What’s Behind Winter Fatigue

Fewer daylight hours directly affects your energy levels. 

But the good news is it only takes a few simple changes to get a lot more energy.

If you experience winter fatigue, you’re not alone. Between 2% & 3% of Canadians suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD is a kind of depression that appears at certain times of the year. It usually begins in the fall when the days get shorter and lasts through the winter. (1)

SAD is the most well-known cause of fatigue in the winter months.

But did you know that fewer hours of daylight in the winter can also make adrenal fatigue and chronic fatigue (CFS) worse?

This is because of something called your circadian rhythm. And it’s really a separate (though, related) issue to SAD.

What you assume is general fatigue in winter or a lack of energy could be an interruption of your body’s circadian rhythm. But don’t worry – it’s not difficult to fix.

Read on to learn how.

The circadian rhythm and fatigue

The circadian rhythm is a 24-hour internal clock that runs in the background of your brain and cycles between sleepiness and alertness at regular intervals. It’s also known as your sleep-wake cycle. You have the circadian rhythm to thank for why you feel tired at night and – hopefully – alert during the day.

If you’re finding it nearly impossible to get out of bed in the winter or if you’re experiencing intense fatigue in the afternoon, your circadian rhythm may be to blame. In fact, problems with the circadian rhythm are often behind both CFS and adrenal fatigue.

In the Paleolithic era, humans were hunter-gatherers. There was no electricity or artificial light. Therefore, humans lived in alignment with the light-dark cycle of their environment – sleeping when it was dark and awake while the sun was out. The circadian rhythm is an adaptation to the light-dark cycle found here on earth. Ideally, it keeps you awake during daylight hours and asleep at night.

Modern humans have been around for about 200,000 years. (3) Of that time, we’ve only had artificial lights for about 300 years – or .015% of human existence.

That is a lot of genetic pressure encouraging you to align your sleep-wake cycle with the light-dark cycle of the seasons. Yet today, you alter the light in your environment daily. With the simple flick of a light switch, the inside of your home can look like midday at 3am.

Unfortunately, your body cannot tell the difference between sunlight and artificial light. This is why you see so much information about avoiding the use of computers and phones before bed. The light emitted from these devices tricks your brain into thinking it’s daytime. Your body then doesn’t produce melatonin which makes it much harder to fall asleep.

This interruption to the circadian rhythm is a leading cause of winter fatigue.

Next, we’ll discuss how to alter this.

Your brain & fatigue

Now that you’re familiar with what the circadian rhythm is, it’s time to learn how it can be controlled and altered.

Your eyes tell your brain when it’s time to produce melatonin, the hormone that you need to sleep. When it’s light, your brain does not produce melatonin. This helps you to stay conscious and active during the day. At night, your brain produces melatonin, which causes you to be tired and hopefully fall asleep.

However, the production of melatonin can be suppressed by artificial light; this may be the lights in your home or the light from your electronic devices. (4, 5)

When you alter melatonin production, you begin altering the circadian rhythm. Altered circadian rhythms can be a good or bad thing.

If you are travelling over more than one time zone, you need to alter your circadian rhythm. As it resets to the new time zone you experience jet lag.

However, altering your circadian rhythm can become a chronic issue that causes fatigue and a decrease in energy. That’s because the circadian rhythm also affects cortisol levels. If you’re familiar with adrenal fatigue, you’ll know just how important healthy cortisol rhythms and levels are.

How to improve energy levels during the winter months

There are two ways you need to address winter fatigue:

1. Circadian Rhythm
2. Cortisol levels

Circadian rhythm

It would be great if your sleep-wake cycle could align with the winter’s light-dark cycle. But I don’t think many of you could keep your jobs if you slept from 5 pm to 9 am each day. Being completely aligned with the season’s natural rhythms is no longer possible in this modern day.

However, you can certainly take steps to better align with the winter season. Below are some of the best things you can do to remedy winter fatigue:

• Schedule 8-9 hours of sleep each night.
  • Most of you have morning commitments; therefore, waking up later is not an option. Instead, make your bedtime earlier.
  • This means that if you need to get up at 6 am, ensure your lights are out no later than 10 pm.
• Make your bedroom a sanctuary.
  • If ever there’s a place to indulge, it’s on your mattress and pillow. A third of your life will be spent here. Investing in quality bedding will make sleep so much more enjoyable.
  • Your bedroom is for sleeping and lovemaking. Nothing more.
    • Remove televisions and other electronic devices that interrupt sleep and connection with your partner.
• Adjust the temperature of your house.
  • Your body prefers to be slightly cool before bed. (6)
  • Decreasing the temperature of your house 1-2 degrees overnight will likely improve your sleep quality.
• Avoid bright lights in the evening.
  • Try using accent lighting in your home in place of overhead lights.
  • If you’re using electronic devices, install apps like f.lux. to block the blue light from being emitted.
  • Try using amber glasses to block out melatonin-suppressing wavelengths of light.
• Practice relaxation techniques before bed.
  • Reading, hot baths, meditation, or a cup of tea are a few great ways to unwind in the evening.

Cortisol levels

Much like melatonin, the cortisol hormone follows what is called a diurnal rhythm. In a perfect scenario, cortisol levels peak shortly after waking. This is called the cortisol awakening response. After waking, there is a gradual decline in cortisol levels. Cortisol reaches its lowest point of the day shortly before bed. As you sleep, cortisol levels increase and the cycle starts again.

However, you need to know that fatigue isn’t just caused by low cortisol levels (adrenal fatigue). In fact, high levels of cortisol and altered cortisol rhythms also cause fatigue. Read more about the different types of adrenal fatigue conditions.

To ensure you have healthy cortisol levels and rhythms (thus, normal energy levels), I recommend the following things:

• Use morning light therapy.
  • The cortisol awakening response is triggered by exposure to sunlight. During the winter months, exposure to morning sunlight may not be an option. Using a light therapy device for 10 minutes immediately after waking can ensure you have the energy needed to get out of bed.
    • This therapy is a great alternative to pushing snooze dozens of times.
• Get outside.
  • Exposure to sunlight keeps melatonin production under control.
  • Ensure you get outside at least once every day, ideally, when the sun is at its peak. Even five minutes of outdoor sun exposure can improve your energy levels.
• Eat a balanced diet.
  • Blood sugar imbalances like diabetes are a common cause of cortisol imbalances.
  • Learn more about which foods are affecting your cortisol levels.
• Manage your stress
  • While work/relationship/financial stress all play a roll in cortisol levels, there are 3 hidden causes of stress that strongly influence cortisol levels.

In addition to these recommendations, I recommend taking a vitamin D supplement.

Recent research suggests 25-50% of the population is deficient in vitamin D. (7) And unless cod livers and other organ meats are a regular part of your diet, this probably includes you. Sun exposure is the best way to increase vitamin D levels, but for those living in climates where sun exposure is not an option, I recommend you take a D3 (cholecalciferol) supplement.

However, before you start taking a megadose of vitamin D, I recommend getting a laboratory test. This way, you have an objective means of determining exactly how much vitamin D you should be taking. Plus, taking too much vitamin D can cause symptoms similar to not taking enough vitamin D.

Symptoms of high levels of vitamin D include:

• dehydration,
• vomiting,
• decreased appetite,
• irritability,
• constipation,
• fatigue,
• muscle weakness.

A safe amount of vitamin D is somewhere between 400-2000 IU/day. A blood test will tell you how much you should take. If you have low levels of vitamin D, you’ll need to take a higher dose.

In Canada, physicians are no longer able to run regular vitamin D tests for their patients. If you aren’t able to figure out what your vitamin D levels are at, opt for 1 teaspoon of cod liver oil per day during the winter. This will give you a healthy (but safe) dose of both vitamins A and D.