I looked out the window yesterday evening right before I left work. I had been meaning to check if it was raining but to my surprise I couldn’t tell! I couldn’t tell because it was so dark outside. I looked at the clock hoping I hadn’t stayed too late but my computer’s clock read 4:45pm. The sun is going down much earlier than I’m used to.

With the days getting shorter, some people experience a phenomenon called Seasonal Affective Disorder. Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is a bout of depression that happens at a specific time of year and has been linked directly to the lack of sunlight. Sunlight provides the body with the necessary vitamin d that it needs to thrive. Since it is found in very few foods, most people need to take vitamin d supplements.

It seems logical that if the sun provides vitamin D and when you don’t get enough sun you are prone to SAD, that vitamin D may relieve some symptoms of this disorder. While doctors usually provide light therapy that uses a special kind of lamp to give off vitamin D rays, they are also suggesting that patients begin taking high quality vitamin D3 supplements to help with the affects of the depression.

In these days of shorter sunshine, if you’re beginning to feel a little sad and mopey, perhaps it’s time to add vitamin D to your supplement list so you can start feeling better!

There is nothing less attractive than a burp. Well, almost nothing. What about a burp that smells and tastes like fish? I bet you just recoiled from your computer screen a little didn’t you? It’s a very unpleasant thought. It’s precisely this thought, and the repulsiveness of it, that causes people to avoid taking omega 3 fish oil supplements. But they’re so good for your brain function that you shouldn’t go without them just because you’re afraid of that fishy taste. Here are some tips to avoiding that horrible fish burp.

First of all, you can take your omega 3 supplement right before a meal. That way the fish oil will mix with the other food in your stomach and hopefully cover up that fishy taste!

You can also freeze your supplements to slow the breakdown of the fish oil in your stomach. The omega 3 fatty acids will still be digested and absorbed into your system even if the pill is frozen. Plus, it might make it easier to swallow.

There’s always the option of purchasing an odorless fish oil supplement. They do sell these in the stores with the other supplements and while they’re a little pricier, they may help you get through the day fish breath free.

Don’t stop taking your fish oil supplement just because you don’t like the fishy taste, there are ways to get around that taste and the dreaded fish burp.

Unless you happen to be a vampire, you probably have a few cloves of garlic in your kitchen pantry. But did you know that you can do more than just make spaghetti sauce and ward off Dracula with that garlic? Studies have shown that you can actually use garlic supplements to lower cholesterol naturally.

Over the past few years, scientists and doctors have worked to find better and more natural ways to bring down what they call “bad cholesterol” while maintaining the “good cholesterol.” A new generation of holistic medicine and a rise of a natural medicine movement have brought about some interesting ways to do so.

Garlic was the first and still most widely accepted and used method of cholesterol control but, just like any medication it has its drawbacks. The supplement can cause bad breath and body odor which, while keeping you safe from those pesky vampires, will not endear you to your co-workers or dinner guests.

You could try artichoke extract which lowers the body’s bad cholesterol while leaving the good stuff behind. But beware artichoke extract can cause an allergic reaction or gas which, again, will not make that first date very comfortable.

The newest way to lower your cholesterol has absolutely no side effects whatsoever. Try putting adding barley to your diet. Doctors claim that this will lower total cholesterol and won’t send your friends running for the door.