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WHY A SAD LAMP SHOULD BE AT THE TOP OF YOUR WINTER WISH LIST They’re a chic homeware staple, but boast potential medical benefits too…
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T’S no secret that summer leaves us in an all-round better mood. It’s warmer, you wake up earlier with the natural sunlight, and will find it easier to stick to a daily routine – something that gets totally thrown off when it’s dark and cold. Research suggests that SAD (seasonal affective disorder) impacts one in three people in the UK. Lack of Vitamin D causes symptoms similar to depression, including low mood, feelings of hopelessness, and low energy levels to name a few. Recognise them? SAD lamps are being hailed as the new champions of combatting what was once known as the ‘winter blues’, and can provide an uplift that replicates real sunlight and helps put you in a better frame of mind from the comfort of your own home. These lamps, along with other light therapies have become increasingly popular as conversations around mental health and staying well become the norm. What’s more, most generate a whopping 10,000 lux of cool-white fluorescent light – twenty times more than your typical indoor light. Thanks to its strength, it encourages your brain to release serotonin, a feel-good hormone that helps you get back on track with your mood and regular routine with a sunrise and sunset function at the same time each day. And while it may sound medical, there’s no compromise on style. They function just as a regular alarm clock too,
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Maisie, 24, from Birmingham has and come in a whole bunch of clean, suffered episodes of depression since modern styles that look effortlessly good. being a teenager, and has found using a Brands such as Lumie are an Instagram SAD lamp acts as the perfect companion. favourite, and even boast bonuses such “It keeps me to a routine because I as nature sounds (including storms, know what time the light colours rainforests, and waves) to change each day,” she says. “I wake you up gradually wake up at the same time, in the morning, rather and I know that if I have than a blaring iPhone errands, that I should get alarm – which let’s them done before the face it, is enough sunset function comes to send shudders on, which I then use as down anyone’s my time to switch off spine. and relax.” Explaining Lumie Bodyclock Although there’s still itsbenefits, Jonathan Spark 100, Boots, £79 ongoing research into their Cridland, CEO of Lumie boots.co.uk long-term benefits, doctors may says, “Using a SAD lamp for now even suggest light therapy as a thirty minutes each day in the winter way of coping with symptoms you’re can replace the natural sunlight that experiencing. It’s safe to say a brighter is missing from our daily lives, helping (and lighter) future could be on its way. people feel more energetic and uplifted.”
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