S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) keeps coming back for many of us every winter, and as we get older, it gets harder for us to deal with it. The risk factors for S.A.D. include being female, living far from the equator, having a family history, and having an MTHFR gene mutation. All of that is true for Dr. Karl, apart from being female. 

In this episode, we share some things you can try for yourself. We know that some people have a genetic predisposition for S.A.D., and that also needs to be looked at. What we are sharing today is what Dr. Karl does for himself with what has become his must-do list of actions each year. We will also talk about what S.A.D. is, why some people get it, and what you can do about it. 

What S.A.D. is

S.A.D. occurs in winter, regardless of where in the world you are. S.A.D. is the SNP MTHFR and that methylation intersection. That means that with S.A.D., you would be either undermethylated or over methylated due to other mutations that you may have. It affects neurotransmitters and the methylation process. The methylation is the ripple that affects a lot of other things.

A compounded problem

Dr. Karl’s blood type is type A. That creates a compounded problem for him in terms of mutations. 

The lowest Vitamin D

Dr. Karl went to medical school in Seattle. Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington have the lowest Vitamin D levels in the whole country. That predisposes all the people living there to many issues. While at medical school, Dr. Karl did not concern himself with Vitamin D because he did not believe in taking supplements at the time.

Melatonin

While he was studying, Dr. Karl lacked energy and felt very tired. In his house in Seattle, he replaced every light bulb with full-spectrum light. And in the room in which he studied, he had seven different lights to wake him up and increase his melatonin. 

When you sleep at night, you need dark because the darkness turns on your melatonin. If there is not much light when you wake up in the morning, you need to artificially induce some bright light to wake you up and shut down the melatonin.

Three biggest factors 

The three biggest factors that were quite effective in helping Dr. Karl cope with S.A.D. were using the full-spectrum lights, taking Vitamin D3/K2 with some magnesium, and taking pre-methylated Vitamin B12, a pre-methylated folic acid, riboflavin (Vitamin B2), and Vitamin B6.

Supplements

Taking Vitamin D3/K2 with some magnesium (taken separately) will help you in overcoming S.A.D. Dr. Karl treats his polymorphism by also taking pre-methylated Vitamin B12 and a pre-methylated folic acid. He also supplements riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and Vitamin B6.

Vitamin A

It has been alleged that people with Dr. Karl’s type of polymorphism are slower to adapt to having their methylation normalized and slower in getting over S.A.D.

Other helpful things

Slow repetitions of HIT (High-Intensity Weight-Resistance Training) exercise and getting an Omega blood work panel done will help make you impervious to S.A.D.

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Article Link:

MFTHR and psychiatric diseases