Slow, Sluggish or in Pain? Here’s a Vitamin-filled Winter Survival Kit.

Honestly, winter sucks. It’s cold, everything hurts, and it feels like the sun’s gone on vacation. Sure, there are some highlights—hello, holidays!—but as much as we love seeing our families (and, okay, presents), we also wish we didn’t feel like a dried out bag of rocks through the season.

It’s not hopeless, though. There are ways to mitigate your winter strife; tactics and tools to get you through the dregs of salty winter slush and vampiric levels of sunlight: You can bundle up, invest in a SAD lamp or, and this is key, start taking vitamins.

Which vitamins, though? Glad you asked. Here are some suggestions, grouped by generation but applicable to basically anyone and everyone.

Generation Z:

You’re spoiled. You don’t know how lucky you are. Your back doesn’t hurt yet, and your skin hasn’t started sagging or drying out like an old pumice stone. Yet. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be doing more for yourself this winter.

Start simple: Compensate for a lack of sunlight with some vitamin D, which you can take in a few forms but is maybe best in droplets. It’s tasteless, and takes two seconds; just take a drop when you’re eating dinner.

Antioxidants… for your eyes. We’re not judging, but if there’s one stereotype about Generation Z that’s absolutely true, it’s that you kids love your screens. And that’s fine! Screens rule. But they’re not great for your eyes. If you’re too stubborn to use a blue light filter on your phone, or refuse to stop bingeing trashy reality shows on Netflix, then find an antioxidant that has at least one or two of these ingredients: fucoxanthin, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin or lutein (say that five times fast. We dare you).

Lutein is especially great for your vision health.

Millennials:

Being a millennial means inheriting the ashes of a broken economy and somehow being blamed for it. It means finding weird grey hairs and having to learn what a chiropractor actually does. You’re too young to complain about being old but too old to feel young. It sucks. Here’s how you can put all of that aside, though, and get to the day job that’s slowly killing you.

Take a multivitamin. Look, you’re probably busy. Chances are you’re working multiple jobs, because, you know, the economy. So start simple. A multivitamin will top you up across the board, helping you hit your daily vitamin requirements as easily as you snack on your 3pm desk lunch.

Supplement with B12: The symptoms of B12 deficiency are real, and surprisingly gross. So, if you’re feeling tired and sluggish, or your tongue feels weird (seriously, that’s a symptom!), try taking a sublingual B12 supplement in the morning.

Generation X:

Grunge was a long time ago. MTV hasn’t shown music videos in decades. So, yeah: you’re old now. But it’s okay! Sure, you’re probably tired from work, and there’s a good chance you have screaming kids waiting in the wings after a long day. But you’ve gotten where you are by taking the rebellious energy of the 90s and channeling it to GET. SHIT. DONE. Unfortunately, the list of shit that needs to get done never seems to stop growing. Here are some supplements you should add to it:

B6: When you age, you slow down, and we aren’t just referring to when you have to run for the bus. Your metabolism starts taking a nap when you start approaching your 40s, and that can be a rude awakening. B6 isn’t going to mean you can eat like a teenager again, but taking it will help regulate your blood sugar levels and metabolism, as well as keep your thyroid healthy.

Boomers:

You get a bad rap. And you know, it’s kind of fair. But if you’re reading this, we’ll wager you’re not responsible for shorting the housing market, invading Iraq (a few times) or cancelling Arrested Development. If, however, your generation’s reputation is weighing you down, here’s how to take some of that strain off your back.

Glucosamine is great for lower back pain, chronic knee aches and osteoarthritic inflammation. It’s not going to cure what ails you, but it pairs really well with regular stretching and other forms of pain management.

If you’re noticing that you sleep way less than you remember, well, you are. The older we get, the less sleep we need—and, worse, the harder time we have getting it. Melatonin isn’t going to knock you out, since it’s something your body produces naturally, but supplementing with a nightly dose for a few days will help your circadian rhythm regulate itself, making it a little bit easier to not only fall asleep, but to rest easy.