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" &amp;#039;Tis the season for parties and cheer, memory making and cozy nights by the fire. And for catching colds, feeling tired and craving carbs. The changes in weather, temperature and light this time of year have physical and psychological effects on your body that in turn can have a major impact on your overall health. Learn what these effects are and how to use them to your advantage, and you&amp;#039;ll have a happier, healthier winter.   The Winter Effect: Your Immune System   As the weather starts to change, probably the first thing that crosses your mind is the risk of getting sick, and with good reason. Up to 20 percent of Americans come down with the flu each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and we suffer from an astounding one billion colds. So get your flu shots (for the seasonal flu and H1N1) and follow these finer points of prevention.   Work with it. Be a germophobe: It pays to be obsessive about keeping your hands clean, since they&amp;#039;re a major way germs get into our bodies. One study showed a 45 percent decrease in respiratory illness among people who upped their handwashing to at least five times a day. A few easy and low-effort strategies: Carry your own pen, don&amp;#039;t share your cell phone, keep antibacterial spray or gel in your purse and use it after you&amp;#039;ve come in contact with lots of surfaces. Also, an important tip on technique: When washing your hands, be sure to lather outside the stream of water, not under the faucet\u2014friction between soap and skin is what dislodges germs.   Drink up. Getting plenty of H2O may help prevent viruses and bacteria from taking hold in your body once you&amp;#039;ve been exposed to them, says Riva Rahl, MD, medical director for the Cooper Wellness Program at the Cooper Aerobics Center and a staff physician at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas. &amp;quot;The mucus in your nose is actually one of the key physical barriers that keeps germs out of your body. When you&amp;#039;re not well hydrated, it dries up and doesn&amp;#039;t provide that barrier,&amp;quot; explains Dr. Rahl. Staying hydrated also helps your system distribute valuable nutrients while flushing out germs and toxins.   Stay warm. Being cold, and especially shivering, depresses the immune system because your body&amp;#039;s resources go toward raising your temperature rather than warding off germs. That makes it doubly important to focus on keeping warm. In cold weather, blood is shunted to your body&amp;#039;s core, so your extremities get cold first. Invest in gloves, warm shoes and a hat, and if it&amp;#039;s very chilly, think about wearing thin gloves under a pair of mittens. Also, to avoid overheating and sweating\u2014which can ultimately chill your body\u2014dress in layers. Fleece is an especially good insulator; use moisture-wicking synthetic fabrics (such as nylon and polyester) if you&amp;#039;re exercising.   Take time to unwind. It&amp;#039;s hard with the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we know, but experts can&amp;#039;t emphasize enough how destressing strengthens your immune system. Research shows that people who engaged in mindfulness techniques like gentle yoga and meditation had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol (experts think too-high levels make us more vulnerable to getting sick). You can get similar results by simply taking 10 minutes a day to meditate or focus on slowing your breathing and relaxing your muscles.   The Winter Effect: Your Energy Levels    Feeling more tired in the winter months isn&amp;#039;t just psychological. &amp;quot;Seasonal variations in the amounts of light and darkness we&amp;#039;re exposed to have a powerful effect on our biology,&amp;quot; says Rubin Naiman, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Arizona and director of Circadian Health Associates. Darkness prompts our bodies to produce the sleep hormone melatonin, making us feel fatigued. Add to that all the extra holiday tasks and obligations, and you&amp;#039;re working with a double deficit.   Work with it. Go with your seasonal rhythm: &amp;quot;Your mental and physical energy are influenced by the short days and long nights of winter,&amp;quot; says Judith Wurtman, PhD, research scientist at MIT and coauthor of The Serotonin Power Diet. &amp;quot;People are more energetic earlier in the day.&amp;quot; To that end, concentrate your highest-power tasks in the morning and early afternoon, and try to exercise later in the day to up your energy. Also make sure to eat protein at breakfast (think eggs with lowfat cheese, turkey bacon) and lunch to stay mentally alert. At dinner, include healthy carbs (whole grains like brown rice), which are what your body craves when it gets dark by late afternoon. Eating healthy carbs can also help head off cravings for the &amp;quot;bad&amp;quot; kind (cookies, cakes).   Don&amp;#039;t fight the fatigue. &amp;quot;This time of year, increased sleepiness is natural,&amp;quot; says Dr. Naiman. When you get tired, take a moment to close your eyes and drop your head for just 20 or 30 seconds. Or, if you have time, take a 20-minute nap. Either way, you&amp;#039;ll give your body a chance to recharge. Dr. Naiman also suggests adding 10 to 20 minutes to your nighttime sleep schedule to compensate for changes in your circadian rhythm (the 24-hour physiological cycle your body goes through). You&amp;#039;ll likely make up the lost time by being more efficient throughout the day.   Take a walk\u2014even if it&amp;#039;s a quick jaunt around your office or house. &amp;quot;When you increase your heart rate, your blood pressure goes up, so the effect is like getting a shot of adrenaline,&amp;quot; says Dr. Rahl. Better yet, walk regularly: Researchers at the University of Georgia found that people who did low-intensity exercise (like walking) for 20 minutes three times a week reduced their fatigue levels by up to 65 percent. Another Stanford University study found that people who do moderate-intensity exercise like low-impact aerobics during the day feel more rested and energetic, and sleep better at night. One reason: Exercise reduces stress and anxiety hormones, making your slumber smoother.   The Winter Effect: Your Mood    Feeling gloomy due to extra hours of darkness isn&amp;#039;t solely psychological. It&amp;#039;s physiological, too: &amp;quot;The long hours of darkness and short hours of light affect serotonin, the brain chemical that keeps us in a good mood and turns off our appetite,&amp;quot; says Dr. Wurtman. In fact, seasonal affective disorder, in which depression caused by lack of light persists day after day, affects about 5 percent of Americans, with 10 to 20 percent experiencing a milder form of winter blues.   Work with it. Serve up some complex carbohydrates, omega-3s and chocolate: &amp;quot;Serotonin is the body&amp;#039;s natural mood booster, and levels plunge (along with mood) as it gets dark,&amp;quot; says Dr. Wurtman. Carbohydrates will prompt the brain to make new serotonin, but research shows carbs do this best when you eat them without protein. (Usually we&amp;#039;re telling you to eat carbs with protein to keep blood sugar levels stable, but to boost serotonin, it&amp;#039;s all about the carbs.) Stick to the complex variety, like whole grains or beans. A slew of recent studies have also connected omega-3 fatty acids\u2014typically found in fish (such as salmon) and nuts (walnuts are an especially rich source)\u2014to good mood. Aim to eat these foods two or three times a week. Best of all, dark chocolate has been shown to be a natural mood enhancer. Look for kinds made of 70 percent cacao or more; they have the strongest benefits.   Add some light. Canadian researchers found that 30 minutes of light therapy daily for eight weeks worked just as well as Prozac to ease depression. Not only that, the light therapy started having an effect within the first week, whereas the antidepressant took at least two weeks to kick in. You can try it yourself with a special light box that&amp;#039;s much brighter than a lamp and has an ultraviolet filter. (Look for one with about a 10,000-lux glow; prices start around $175.) But experts also say exposing yourself to daylight first thing in the morning can help if you have very mild symptoms. So try taking a 30-minute walk outside, even if it&amp;#039;s cloudy.   Write down what makes you happy. &amp;quot;Help dispel stress or negative feelings by listing a few things that make you truly happy\u2014whether it&amp;#039;s something as small as a sunny day or as big as a beach vacation. &amp;quot;Writing down the good stuff is a fantastic way of shaping how you think and feel,&amp;quot; says Jeffrey Brown, PsyD, instructor in the psychiatry department at Harvard Medical School and author of The Competitive Edge. &amp;quot;Not only are you giving your mind a break from your immediate worries and anxieties, you&amp;#039;re also bringing those problems down to size.&amp;quot; Keep up the practice over time, and you&amp;#039;ll actually train your brain to default to this kind of &amp;quot;focus on the positive&amp;quot; thinking automatically.   Break a sweat. Pumping up your heart rate increases the production of endorphins, hormones that give you a natural sense of well-being. It also reduces the production of stress hormones such as cortisol. Recent studies show that one way to get this effect is to break a sweat. Do anything that gets you there: a quick game of living room tag with the kids, speed-cleaning the kitchen, a few trips up and down the stairs.   The Winter Effect: Your Weight    You&amp;#039;re not crazy if you think it&amp;#039;s tough to stay slim during the winter months. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s easier to stay out and about with errands or exercise when it&amp;#039;s light out and the weather&amp;#039;s warm. In winter, you&amp;#039;ve got less daylight to work with,&amp;quot; says Martin Binks, PhD, author of The Duke Diet and Clinical Director of Binks Behavioral Health. Not to mention season-induced carb cravings and holiday parties. Staying active is a given, and we&amp;#039;ve added a few less obvious (but effective) techniques.   Work with it. Prep for the season&amp;#039;s roadblocks: Pull out all of your cold-weather gear: Having the items to keep you warm within easy reach (scarves, gloves, a fleecelined zip-up jacket or hoodie) will make outdoor walks and errands seem more bearable.   Make exercise as painless as possible. Think of ways to weave in a little more of that physical activity you naturally get in warm weather. Instead of getting coffee with a friend, take a walk together. Or take an extra lap around the mall when you&amp;#039;re doing holiday shopping. If you&amp;#039;ve got bags in tow, you&amp;#039;re doing a little resistance training!   Look for good produce. Scientists are discovering that one of the reasons we keep eating long after we&amp;#039;ve met our calorie requirements is that we&amp;#039;re still craving nutrients. Help make sure you&amp;#039;re getting what you need by digging into the amazing fruits and vegetables in season now, like squash and Florida oranges. And going frozen can be just as healthy. &amp;quot;If vegetables are harvested and blanched immediately, they retain a lot of nutrients,&amp;quot; says Stephanie Middleberg, MS, RD, a registered dietician at Nu-Train in New York City.   Entertain yourself. &amp;quot;The mere fact that you&amp;#039;re spending so much time indoors can induce boredom, and possibly depression. If you&amp;#039;re even remotely an emotional eater, both are big triggers,&amp;quot; says Dr. Binks. This means that winter is the best season to add some extra fun to your life. Doing activities you enjoy can stimulate your brain to produce dopamine, a moodenhancing hormone that can help stave off the negative feelings that might lead to indulging and can also act as an appetite suppressant. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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