Most of us want to be healthy, feel great and look our best. Generally we know what we should be doing for our health – eat more vegetables, eat less sugar, get more exercise.  The reality is, we don’t always follow these commonsense recommendations.

One of the biggest reasons people fall off the healthy lifestyle wagon is fatigue or exhaustion. It is extremely difficult to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly if you feel exhausted.

Preparing healthy food from scratch is time consuming, and a lot of people feel too overwhelmed to get in the kitchen every day and see it as a chore.

If you struggle to have enough energy to get through your day, it’s not likely you’ll get up early each morning and head to the gym, or go for a power walk around the neighborhood. Yes, fatigue frequently stands in the way of our patients putting their healthy diet intentions into practice.

When you feel like crap, you want to eat crap.  When you are bursting with energy and vibrant health, you are more motivated to eat well and take good care of yourself.

Fatigue can be caused by several factors; here are some of the most common:

  • Poor quality or quantity of sleep. Life is busy and stressful, therefore many people do not get as much sleep as they require. Ideally, you would get 7 to 8 hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep each night. You may claim to feel fine on much less sleep, but your health will probably suffer in time as a consequence. The hours before midnight really are more important, so please go to bed no later than 10:30pm. Many people do go to bed early but they get broken or unrefreshing sleep. Many different factors can affect the quality of your sleep – menopause, anxiety, adrenal exhaustion, liver disease or alcohol consumption in the evening. See my book Tired of Not Sleeping for detailed information on how to overcome 68 potential causes of insomnia. If stress, anxiety and a restless mind are preventing you from sleeping well, a magnesium supplement should help enormously. Magnesium is a nerve and muscle relaxer that helps most people achieve a deeper, more satisfying sleep.
  • Body toxicity. Having high levels of toxins in your body is a sure way of feeling tired and sluggish. It can even leave you feeling quite depressed and foggy headed. Toxins are all around us in this modern world – our air, water and foods contain far greater quantities of toxins than 200 years ago. A diet high in processed food, sugar and vegetable oil places a great strain on your digestive system and then your liver. Often people crave sugar, carbs and junk food when they are exhausted, but this makes the situation far worse in the long run. All the toxins that enter your body must eventually make their way to your liver, where they are converted into a form suitable for excretion. If your liver is not 100% healthy, it may not be up for the job. Most people with a fatty liver feel quite tired; this is not at all surprising because their liver is not detoxifying their body adequately. To help your liver with this task, I recommend a good quality liver tonic like Livatone Plus. It will help to improve the efficiency of your liver cells and even protect them from harm in the process.
  • Food allergies. Allergies are a very common, and often overlooked, cause of fatigue. If you are eating something you are sensitive to, your body considers you have ingested a highly toxic substance. This places a major strain on your digestive system and liver and will probably even affect your quality of sleep. Food allergy or intolerance commonly causes fluid retention, abdominal bloating and dark circles under the eyes. The most common foods to cause these reaction include gluten, cow’s milk, soy and nuts. It is best to get the help of a naturopath or nutritionist, because allergies can be extremely tricky to detect.
  • Antioxidant deficiency. Many people do not get enough raw plant food in their diet. This is especially the case for time poor, tired people. Raw vegetables do take some time to prepare – more time than throwing a package in the microwave, but they are worth the time and effort. Ideally you would eat vegetables for lunch and dinner each day, and at least one of those meals would contain raw vegetables. I am also a firm believer in the power of vegetable juices and whole foods smoothies. A raw vegetable juice, or a smoothie that contains raw vegetables can give you a huge energy lift within half an hour. You can make a big batch of juice or smoothie on the weekend and then freeze it in individual glass jars for consumption during the week. In order to make a smoothie that contains vegetables, you would need to use a high powered blender such as a Vita-mix, which is capable of turning most hard vegetables like carrots and celery into a liquid. For juice and smoothie ideas, see my book Raw Juices Can Save Your Life.
  • Thyroid problems. Thyroid problems are incredibly common, particularly in women. Fatigue and weight gain are two of the most common symptoms of a thyroid disorder. Many people are taking thyroid medication each morning, yet they still feel unwell and still struggle with their weight. Other people aren’t even aware they have a thyroid condition because their doctor has not performed the complete range of blood tests necessary for its detection. We have covered each thyroid condition in great detail in our book Your Thyroid Problems Solved. You may find adding our Thyroid Health capsules to your daily supplements is a great way to support your thyroid gland. Another natural thyroid product from our company that has proved to be very popular is Thyroid Hormone Cream. This cream exerts a gentle balancing effect to prevent undesirable fluctuations in the body.
  • Diabetes. Most people don’t realize how exhausting diabetes is. The number of diabetics in the world is growing at a frightening pace, yet around half of those with diabetes don’t realize they have it. Fatigue, increased hunger and thirst and more frequent urination are some of the symptoms of diabetes, however these symptoms are quite mild and vague, hence the disease is often not picked up in the early stages. If you are tired, overweight and over the age of 30, you should ask your doctor to check your blood sugar level. If you already know you have diabetes, there is a diet and supplement plan for reversing type 2 diabetes in our book Diabetes Type 2: You Can Reverse It.

 

Addressing the various causes of fatigue should make it much easier to follow a healthy diet and stick to it.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.