Energy

Written By Kelly Bennett

Energy is something I have struggled with myself, when I was at my most fatigued from post viral chronic fatigue syndrome, I felt like I was living in my energy overdraft. I was so tired I could barely do anything, even having the light on or listening to music was too tiring. There are many things which have helped me improve and maintain my energy. What works for me might be different to what works for you, but here are some basic lifestyle and nutrition suggestions to support better energy.

  1. Rest

    If you are tired listen to your body and rest.

    When I was very fatigued, I tried to keep forcing myself to do things I was too tired to do. This just made me more tired. It’s like taking money out of your bank account when you’re in your overdraft, you just get further into debt.

    One of the best things I did to improve my energy was to stop pushing myself if I was tired. I redefined my view of my value as being based on who I am rather than what I achieve. I realised that people couldn’t guage how tired I was on the outside, so I needed to listen to my feelings on the inside and act accordingly.

  2. Sleep

    Getting enough good quality sleep is very important for having enough energy in the day.

    Unrefreshing sleep is one of the hallmarks of fatigue (1).

    If you are tired you might need 8-10 hours to feel good, or a nap in the afternoon to top up.

    It can be useful to have a stable sleep routine, where you go to bed and get up and regular times. Unwinding in the evening rather than keeping busy or stimulated late at nigh can help relax our nervous systems so it’s easier to get to sleep.

    Some factors which can contribute to struggles with sleep are low blood sugar (2), seasonal affective disorder (3), stress hormones like cortisol (4), depression (5), anxiety (6), or micronutrient deficiencies (7).

    I would suggest not going to bed hungry, and making sure you have a balanced meal or snack in the evening before bed to keep your blood sugar stable. Ideas might be natural live yogurt and banana, or porridge with milk and berries. Sometimes taking magnesium at bed time can be very helpful (8).

  3. Relaxation

    Relaxation is like a power rest.

    Stress can deplete our energy, but relaxation can restore it.

    Practising relaxation regularly such as muscular relaxation, breathing exercises or mediation can really restore energy levels (9). It’s like plugging your phone in to charge, you give yourself permission in the day to put yourself on charge, and rest and relax your busy nervous system.

  4. Exercise

    Exercise can really boost your energy levels (10), but if you are tired because you have a chronic health condition like chronic fatigue syndrome, exercise needs to match your energy levels.

    You might be too tired to do any exercise, that’s ok. I would say don’t force it if you might crash later, but if you have the energy to do a bit, a little can go a long way.

    A slow walk in the fresh air might refresh you, or half an hour of gentle yoga. If you have buckets of energy go for it, do what makes you feel good.

    Just keep listening to your body, know your boundaries, do what is nurturing to yourself, not punishing.

  5. Hormones

    Our hormones can have a huge effect on our energy levels.

    Hypothyroidism can make us very tired, cold and depressed (11), wheres hyperthyroidism can make us feel wired and tired (12).

    High or low insulin levels can affect our energy levels because of it’s role in blood sugar balance. One of the things that can help the most with energy management, is maintaning stable blood sugar levels. Low blood sugar can be exhausting as the body perceives it as a threat, so stress hormones like adrenalin and cortisol are secreted to elevate blood sugar back to the healthy range. Regular activation of these stress hormones can be exhausting. The easiest way to maintain balanced blood sugar levels is to avoid meals based on sugary foods or highly processed carbohydrates, like cookies, cake, white bread or white pasta, as these foods can cause an inulin surge and a blood sugar crash. If we are tired, we can crave high sugar foods or caffeine to boost our energy and our blood sugar levels, but this can continue the cycle of high and low blood sugar, insulin and stress hormones, which can be very tiring. If we do eat sugar or refined carbohydrates, it can be helpful to combine the carbohydrate foods with protein, fat and fibre to slow the release of sugar (13).

    Because of these factors, if someone is struggling with fatigue, I would suggest testing their hormone levels to see if there might be an imbalance which could be contributing to their struggle with energy, and focus on keeping blood sugar level stable.

  6. Infection

    An active infection can makes us feel very tired. If we have a cold or the flu, its natural that we would feel more tired than usual and want to take time off work or exercise to snooze on the sofa with a good book or film, while we cough or sneeze. This is because the body wants to conserve energy to fight the infection, so we rest until we feel better.

    There is lots more awareness of how infection can affect energy levels since the pandemic, as so many people are struggling with long covid after having the coronavirus. But covid is not the only infection that can affect energy, glandular fever has been linked to chronic fatigue for decades, alongside various infections from bacteria, viruses or yeasts. It’s possible that long covid or post viral chronic fatigue syndrome may be autoimmune conditions, where the immune system is triggered from an infection, but more research is needed to fully understand these complex conditions (14).

  7. Deficiencies

    The body needs a variety of micronutrients in order to function healthily and make energy. Vitamin or mineral deficiencies can contribute to low energy, such as B12, Iron, Magnesium or D (15). Sometimes, low but not deficient levels might be affecting energy. Everyone is different and has different needs, so I would suggest personalised micronutrient testing to tailor any supplementation to the individual.

  8. Hydration

    Dehydration can be very tiring (16).

    We are roughly three quarters water, and all the systems in our body need water to work properly.

    A good rough suggestion is to drink 1.5 - 2 litres water daily. Your urine should be very pale yellow if you are well hydrated (17).

  9. Environment

    Our environment is very important to our wellbeing.

    There is a lot of research linking toxic chemicals to chronic fatigue type disorders (18). It’s amazing how many chemicals we can be exposed to in our daily life, from cleaning products to paint or exhaust fumes.

    Personally I like to choose non toxic alternatives where I can in order to minimise the amount of chemicals I am in contact with.

    Equally, if possible, a healthy, harmonious, social environment is more conducive to well-being than a stressful one.

    I suggest, where possible, surrounding yourself with people who love and accept you and help you to feel good about yourself.

  10. Mindset

    Mindset in this context does not mean mind over matter.

    If someone had a broken leg we wouldn’t say, mind over matter old chap, carry on with the marathon regardless.

    However, our psychology is relevant to our energy and wellbeing.

    Stress, anxiety or depression can deplete our happy neurotransmitters like serotonin and encourage our bodies to make more of the hormone cortisol, which can affect our immune system and make us feel very tired (19).

    Therefore, I think where possible, it is good for our wellbeing and energy to do things which make us happy. We might find psychotherapy helpful, or gratitude practices, or even something as simple as a warm cup of tea or a hilarious cat video. This is where self care is unique to the individual.

    Taking good care of ourselves with healthy nutrition is a good place to start.

References

  1. Ferre, A. Chronic fatigue syndrome and sleep disorders. Neurologica. 2018;33(6):385-394. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2173580818300038

  2. Martyn-Nemeth P, Phillips SA, Mihailescu D, Farabi SS, Park C, Lipton R, Idemudia E, Quinn L. Poor sleep quality is associated with nocturnal glycaemic variability and fear of hypoglycaemia in adults with type 1 diabetes. J Adv Nurs. 2018 Oct;74(10):2373-2380. doi: 10.1111/jan.13765. Epub 2018 Jul 19. PMID: 29917259; PMCID: PMC7778470.

  3. Wescott DL, Soehner AM, Roecklein KA. Sleep in seasonal affective disorder. Curr Opin Psychol. 2020 Aug;34:7-11. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.08.023. Epub 2019 Aug 26. PMID: 31536962; PMCID: PMC8733859.

  4. Pulopulos MM, Hidalgo V, Puig-Perez S, Montoliu T, Salvador A. Relationship between Cortisol Changes during the Night and Subjective and Objective Sleep Quality in Healthy Older People. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Feb 16;17(4):1264. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17041264. PMID: 32079109; PMCID: PMC7068538.

  5. David Nutt, Sue Wilson & Louise Paterson (2008) Sleep disorders as core symptoms of depression, Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 10:3, 329-336, DOI: 10.31887/DCNS.2008.10.3/dnutt

  6. Manzar M. D, Alghadir A.H, Khan M, Salahuddin M, Albougami A, Maniago J.D, Vasquez B.A, Pandi-Perumal, S.R, Bahammam A.S. Anxiety symptoms are associated with higher psychological stress, poor sleep, and inadequate sleep hygiene in collegiate young adults - a cross sectional study. Frontiers in Psychology. 2021;12. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.677136/full

  7. Ji X, Grandner MA, Liu J. The relationship between micronutrient status and sleep patterns: a systematic review. Public Health Nutr. 2017 Mar;20(4):687-701. doi: 10.1017/S1368980016002603. Epub 2016 Oct 5. PMID: 27702409; PMCID: PMC5675071.

  8. Yijia Zhang, Cheng Chen, Liping Lu, Kristen L Knutson, Mercedes R Carnethon, Alyce D Fly, Juhua Luo, David M Haas, James M Shikany, Ka Kahe, Association of magnesium intake with sleep duration and sleep quality: findings from the CARDIA study, Sleep, Volume 45, Issue 4, April 2022, zsab276, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsab276

  9. Requier F, Demnitz-King H, Whitfield T, Klimecki O, Marchant NL, Collette F. The Effect of Meditation-Based Interventions on Patients with Fatigue Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Psychol Belg. 2023 Jun 23;63(1):64-81. doi: 10.5334/pb.1182. PMID: 37358949; PMCID: PMC10289041.

  10. Golden T, Ricciotti H . Does exercise really boost energy levels? https://www.health.harvard.edu/exercise-and-fitness/does-exercise-really-boost-energy-levels (Accessed 5th October 2023)

  11. NHS. Underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism). https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/underactive-thyroid-hypothyroidism/ (Accessed 5th October 2023)

  12. NHS. Overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism). https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/overactive-thyroid-hyperthyroidism/ (Accessed 5th October 2023)

  13. Chris Iliades. Symptoms of hypoglycemia without diabetes could be reactive hypoglycemia. https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/diabetes/feeling-sleepy-all-the-time-and-chronic-fatigue-are-reactive-hypoglycemia-and-insulin-resistance-symptoms/ (Accessed 5th October 2023)

  14. Sapra A, Bhandari P. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. [Updated 2023 Jun 21]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557676/

  15. Tardy AL, Pouteau E, Marquez D, Yilmaz C, Scholey A. Vitamins and Minerals for Energy, Fatigue and Cognition: A Narrative Review of the Biochemical and Clinical Evidence. Nutrients. 2020 Jan 16;12(1):228. doi: 10.3390/nu12010228. PMID: 31963141; PMCID: PMC7019700.

  16. Pross N, Demazières A, Girard N, Barnouin R, Santoro F, Chevillotte E, Klein A, Le Bellego L. Influence of progressive fluid restriction on mood and physiological markers of dehydration in women. Br J Nutr. 2013 Jan 28;109(2):313-21. doi: 10.1017/S0007114512001080. Epub 2012 Apr 13. PMID: 22716932; PMCID: PMC3553795.

  17. NHS inform, Hydration. https://www.nhsinform.scot/campaigns/hydration (Accessed 5th October 2023)

  18. Zucco GM, Doty RL. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Brain Sci. 2021 Dec 29;12(1):46. doi: 10.3390/brainsci12010046. PMID: 35053790; PMCID: PMC8773480.

  19. Seiler, A., Fagundes, C.P., Christian, L.M. (2020). The Impact of Everyday Stressors on the Immune System and Health. In: Choukèr, A. (eds) Stress Challenges and Immunity in Space. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16996-1_6

Kelly Bennett
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