those hormones!).
The sun provides all the distinct spectrums that we need throughout the whole day, so it’s much easier to maintain circadian rhythms in the summer. In winter, we rely more heavily on artificial light, which contains more blue spectrum.
Normally, we’d get our blue light when the sun is strongest in the day—and it boosts energy accordingly! But in the first and last parts of the day we’re supposed to have more red light, and that helps up relax so we’re primed for rest.
When you blast your body with blue light from computers, phones, and lightbulbs all day and well after nightfall, you’re stressing it the hell out and telling it to constantly be alert, which, shocker, makes for awful sleep and a stressed out, tired human.
We need the full spectrum of light for proper nourishment. So here are some ways you can use light to your advantage in the winter:
Actually try to get outside in the few hours of daylight available. The UV will enter through your skin and eyes and do its job. This is a great excuse to get your steps!
This is continually screamed from the rooftops, but seriously—put your f-ing phone away/turn off the TV at least an hour before you need to sleep and pick up a book like it’s 1997.
You can switch out the lights in your bedroom to have less blue light! (or use candles like a sexy little pilgrim). Also try a sunrise alarm to wake up with light.
Consider supplementing with cod liver oil (in capsule form!) for bioavailable vitamins A and D.
If you’re hardcore like me, consider investing in a red light therapy light. I’m a princess and refuse to let winter get the best of me so I invested in a panel light from PlatinumLED and it’s def a mood booster in the dark mornings.
And as always, try to continue to get regular exercise—now is an excellent time to build muscle due to (let’s be honest) higher calorie intake. So go lift some weights 2-3x/week!
If you’d like some support and structure while learning how to sustainably train and eat for your goals, consider applying to the Adventure Ready Academy!
Love & muscles,
Coach Mac
Muscle Sherpa
