>At 07:58 7/24/97 -0400, you wrote:
>>Hmm...  I wonder if people on a low-carb intake still get SAD.  I used to
>>get very depressed during the winter, but I started low-carb in January and
>>never had that problem this year.  In other words, if that's the case, then
>>the Eskimos wouldn't have that problem.
>
>     My husband has not suffered a depressed spell this winter.  SAD runs in
>his mother's side of the family.  Russian/Ashkenazi Jews who are prone to
>depression anyway.  Since he has been on the Atkins, he has not had any
>depressed or panic attacks.  Fat has definitely leveled out his mood swings.

I've been on Atkins since January 1996.  Last winter (96-97) I had some of
the worst SAD symptoms ever since moving to Alaska in 1989.  I always keep
lots of lights on in the winter as a matter of course, but what worked for me
last year was a vitamin D supplement.  From fall equinox to spring equinox, I
believe that I need extra vitamin D up here.  Before going lowcarb, I drank a
lot of milk and got the extra vit D that I needed in my regular diet.  After
losing milk from my diet, I needed more.

The clincher that proved it to myself was that in February, I ran out of
vitamin D.  The sypmtoms came back just as strong as before.  The next
Saturday, I got more vitamin D.  I was back to normal on Sunday.

Lisa Sporleder
Ester, Alaska  (75 degrees, sunny, and forest-fire smoky)

Here in the Fairbanks area, we get less than 3 hours of very weak, watery
sunlight at winter solstice.  It's dark during the non-working time hours for
all of December and January.