If you’re like many people, you might feel like you just have barely enough energy to make it through your days. Some caffeine might perk you up for a few hours, but your baseline of energy is far from where you’d like it to be.
So why is this happening? Is it just a natural consequence of aging? Are you working too much or stressing out too much? Those things probably do make up some part of your fatigue, but they are not the whole picture.
There are other HUGE factors that can affect your energy levels. And the good news is that these are things that you can do something about!
1. This one is #1 on our list because it’s the most common problem affecting energy. It’s INFLAMMATION. When you consume inflammatory foods, such as sugar, simple carbohydrates, foods that you’re allergic to, transfats, processed foods etc. the brain and the nervous system undergo changes that induce fatigue. So when you're thinking about energy, think in terms of inflammation. To power up your energy levels avoid inflammatory foods and increase your consumption of anti inflammatory foods.
2. Leaky gut; when you’re eating inflammatory foods, pesticides, pharmaceutical drugs, etc, those things tear down the lining of your gut. When this normal healthy barrier is breeched it sends a signal to your immune system to activate and be on high alert. The problem is your immune system is a major energy hog. That's why you get so tired when you're sick. The energy that was supposed to be allocated for your day to day activities is now going towards your overly activated immune system.
3. Eating raw vegetables! Yes you heard that right. Vegetables in general are excellent for your health, but unfortunately many people are sensitive to plant proteins called lectins. Just like gluten, many people have a sensitivity to them which can cause digestive issues, fatigue, and brain fog. Lectins are found in large quantities in bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, corn, beans, etc. Cooking or sprouting your veggies or legumes before eating them significantly reduces the lectin content.
4. Not eating enough fiber; Fiber is well known for it’s ability to keep us regular. But did you know it’s a major player in your energy production as well? Fiber, specifically soluble fiber, feeds the good bacteria that live in our gut. When these good bacteria are well fed and happy that leads to better energy production signaling and better, sharper brain function. So feed the good guys! Eat plenty of whole, natural plant foods; vegetables, nuts, and fruit.
5. Not giving your mitochondria a break; Your mitochondria are the little engines in each of your cells that make energy out of the food you eat. But just like us, they can’t work 16 hours a day, every day. They need time to rest and repair. When we eat and digest food we are asking our exhausted mitochondria to keep working and working and working. Most of us do this for a window of 16 hours a day, which is a perfect recipe for fatigue! To have better energy you need to shorten your window of eating to just 6-8 hours a day. For example, you could set your eating time frame for between 10am-6pm for an 8 hour window.
6. Individual causes; Of course this is not a complete list of all the reasons you could be experiencing fatigue. Human beings are all individual and complex. If you haven’t recently, check in with your acupuncturist or other functional medicine physician for help with identifying the root causes of fatigue for you. Because life is too short to spend it tired all of the time!
