As the hours of sunlight shrink these weeks of mid fall, our good mood seems to shrink as well. The cheerfulness, energy, patience and enthusiasm that may have characterized us in the spring and summer seem to be replaced by grumpiness, impatience and irritability. As the sun goes down, fatigue goes up, and the idea of going for a walk or to a gym late in the afternoon or early evening has as much appeal as sleeping on an ice floe. 

What is even more disturbing for those of us always worried about gaining weight or losing it is the change in appetite. The willingness to dine on grilled chicken and a large salad is a thing of the summer past. Mac and cheese, roasted potatoes, crusty bread, stuffing, dumplings, rice, and bean soup seems much more appealing. We rationalize the need for these carbohydrates as a source of warmth and energy for those long winter nights.

However, recently scientists have given a plausible explanation for carbohydrate cravings that go up as the sun goes down earlier and earlier. It is all in the brain. In an article recently published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, Matthaus Williet and colleagues suggest that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects the brain chemical serotonin. The short hours of sunlight and the long hours of darkness of late fall and winter trigger depression, tiredness, increased sleep, and irritable moods. People suffering from SAD also experience an overwhelming desire to eat carbohydrates.

The link between SAD and carbohydrate craving has been a puzzle until recently. Now there seems to be an explanation.  In the winter, when people experience SAD, the brain uses serotonin faster. This lack of serotonin explains the symptoms of winter depression, especially carbohydrate craving.

Serotonin is made only when sweet and starchy carbohydrates (except fruit) are eaten. If protein is eaten along with the carbohydrates, no serotonin is made. So eating carbohydrates is therapeutic. The brain makes new serotonin, and the symptoms of SAD diminish.  Eating potatoes, rice, bread, pasta and other carbohydrates is a natural way of dealing with the darkness of winter. This does not mean that protein foods, vegetables, fruit, dairy products should be avoided. Not at all. But one approach might be to eat protein for breakfast and lunch. As the sun and serotonin levels go down, switch to carbohydrates. A dinner of pasta, or roasted potatoes or rice and vegetables, will restore serotonin, your good mood and your energy. 

When the longer days of spring return, the depression will go away, serotonin use will return to normal and that grilled chicken and salad will be appealing again.

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