Speaking topic: The weather and your mood

[Bulone]

[Bulone]

Few months ago, I read an article about how drastic changes in weather can effect human mood greatly. It's not about sudden changes of weather in specific region. It's about people who migrates from one extreme region to another; like equatorial to polar.

In equator, people gets great deal of sunlight throughout the year. As you know, body produces vitamin D from sunlight. So those people have high level of vitamin D in their bodies compare to polar dwellers because of getting sunlight more than polar counterparts. So when they move to polar regions, which don't get enough sunlight, their bodies can no longer produce as much as vitamin D like it was before. As a result, the vitamin D level reduce. What happens was that, they becomes tired and lethargic and don't feel like doing anything. So the article suggests those who are in similar scenario to take vitamin d supplement.

[Borislav]

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Hi all,
The flowers have always been loved by me and even I have 10 live flowers in my room.These two that you Claudia and Huong posted look very exotic and I haven't seen them before.Furthermore I cultivate tipical flowers like little trees that don't like pretty much water, sun light and humidity.
Do you know the "THUJA" ? It is a small bush, very unexacting to the weather conditions except the warm weather.In order to grow the plant it needs only irrigation from time to time.Generally everybody knows it under the name of "CYPRESS" but that's misleading.
I looked for the particular kind which I own but here are some pictures of The East THUJA :

I will upload a picture of my Thuja as soon as it grows because now it is around 10 cm height.
Bulone the weather have always been effecting the human's mood.According to a pool in the Scandinavian countries the bad weather is a purpose(not the only purpose of course) for suicides.Perhaps the sunlight throughout the year is sufficient for the amount vitamin D but it has harmful effects that people with less sunlight are not exhibited at.

[Suchita]

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[Bulone]

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Hi Suchita,
I also speak Hindi but broken...completely broken. You might not even understand. lol

So here goes nothing - Me` boloe hindi cho tay.

I know know you are laughing at me right now haha

[HuongItaly]

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Good day to everyone !

Suchita, welcome back after such a long time. Finally we can also see you in the picture :) Which is the name of the river where the picture was taken ?
The Hindi language sounds to be very nice indeed !

Bulone, what you wrote about the weather changing effects and vitamin D is very interesting. We human beings have a great capability to adapt, but it's not always easy at all. Fortunately I'm getting enough of sunlight here in Italy even if the winter here is colder and much longer than in Vietnam. It's 26°C at my hometown and here it's more or less 3°C today.

Borislav, I know the Thuja, it's a lovely plant. Good to know you are fond of flowers and plants too !

Huong.

[HuongItaly]

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Hi Claudia,

I'd like to take foto of the Amaryllis every day, but I have only a mechanical camera, not a digital one. My camera of the trade mark Canon is so wonderful that I don't want to throw it away and buy a moderner digital, even if I think it would be really convenient to be able to take photos whenever you want and chose what to keep what to delete. With my old camera, I still have to print photos on paper, but I love such "physical" photos and I can put them in album!

Thank you very much for the bonsai lemon tree, it's lovely ! I'm looking for one, I'll prepare it for the coming springtime :)

The temperature here is getting higher, but the weather is very changible. The sun is shining now, but according to the weather forecast it's going to snow this night. The day before yesterday it also snowed abundantly.

I still have to keep the Amaryllis inside the house since it's quite cold outside. It is bending a little bit toward the window to get some sunrays !

[Cgk]

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Hello Huong,

aaah, so you still like the good old camera. That's okay, I know what it's like to be sentimental. ;-)

Nice that you are going to get a bonsai lemon tree in spring. Somehow I feel responsible for it and therefore I'm padding myself on the back, hehe.

The weather has gotten really cold here again. It's been snowing now and then, but the forecast predicted heavier snows. Let's wait and see.

Have you seen my posts on the 20 seconds thread? I remember asking something about Vietnamese water puppets . . . Oh, and of course all the photos. You've got to see the photos! Yes, yes, I'm keeping you busy.

Claudia
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In the land of the ignorant, the biggest fool is king.

[Meghagan]

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Please listen to my recording and respond with a voice message too. Many thanks.

[Suchita]

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[Bulone]

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[Cgk]

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Hello Bulone,

strangely enough, I never get the winter blues. As a matter of fact, I often like winter better than summer. I admit, I gain about two to three kilos in fall, despite exercise. So far, I've always been able to lose these additional kilos in spring. I believe the reason why I don't have the winter blues is that I drink a lot of milk and I eat more fish than meat. The reason why the white race (no, I'm not being racist when I say this) is less lactose intolerant than other races is that we live at latitudes where the sun stops synthesizing Vitamin D in our skins from September to March. Milk and milk products replace the summer sun's rays, that's why most of the whites have grown lactose tolerant over time. People who are living from 37 degrees north get very little if any Vitamin D from the sun during winter. That's why we have such a white skin, because the lighter the skin, the more easily and quickly it produces Vitamin D. The further up north a dark-skinned person moves, the more careful he or she has to be to get enough Vitamin D. The Inuit are still dark-skinned because of their diet. They eat lots of cod liver oil. We couldn't do that because the amount of Vitamin A that their diet contains would make us sick.

I think the best way to beat the winter blues is to go out and enjoy the snow if there is any, harden yourself against the cold by taking walks, eat Vitamin D rich foods (there aren't many, unfortunately, only fish, milk and cheese), and exercise.

Claudia
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In the land of the ignorant, the biggest fool is king.

[Bulone]

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Hi Claudia,
Your white skin theory is quite interesting. It never occur to me that having light skin has such an advantage. In addition to this, in my opinion, adaptability of your body also play a role here. I don't think you would feel to the extent of what I do, even if you weren't a Caucasian and would have not include vitamin D rich food in your diet. Mainly because, you were born in this specific region where the sun light is not abundant so your body is adapted to this condition. It wouldn't be unusual for your body to function under low vitamin d level. But for me, I lived all my life in tropical region until I moved here which is at high latitude. So my body was not used to this kind of severe condition - unprecedented reduction of vitamin d.

To be honest with you, I'm not a fan of fish either but I do include milk in my daily diet and exercise often but not for this reason but as a way of dealing stress. What I notice is, my non white friends who are born in this region and who don't follow proper diet, don't suffer as much as I am. They eat whatever convenient for them;more of than not junk food. Anyway I'm coping much better now.
Bulone

[Bulone]

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Hi Huong,
If you don't mind me asking, which part of Italy you live in? One of my friends came back from there few months ago. He went all over Venice and Rome and loves it very much. He told me about riding gondola along the canal in Venice and it sounds fun to ride in. He was praising how tasty pizzas and pastas are from there and bashing those from locals. I'm a pizza/pasta addict so, obviously, I felt like flying there at once. Even long before my friend went there, I had heard a lot of good things about Italy, especially Tuscany region for having beautiful vineyard that stretch across horizon. I'd like to visit there someday.

Bulone

By the way, does anyone notice the whole "speaks 20 minutes a day" post is gone from this forum? I couldn't find anywhere. I suppose Tortsten might have an idea on its whereabouts.

[Cgk]

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Hello Bulone,

I'm glad you're coping much better now, so what I'm going to say next isn't meant personal.

The Vitamin D/skin color theory isn't mine. It's from 1934 by Murray. The skin color is the adaption you've mentioned. Of course Vitamin D deficiency isn't the only reason why a person might have the winter blues. I know people, Caucasians at that, who already start complaining about winter when fall hasn't even arrived yet! In other words, they have a very negative attitude toward winter from begin with. The power of the mind plays a big role. If you are looking forward to something, it's going to be nice for you, even if it turns out not as nice as you expected. If you dread something, it's going to be terrible for you, even though it turns out to be nice. A positive attitude is a good way to avoid feeling depressed. No body, may it be Caucasian, Asian, African or American, functions well with a prolonged Vitamin D deficiency. The risk for various cancers might rise, and also Osteoporosis since Vitamin D helps to deposit calcium in the bones. In severe cases a person, especially a child, might get Rickets, the bone-softening disease.

Milk is important, but fish is better. Britain's "fish and chips" isn't the national dish for nothing. ;-) Scandinavia and northern Germany also eat a lot of fish. Just a suggestion: if you are afraid of fish bones, perhaps you would like to try pasta (also a mood enhancer) with herb-spiced tomato sauce and a can of tuna in it? That's really tasty!

Claudia

P.S. The 20 seconds thread is still there. You just need to scroll down a bit.
_________________
In the land of the ignorant, the biggest fool is king.