seasonal affective disorder in bay area? (San Jose, San Francisco: to live, stats, moving to)

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by SunnyTXsmile

Given my ethnicity, I was raised on a Mediterranean diet, yet I still suffer from severe SAD. This may help some, but clearly it's not an end-all cure.

I absolutely agree that a sound diet is of utmost importance, though, for countless reasons.

And just to be factually correct, the Mediterranean diet was originally based off the diet of Greece and southern Italy (the cuisine of northern Italy is much different).

Yes, I'm sure it isn't a cure-all. It's just something that I think a lot of people overlook. We tend to look toward pills first, and forget about diet (not you personally, but in general).

I know there are regional differences throughout the Med. region, but I didn't realize the Med. diet was that much different in northern Italy than it was in the rest of the Mediterranean. Thanks for sharing.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by zitsky

Do they take into account other factors, like climate? I can think of other reasons that folks in the Mediterranean region would have less depression than northern Europe.

I don't know...but I do agree that there are other reasons why it could be the case as well. Family ties tend to be much closer in that area than they are in America and that has a big impact on health, and depression in particular, I would think.

[SunnyTXsmile]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

Yes, I'm sure it isn't a cure-all. It's just something that I think a lot of people overlook. We tend to look toward pills first, and forget about diet (not you personally, but in general).

I know there are regional differences throughout the Med. region, but I didn't realize the Med. diet was that much different in northern Italy than it was in the rest of the Mediterranean. Thanks for sharing.

I completely agree.

[SunnyTXsmile]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

I don't know...but I do agree that there are other reasons why it could be the case as well. Family ties tend to be much closer in that area than they are in America and that has a big impact on health, and depression in particular, I would think.

That's correct.

They also walk a lot more, so they're often getting more exercise (despite their lack of gyms compared to the US - who needs them there).

As they're outside walking or working, they're also getting more Vitamin D from the sun, etc.

They also don't have the same views about work as we do, so they remember to take more time to nurture relationships.

They do a lot of things that we could benefit from that would help with SAD.

Still, some part of SAD is genetic, or so the doctors say. But there are ways to cope with it, without pills. I've tried with and without pills. I much prefer the "without pills" method. It's more natural, has less negative side effects, and has many other additional benefits.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by zitsky

Do they take into account other factors, like climate? I can think of other reasons that folks in the Mediterranean region would have less depression than northern Europe.

Just noting that the Mediterranean part of Europe is on par with places like the CA-OR border area in terms of winter sun angle. Thank the Gulf Stream for that. The climate is much better at a higher latitude than here in the US.

[SunnyTXsmile]

Yet another reason to love the California sunshine (as if we needed one).

The Surprising Link Between MS and Sunshine | Yahoo! Health

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

But after studying weather data from around the world, I was surprised to learn that America is actually pretty sunny compared to most other parts of the world (even the East Coast & Midwest). Japan is often cloudy. Europe...cloudy. Asia outside the deserts is similar. Even Brazil, while warm, doesn't have as many sunny days as Florida (in general).

I'm not surprised by this. My family is originally from Europe, and I lived there as a kid for a few years. Cloudy all the time. A week of sunny weather had people talking about drought, any time of the year. The Mediterranean is better, but still cloudier than California.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Just noting that the Mediterranean part of Europe is on par with places like the CA-OR border area in terms of winter sun angle. Thank the Gulf Stream for that. The climate is much better at a higher latitude than here in the US.

It depends where you are and what you define as "better." Coastal weather in the Mediterranean is much warmer in the summer, but it's about the same in the winter, and just as rainy. Inland weather is actually sunnier and hotter out here. In fact, Redding, CA, near the OR border, has the hottest climate of any city in the world at a latitude of 40 degrees or more from the equator. Looking at some examples, the average high temp in Barcelona for the year is 68 degrees (cooler even than San Jose or Walnut Creek), while Redding's is 76 degrees. Barcelona averages 149 hours of sunshine in January, while Redding averages 226. Barcelona averages 310 of sunshine in July, while Redding averages 451. Even Jerusalem gets less heat and sun than Redding. So it's all a matter of microclimates, and what you like in terms of weather. If you're talking strictly summer beachgoing, then the Mediterranean wins hands-down. If you like hot, sunny weather, then California wins.

[CousinMaynard]

stockholm sweden
anchorage alaska
seattle washington

and an area that gets well over 300 days of sunshine per year.

one of these things is not like the others.

[Clevelandgal]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

Part of the problem is the diet of processed crap that passes for food in America. The Mediterranean diet prevalent in Spain and Italy has been shown to reduce incidence of depression by around 30%.

Mediterranean Diet May Fight Depression

I can't agree more that the Mediterranean diet is healthy and far better than the TAD (typical american diet) but the big cofounder in this study is um, the SUN! They mention Northern Europeans. I have been to Scandanavia a few times, and they are trim,eat well, live long, but SAD is a reality. I'm not sure if this still happens but at one point they got medical prescriptions to head to sunny places in the winter to recuperate. if Obama care had provisions for this, I'm sure this election would have been even easier!