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Winter is coming

blog.42floors.com

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Re: Winter is coming

#51

Post by graham1776 »

palidanx wrote: post #2

What is super bizarre is after I had some blood work done, the doctor said I was deficient in Vitamin D and I live in Southern California. He further continued, that we often are indoors most of the time, and even when we go outside we cover up and don't get much direct exposure. Adding to the further craziness, I asked several of my friends of their vitamin d levels and they said they were deficient also.

Live in Newport Beach, same thing happens to me, sitting inside from sunup to sundown. The one time a month I go to the beach I'm always "How have I not been outside for this long? Why do I even live here?"

Re: Winter is coming

#52

Post by ruttiger »

fein wrote: post #11

Complaining about the winter in SF? Really? I understand seasonal depression, but that can't even hold a candle to the bullshit we see up here in the Great Salted North. I wake up and bike to work during the winters here... It's pitch black until after 8 AM. After work? Darkness and cold by 5 PM. This is for around 5 months of the year up here. Sure, shit gets annoying during the nastiness of November through March,…

Misery and discomfort are relative. If you started complaining, then people in Siberia will start laughing. We all have our pain, and we don't have to justify it across all of humanity -- else, nobody in first world countries should ever complain.

Re: Winter is coming

#53

Post by gwern »

jdmitch wrote: post #3

Does taking vitamin D3 supplements really work for the OP? There have been a number of HN posts about how the vitamin fad started by Linus Pauling has not been backed up scientifically, such as this one: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/the-vitami... but maybe there is more to it when it comes to SAD...

You could search Pubmed for human experiments:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=%28%22vitamin+d%22...

I get 5 hits; 2 are positive results and 3 are mixed/non-significant (which is probably explained by their small sizes).

Re: Winter is coming

#54

Post by teach »

ozh wrote: post #30
jaf12duke wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP here. I'll give a qualified yes. It's hard to actually know which action I take has the most effect. Vitamin D, bright lights, exercise all play a role. I've found it's important to try everything and hope for the best. If I were to pick just one thing to do though, it would be the bright lights in the morning. I know for sure that those work. Not only for myself, but for many other people who have given it a try.

Yes, fixing your Vitamin D level gives a very effective boost, however it is absolutely not harmless to consume too much vit D as the article implies. More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervitaminosis_D

Hypervitaminosis D is incredibly rare. Taking 1000 IU per day ought to be harmless for literally everyone. Even 10,000 IU per day is WAY below toxicity.

Re: Winter is coming

#55

Post by 6d0debc071 »

VLM wrote: post #31
IanDrake wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's about daylight exposure, not temp. Working indoors is a relatively new phenomenon in humans and effects us all a little differently. When it's dark when you go into work, and you don't have a corner office, and it's dark when you leave your body gets no sunlight. For some, this has a profound effect on mood.

Observationally I think there's a huge exercise component, in past centuries miners, textile/sweatshop workers, and assemblyline workers didn't seem to suffer.

Weren't their lives pretty miserable anyway? Can you max out your unhappiness meter?

Re: Winter is coming

#56

Post by VLM »

Pxtl wrote: post #40
VLM wrote: post #26

On a side tangent resulting in similar (edited: milder) symptoms, for decades I've noticed the typical westerner calendar is extremely lopsided. June thru December is one holiday per month if not more, where you can take a vacation and not stress about whats going on back at work, in comparison the other half of the year January thru June has ... basically no time off. Oh you can take a vacation day, you'll just have…

What about Good Friday (and the gov't holiday of Easter Monday if you're in that field)? Anyhow, to counter this we get a day in February called "Family Day" here in Ontario - one of the much-maligned Ontario Liberal Party's better ideas.

I don't work in a Catholic country so no federal holiday. For the operations people, Easter Sunday isn't even recognized as an official company holiday, much less Good Friday or Ash Wednesday.

There is Valentines day which if you're hetronormative and a girl must be a lot of fun, but for us guys its pretty much just an expensive stressful (or lonely?) PITA. I could do without it, happily.

Arbor day doesn't cut it either. Yo dude its Arbor Day lets go out and get drunk! Uh yeah you go do that and hug a tree for me.

Re: Winter is coming

#57

Post by GrinningFool »

jeltz wrote: post #27

I wonder what causes it since the variations in sunlight are tiny in SF (shortest day = 9.5 hours) compared to for example Stockholm (shortest day = 6 hours).

Variations being comparatively small doesn't make them tiny.

Shortest day in SF is 9.5 hours. Longest day in SF is 14.75 hours.

That's a significant difference. In comparison to Stockholm (6/18.5) it doesn't appear significant - but it's in no way tiny.

Re: Winter is coming

#58

Post by Pxtl »

VLM wrote: post #56
Pxtl wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about Good Friday (and the gov't holiday of Easter Monday if you're in that field)? Anyhow, to counter this we get a day in February called "Family Day" here in Ontario - one of the much-maligned Ontario Liberal Party's better ideas.

I don't work in a Catholic country so no federal holiday. For the operations people, Easter Sunday isn't even recognized as an official company holiday, much less Good Friday or Ash Wednesday. There is Valentines day which if you're hetronormative and a girl must be a lot of fun, but for us guys its pretty much just an expensive stressful (or lonely?) PITA. I could do without it, happily. Arbor day doesn't cut it eit…

Bah, when you said "Westerner", I assumed you were an Albertan. Dumb Canadian moment. I never realized that Americans don't get Good Friday off like we do in Canada.

Re: Winter is coming

#59

Post by jotm »

I think everyone is affected by seasons - in my case, I feel down during seasons change, mostly May and October. I feel awesome during winter, I love it, summer not so much since I hate hot and humid weather (UK is pretty great during summer IMO :-D).

Re: Winter is coming

#60

Post by richardlblair »

Raphmedia wrote: post #6

Sunrise today: 7:29 AM, Sunset today: 5:46 PM. (In Montreal) Things are good now, but in a little while, it is going to set at 4PM. Goodbye sun. I recently got one of those sunrise alarm clock. Let's see if it helps.

Ottawa reporting in. Hell is about to come upon us, friend. Buckle down, I have a feeling this winter is going to be a rough one.
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