Here's another cut and pasted exceprt from an interesting website on SAD and Light Therapy

How Daylight Light Benefits Your Health

Daylight is essential for good health because of its beneficial affect on hormone balance. Your brain requires a certain amount of natural light each and every day. The natural light that hits your retina (light gathering area inside the eye) is transmitted to an area of your brain called the pineal body. The pineal is the brain center for the production of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin regulates daily body rhythms, most notably the day/night cycle (circadian rhythms). Normal melatonin levels are important for natural sleep cycles and proper immune system function.

Seasonal Affective Disorder SAD

Between September and April in the Northern Hemisphere (March through October in Southern Hemisphere), certain people who are light sensitive start experiencing something called the winter blues. Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is the most extreme version and its affect on the body and mind of a lack of natural light. People affected by SAD exhibit extreme depressive behavior and complain of a lack of energy, increased need for sleep, a craving for sweets and exhibit weight gain as a result of their sedentary nature and unhealthy dietary habits.Symptoms usually begin as daylight hours become shorter, peak in the winter and then usually resolve themselves in the spring as daylight hours become longer. The National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland had this to say about SAD: Along with food, air, and water, sunlight is the most important survival factor in human life. This is important to think about in this time of generalized sun phobia.

How to Get Healthy Levels of Natural Light

During the summer, getting enough natural light is as easy as taking a walk for 10 to 15 minutes without sunglasses. Without sunglasses over the eyes, natural, full spectrum light easily passes into the eye, striking the retina and positively affecting your brain. In the winter, weather permitting, taking a 10 to 15 minute walk midday provides at least some natural light exposure.

I cut and pasted this excerpt from an interesting website talking about Light Therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD):

Personal Light Therapy

It is believed that over 75 million people in the U.S. are light deprived -- and are paying for it with their health. Referred to as Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.), the most common symptoms are low energy, low mood, and poor quality of sleep. Additionally, irritability, difficulty concentrating, carbohydrate cravings, and reduced libido can be the effects of not getting enough bright light on a daily basis. If what I'm describing sounds like you, or someone you love, think about it: we spend most of our days indoors, where there is little or none of the sun's life-giving bright light -- and none of its beneficial wavelengths. Jet lag, shift work, the short days of winter, or anything that disrupts the body's clock, often result in bright light deprivation symptoms, too.

I cut and pasted this excerpt from an interesting website talking about Light Therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD):

LIGHT IS NATURE'S STIMULANTThe upbeat feeling we get on a bright sunny day is no accident. This feeling is the result of light triggering our bodies to release "active" hormones to help improve our mood and energy levels.

Winter can be a challenge for many because the shorter days and longer nights leave us simply "light-deprived". Without the normal light stimulation, we often feel down, lethargic and unhappy.

Light therapy provides a natural boost that helps you feel better, increases energy and even helps you sleep. Using the right wavelength of light, you can trigger your active hormones naturally, boosting your mood and overcoming those down feelings, whatever the season.

I cut and pasted this excerpt from an interesting website talking about Light Therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD):

Light Boxes Bring Sunshine to Every Day
If you just don’t feel like yourself during the fall and winter months, you may be like many other Americans and suffer from seasonal depression. Seasonal depression, also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or S.A.D., is a real problem for those who are susceptible to the effects of reduced natural sunlight, and can cause lethargy, weight gain and other real effects. And for years, most people who suffered from seasonal depression couldn’t do anything about it. Until now.

Reduce Seasonal Depression with Light Box Therapy
Just a few minutes per day with one of our exclusive light boxes can reduce and even eliminate the effects of S.A.D. Light box therapy is a safe, effective proven way to help those with S.A.D. feel normal and live their lives to the fullest.