Vitamin Information Center

Elderly people who consume enough meat, fish and milk containing vitamin B12 may help prevent their brains from shrinking and may preserve their memories, Oxford researchers said.

People who had higher vitamin B12 levels were six times less likely to experience brain shrinkage compared with those who had lower levels, according to a study from the university’s Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing in the journal Neurology.

Vitamin B12 is important for the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system and the formation of blood. Deficiency of the vitamin is linked to tiredness, irritability and depression as well as decreased mental capacity, concentration and memory. A shrinking brain is associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Simply adjusting our diets to consume more vitamin B12 through eating meat, fish, fortified cereals or milk may be something we can easily do to prevent brain shrinkage and so perhaps save our memory,” said lead Oxford researcher Anna Vogiatzoglou.

The researchers performed brain scans, memory testing and physical examinations on 107 people aged 61-87.

Understanding the “Holiday Blues”

The holiday season can be a difficult time for many. It is meant to bring joy and celebration but sometimes this time of year can bring sadness and despair. Changes in life, such as being separated from family and friends, or living through the grief of a loss, can be especially hard.

Holiday blues are also thought to be primarily caused by expectation and comparison along with a lack of planning and action. People generally have high expectations for the holidays. We often hope that they will make up for a year gone wrong. We expect family members to become friendly, season’s greetings to be sent, gifts to be given, and happiness to reign. The mass media, through news stories, TV specials, and advertising, raise this hope for “what may be.” The reality of “what is” often falls short of the expectation and there is disappointment.

Negative memories may also be associated to the holiday season and those suffering with depression and other mood disorders can also be affected at this time of year due to change of daylight. Many people are lonely at this time of year if they are working or going to school without a way to get back to your family for the holiday season. You may have not been in Vancouver long enough to make many friends. It can be hard to find comfort.

Characteristics of “The Blues” are emotions - sadness, loneliness, depression, anxiety - and, although intense and unsettling, these emotions are generally short-lived and usually subside within a few weeks once a daily routine is resumed. Other symptoms of the “Holiday Blues” may include:

* headaches * inability to sleep or sleeping too much * changes in appetite causing weight loss or gain * agitation and anxiety * excessive or inappropriate feelings of guilt * diminished ability to think clearly or concentrate * decreased interest in activities that usually bring pleasure, such as: o food o sex o work o friends o hobbies o entertainment

The most important things to remember are: it’s a normal response to a stress-filled time of the year and you don’t have to suffer unnecessarily. If you anticipate feeling very lonely on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, there are ways that you can help yourself feel better and survive the holiday season. 26 Ways to Improve Your Mood During the Holiday Season:

1. Volunteering offers a way to interact with others, give to the community, and help keep your spirits up through giving. The Union Gospel Mission, Salvation Army, Carnegie Community Centre, or various churches will provide Christmas dinners and benefit by receiving help from volunteers. This is a good way to help yourself by not being alone and by helping others in need.

2. If you are in a new community, try to get an invitation somewhere for Christmas. Let others know that you would enjoy having dinner with them.

3. Invite someone to join you in celebration.

4. Find out what the community offers and participate in it. Go to the concerts and parades. Get involved.

5. Takes gifts to a children’s home.

6. Be active by going for walks. Getting some exercise will help keep mood levels up. Don’t stay cooped up inside too long. 20 minutes of exercise every day will raise endorphin levels and allow you to absorb what sunshine there is.

7. Be aware of your diet - try not to overindulge in alcohol or sweets. Alcohol and sugar can really affect mood and brings on ‘moodiness’.

8. Get enough rest: general self-care of the body is important.

9. Organize your time: make lists and prioritize.

10. If you are going home to be with family, bad memories might come up that can be really stressful. Take items from your current home that you have positive associations with. This might be a teddy bear, pictures of friends, a good book, or candles. Anything to help you feel more comfortable.

11. Plan time away from family. If you are going for a few days, it can be stressful. Getting away can help to lessen the stress.

12. If you find that you fall back into old patterns when you are around family members, it can he helpful to remember that you are an adult now and you have the ability to behave and respond in a different way. Spend some time planning ahead. What kinds of circumstances will occur that might bring up old feelings?

13. Be Prepared. There may be certain things that happen every year that drive you up the wall. This year, talk to the people involved ahead of time and try to defuse those situations before they occur.

14. If finances are a concern, be aware of this and set reasonable limits.

15. If there is a significant loss that you are reminded of this time of year, such as a death in the family or a divorce, it can be helpful not to push it away and pretend it didn’t happen. Recognize that there was a loss and take time to acknowledge it. Create a healthy way of remembering. Examples could include putting out favorite photographs and lighting a candle before them.

16. If you are in a new city or find yourself lonely, try to create new memories for yourself. You may enjoy events around the city such as the Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden -

Dates and times: 4:30 to 9 p.m. every night, December 7th, 2007 through January 1st, 2008 (except December 25th when the Garden is closed).

17. Another tool to help you get through the Holiday Blues is to remember that the Christmas season will pass.

18. Also, remember that winter will pass. Winter does not last forever.

19. Remember to take your medication. Also, taking multi-vitamins and fish oil capsules daily can contribute to overall health and keep stress down. Other vitamin supplements such as Vitamin D or a B Complex can be helpful for mood.

20. Keep yourself busy to take your mind of things if that helps. Make plans to go out for lunch, go for walks, go to the movies or even curl up at home and watch a movie.

21. If you are suffering from clinical depression, getting some help can be beneficial this time of the year. Go to see a therapist, look for a support group, or contact the mental health team in your area. Get as much help and support as you can.

22. Give yourself a break — plan to prepare (or buy) one special meal, purchase one special gift, and take in one special event.

23. If you don’t like shopping, shop online or make small gifts.

24. Do your best not to create unrealistic expectations and don’t get caught up in comparisons.

25. Find someone to talk with who can help you through this difficult time — a family member, friend, a spiritual leader, or professional counsellor.

26. Call a crisis line in your time of need: Vancouver area 604-872-3311.

© Janel Ball 2007

Thank you and plesae take care of yourself over the holiday season,

Janel Ball, MA, RCC, MBACP Healing Solutions Professional Counselling Services janel@healingsolutions.ca http://healingsolutions.ca

A French epicurean once said, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” But can eating certain foods make you smarter, happier, or more able to constructively respond to stress? Could junk food lead to a junk attitude? Connections are being made all the time between the foods we eat and the way we feel, think, and act. Continue Reading…

By Sandi Doughton

The Seattle Times

February 24, 2008 6:00 AM

Dreary northern winters are infamous for inducing depression. But being starved for sunlight can do more than kick you into a psychic hole.

A growing body of evidence suggests it can raise your risk of cancer, increase susceptibility to heart attack, diabetes and other disorders, and at least partly account for the region’s sky-high rates of multiple sclerosis.

The reason is vitamin D, an essential nutrient produced in abundance by skin exposed to the sun’s rays. Long dismissed as being important mainly for strong bones, the so-called sunshine vitamin is now recognized as a key player throughout the body, including the immune system. Continue Reading…

Unless you are lucky enough to live in a location that enjoys year-round sunshine and mild temperatures, you are likely to experience a drop in your Vitamin D levels during the winter. Getting direct sun on your skin is one of the chief ways in which you get vitamin D. With the colder weather, we spend less time outdoors and when we are outdoors, we try to cover as much skin as possible.
Continue Reading…

Mood can be defined as a state of mind or a feeling. We will all experience low moods, or be down in the dumps from time to time and this is a normal part of the human condition. Our moods are not static; they can be affected by many factors including diet, environmental and biological influences and even our lifestyle. So is there anything we can do to boost our mood and lift our spirits naturally? Continue Reading…

Many women are facing trouble from a number of afflictions that are directly or indirectly brought on by the onset of menopause. Hot flashes may be the most insufferable of all the negative effects, such as headaches, night sweats, depression bouts, mood swings and so on. But itching skin is not far behind..
Continue Reading…

Being active makes a person healthy and strong. It is not just for people who have a weight problem but for everyone who likes to stay fit.

There is a lot a person can do such jog or walk every morning, play basketball or any other sport with friends but if a person wants to have muscles and look lean, then one can sign up and workout in a gym. Continue Reading…