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Fatigue is a feeling that you're chronically tired - mentally and physically.
It can be caused by a number of factors, including unhealthy lifestyle choices, workplace problems and stress.
There are many different ways you can boost your energy, but see your health practitioner first to make sure you don't have an underlying medical problem.
Food, which gives us energy, is broken down by the digestive system. Some elements, such as water, are absorbed through the stomach. The rest are absorbed through the small intestine.
The body's preferred energy source is glucose, from carbohydrates , but it can also use fatty acids (from fats) and amino acids (from proteins). Glucose is delivered to virtually every cell in the body by the bloodstream, and is then burned with oxygen to produce energy. Hormones control every step in this process; for example, the pancreas makes the hormone insulin, which helps to control blood sugar levels.
If you want more energy, look at your diet and make sure you're following these basic guidelines:
A common cause of fatigue is not enough sleep, or poor quality sleep. Suggestions include:
Being active has many healthy effects on the body and mind. It reduces blood pressure, helps to maintain a healthy weight, and is an effective treatment for depression and anxiety. A good bout of exercise also helps you sleep better at night.Studies suggest that between 50 and 80% of fatigue cases are mainly due to psychological factors.
Suggestions include:
Most people feel drowsy after lunch.
This mid-afternoon drop in energy levels is linked to the brain's circadian rhythm and is 'hard wired' into the human body. Preventing this drop in energy may be impossible, but there are ways to reduce the slump, including:
**This information was adapted from the 'Go for your life' campaign with permission by the Victorian Government, Melbourne, Australia
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Last Updated: November 4, 2013
Many cases of tiredness are due to stress, not enough sleep, poor diet and other lifestyle factors.
Try these self-help tips to restore your energy levels.
If you feel you're suffering from fatigue, which is an overwhelming tiredness that isn't relieved by rest and sleep, you may have an underlying medical condition. Consult a GP for advice.
A good way to keep up your energy through the day is to eat regular meals and healthy snacks every 3 to 4 hours, rather than a large meal less often.
Read more about healthy eating.
You might feel that exercise is the last thing on your mind. But, in fact, regular exercise will make you feel less tired in the long run, so you'll have more energy.
Even a single 15-minute walk can give you an energy boost, and the benefits increase with more frequent physical activity.
Start with a small amount of exercise. Build it up gradually over weeks and months until you reach the recommended goal of 2 hours 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, such as cycling or fast walking, every week.
Read more about starting exercise.
Find out the physical activity guidelines for adults.
If your body is carrying excess weight, it can be exhausting. It also puts extra strain on your heart, which can make you tired. Lose weight and you'll feel much more energetic.
Apart from eating healthily, the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to be more active and do more exercise.
Read more about how to lose weight.
Many people don't get the sleep they need to stay alert through the day.
The website of the Royal College of Psychiatrists has information on sleeping well.
Tips for sleeping well include:
Stress uses up a lot of energy. Try to introduce relaxing activities into your day. This could be:
Whatever relaxes you will improve your energy.
Read more about how to relieve stress.
There's some evidence that talking therapies such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) might help to fight fatigue, or tiredness caused by stress, anxiety or low mood.
See a GP for a referral for talking treatment on the NHS, or for advice on seeing a private therapist.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists recommends that anyone feeling tired should cut out caffeine. It says the best way to do this is to gradually stop having all caffeine drinks over a 3-week period.
Caffeine is found in:
Try to stay off caffeine completely for a month to see if you feel less tired without it.
You may find that not consuming caffeine gives you headaches. If this happens, cut down more slowly on the amount of caffeine that you drink.
Although a couple of glasses of wine in the evening can help you fall asleep, you sleep less deeply after drinking alcohol. The next day you'll be tired, even if you sleep a full 8 hours.
Cut down on alcohol before bedtime. You'll get a better night's rest and have more energy.
The NHS recommends that men and women should not regularly drink more than 14 units a week, which is equivalent to 6 pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of low-strength wine.
Try to have several alcohol-free days each week.
Read more about how to cut down on alcohol.
Sometimes you feel tired simply because you're mildly dehydrated. A glass of water will do the trick, especially after exercise.
Read about healthy drinks.
Constantly sleepy, not strong enough, no pleasure from work for a long time — all this is probably familiar to you. The Challenger tells why you are constantly lacking energy and how to stop feeling tired all the time.
Chronic fatigue is most often caused by strong feelings, often even unconscious ones, and constant stress - this can also lead to the development of heart and stomach diseases, increased anxiety and depression.
You should look for the cause of fatigue in your diet: for example, coffee only aggravates the situation, giving you less and more energy with each new cup. Many antidepressants and heart medications have the same effect.
It is not so easy to cope with chronic fatigue on your own - often it is the result of hormonal changes and requires the intervention of a doctor. However, at an early stage, you can try to follow a few simple tips.
1. Get out into the fresh air
Even with the arrival of winter, when you want to relax in a warm room, spending at least 10 minutes a day outside is very important: sunlight and oxygen help to cheer up and prevent chronic depression.
2. Listen to rhythmic music
A distinct rhythm will increase blood flow and allow you to focus on something other than thoughts about problems and upcoming business.
3. Warm up
Sometimes, in order to get rid of chronic fatigue, regular walks near the house are enough. It may seem that you feel physically tired and even brisk walking becomes a torment. But there is a possibility that this is just a psychological burden that sports can remove.
4. Take care of yourself
Go for a haircut or treat yourself to a new thing - this way you will take the time that you usually spend on reflection and feel a surge of energy from communication.
Even if not with friends and colleagues, but with a sales assistant.
5. Tidy up
If you always sit at your desk, get up and clean it up. You can even just wash the dishes - any activity will give you more strength than sleeping or watching a series.
6. Do something you haven't had time to do for a long time
Send a package that was never delivered to the post office three months ago, meet up with an old friend, or just finally delete all unnecessary phone numbers. Taking things off your to-do list will make it easier for you to move on.
7. Snack on healthy foods
As much as you don't want to eat tiredness and irritation with a bar of chocolate or coffee biscuits, berries, spinach, fresh vegetable salad or a healthy fruit smoothie can help you recover during your lunch break.
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Woke up, but as if you had not slept? If you wake up tired and even broken in the morning, you need to fix it urgently.
We have collected 9 working tips that will help you become alert again and wake up full of energy.
Sports are the last thing you want to do when you feel tired. But research shows that the more physical activity you have, the more energy you have.
Even short workouts will make you more alert and self-confident. And they will improve the work of the heart, lungs and muscles - and improve well-being.
Devices from the pharmacy will help you track the condition of the body before and after training:
Any exercise is useful in the fight against fatigue, but yoga is especially useful.
There are also several studies on this subject - for example, scientists in the UK conducted an experiment: they gathered a group of volunteers, forced them to do yoga once a week (only once!). Six weeks later, they were interviewed: everyone noted that their thoughts became clearer, and their energy and self-confidence increased.
Dehydration robs you of energy and reduces physical performance - if you don't have enough water in your body, you will get tired even with the simplest housework. Dehydration also reduces alertness and concentration.
You can tell if you are drinking enough water by the color of your urine: if it is dark, you need to drink more.
Important: you need to drink exactly water, not juices, compotes or dairy products - everything except water is perceived by the body as food, and this does not save you from dehydration.
You can also buy water in pharmacies:
The logic is simple: you get better sleep, you get less tired. Try to go to bed before midnight and put your gadgets away at least an hour before bedtime - so their bright light does not interfere with the production of melatonin, and you can fall asleep quickly.
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Fluctuations in blood sugar affect how awake you are throughout the day - the more fluctuations, the more tired you are.
To stabilize your sugar levels, you need to increase the number of meals and reduce the amount of servings.
How it works. Sugar is found in almost every product. If we eat a hearty lunch, a lot of sugar enters the body at a time, its concentration rises sharply, and the body absorbs it for a long time. Dividing a heavy meal into at least two small meals will reduce your blood sugar spike and keep you awake for longer.
Supplement your diet with vitamins for energy:
Fish contains healthy omega-3 fatty acids. They improve metabolism and increase alertness - and this helps to stay alert and alert throughout the day.
If you don't have enough fish in your diet, supplement your diet with supplements:
Of course, you need to reduce not the weight itself, but the percentage of body fat - just more often one is inseparable from the other.
Scientists from Johns Hopkins University have proven that even a small reduction in body fat improves mood and makes a person more alert.
To start losing weight, experts advise reducing portion sizes, eating a balanced diet, and exercising (or at least walking more often). If you work remotely and are afraid that you won’t be able to lose weight due to sedentary work at home, read this material - in it we told you how to start losing weight even remotely.
Help in losing weight can be found in pharmacies:
Are you an owl or a lark? The answer to this question will help you not to suffer from fatigue during the day. If you are a morning person and feel energized in the morning, plan all the important things for the first half of the day. If an owl - at the end of the day.
This biological clock, or circadian rhythm, is determined by genetics and brain structure, so changing it can be very difficult.
