Sleep Hygiene

Sleep is such an important aspect of health but it is a common area of struggle.  To fall asleep and stay asleep for at about 7-9 hours and wake up refreshed, try implementing these sleep hygiene strategies:

Balancing the metabolism is the long term solution to better vitality, sleep and hormonal balance

 

Metabolism refers to the biochemical process that is used in every cell of the body to breakdown and utilise food and nutrition, oxygenate the organs as well as support growth, detoxification and repair.

A healthy and balanced metabolism is important to achieve and sustain good levels of energy, sleep and weight.  An altered metabolism can often lead to weight gain, inflammation and chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cancer.

Our body is like an incredible orchestra with all our organs and physiological processes working together in harmony. When we make poor food choices, have an overload of environmental toxins and face stress and pressure (or perceive stress and urgency), disharmony can occur leading to ill health and poor metabolic balance.

By balancing our metabolism, we are giving our body what it needs to nourish and support our lifestyle and health.

Our blood circulates all around the body into the tiniest capillaries through every cell and organ of the body.  It carries with it information on disease, inflammation and function of organs.  It is one of the many indispensable tools used to evaluate health.

Combining chemistry of your blood markers and your weight, height and body measurements with the chemistry of food, you get the blueprint to help you restore health.  We eat daily, we could consume food that nourishes us and enhances our vitality and health or foods that slowly poison us.

The Metabolic Balance program has complex algorithms that support this analysis and with proper coaching, helps you achieve your best possible health outcome. 

The program is divided into 4 phases:

1.      Preparation

2.      Change phase

3.      Relaxed phase

4.      Maintenance phase

The ultimate objective is to enhance vitality, performance and sleep, support acid/alkaline balance, achieve your desired weight, bring renewed energy and sense of wellness and improve your quality of life.

If you would like to know if Metabolic Balance is the program for you, please email to irene@nutriactionz.co.nz to make an appointment for a 15min discovery call.

Why are you feeling so fatigued? Is your constant tiredness robbing your quality of life?

As a collective human race, we’re experiencing unparalleled levels of fatigue, but why? Simply put, our bodies are trying to function in a world they just weren’t designed to live in.

A far cry from the simpler hunter-gatherer world our genes evolved in, each day we are exposed to an increasing amount of stressors, such as:

• The psychological impact associated with finances, relationships, work or health issues;
• Processed foods;
• Being overfed and undernourished;
• Poor sleep quality and/or reduced quantity;
• Electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure emitted from smartphones, TV’s, Wi-Fi etc. and excessive use of these digital devices;
• Environmental toxins through air pollution, plastics and synthetic home/personal care products;
• Sluggish liver, kidneys and bowels;
• Adrenal and/or thyroid issues;
• A dysregulated body clock due to prolonged artificial light exposure; and
• Prolonged periods of sitting.

 

As the body can’t differentiate between psychological and physical triggers, these factors cumulatively activate the stress response, increasing the demand and strain on the body’s energy reserves. Unsurprisingly, this is making us tired. 

One primary reason for this stress-induced fatigue is that nutritionally, the demand for energy is greater than what is being supplied by what would be considered a balanced diet. This nutritional deficit is akin to speeding down the highway with 100 places to be, whilst unknowingly having the handbrake on the whole way. You’ll reach your destinations, but it’s going to take a lot more effort! In order to get everything done, it’s clear you’re going to need to pull over, take off the handbrake, and continue your journey with more ease.  The handbrakes can be in the food you eat, the lack of nutrition you are having, the sluggishness in your liver, kidneys, bowels, adrenal and/or thyroid or in your mitochondria itself.

 

Mitochondria Matter Too!

Having a nutrient intake that doesn’t meet your energy demands impacts your entire body. Within each of your cells, there are clever components called organelles, the microscopic contents that carry out your cells functions.  One of these organelles is the mitochondria, which look after energy production, and work tirelessly to provide your cells with a constant fuel supply.

However, these mitochondria are extremely sensitive to psychological and physical stressors, which as we have already discussed, place a burden on our energy requirements. The nutritional depletion and cellular damage that can occur from stress therefore overly tax our mitochondria, comprising their function. The result, poor mitochondrial function, then leads to a reduction in overall energy supply and the presentation of fatigue.

So, in the midst of modern day stress, how do we meet these increased energy demands and kick fatigue to the curb?

 

Luckily there are several key nutrients that help support and protect your mitochondria against the brunt of daily stressors, which include:

 Co­enzyme Q10 (CoQ10):

• A vital nutrient used by your mitochondria to produce energy, with research showing low CoQ10 stores are linked with increased susceptibility to fatigue states and chronic disease.
• In addition to fatigue, stress is another cause of oxidative stress and inflammation in the body. CoQ10 carry’s strong antioxidant actions, helping to protect your mitochondria, and overall body, from the cellular damage that can occur from stress.

Magnesium:

• This essential mineral is needed by your body to help convert the food you eat into energy.
• Also, a magnesium deficiency makes you more susceptible to stress, whilst stress depletes your magnesium levels – resulting in a vicious cycle.

B Vitamins:

• B vitamins are required by the mitochondria to create molecules of energy, but can become depleted in states of stress. B vitamins also work to blunt the impact of stress on your body, and modulate the production of stress hormones (e.g. cortisol).  A good place to get adequate B vitamins is from nutritional yeast, or if you do not methylate well, use methylated B vitamins.

 

Other reasons you might be feeling tired, and how you can fix it

When you’re always tired, everything in life takes more effort, which can eventually keep you from doing the things you love. Often, it can be difficult to pin down the exact cause of your tiredness, because so many factors can affect your energy. To help, here is a list of common causes of fatigue, with practical solutions to re-energise you.

Poor sleep

In order to rest and recharge, your body needs seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. If you are struggling to get to sleep, or stay asleep, audit your bedtime routine. Are you engaging in stimulating activities before bed, such as heavy exercise, or working on your laptop? Do you consume caffeine (e.g. tea, coffee, cola or chocolate) too close to bedtime? If, despite having healthy habits, you are still not sleeping well, there are effective, natural options to help.

Dehydration

Fatigue is a common symptom of dehydration, which can be caused by simply not drinking enough water ( you should aim to achieve 30ml/kg per day), fluid loss (from exercise or hot weather) or a combination of the two. One way to tell if you are dehydrated is by the colour of your urine; if it is darker than a just-ripe banana, you are probably dehydrated. Drink two or three glasses of water immediately, and make sure you stay hydrated throughout the day.  Potassium is an important mineral to help our body stay hydrated.

Stress

Chronic stress, due to unstable finances, relationships, work or health issues, can also take its toll on your energy levels. By triggering the hormone adrenaline, stress can leave you feeling overstimulated, and eventually wipe you out.  Improving your stress management through meditation, exercise or speaking to a counsellor, may increase your energy. Magnesium, which is vital for energy production, is also depleted by stress, so making sure you get enough of this important mineral can help improve your energy levels.

Viral infection

When fighting an infection, your body forces you to prioritise rest by making you feel tired. However, fatigue can persist for weeks or months following certain infections, hampering your return to full health. If you haven’t bounced back from a recent illness, immune-boosting herbal medicines including astragalus and medical mushrooms (such as reishi, shiitake and coriolus), alongside nutrients such as zinc and vitamin C can make a massive difference to your energy, putting pesky post-viral fatigue to rest!

Mould exposure

Exposure to mould from water-damaged or damp buildings can trigger your immune system and cause fatigue in a similar way to viruses. If you have noticed water damage in your home, consult with a qualified natural healthcare practitioner to get on top of mould-related illness by supporting your immune system. 

Low iron levels

If you follow a strict vegetarian or vegan diet, have a history of poor absorption (for example, due to a digestive condition), or experience heavy periods, you may have an iron deficiency, which has been associated with fatigue.  If this sounds like you, a visit to your GP for a blood test is highly recommended to assess your iron status.

Mental health issues

The topic of mental health is important to understand, as individuals experiencing depression may not immediately recognise symptoms such as fatigue, poor appetite, constant frustration, and profound feelings of indifference as part of a mental health diagnosis. If these symptoms sound familiar to you or a family member, seeking support and reaching out to qualified healthcare Practitioners is the first step in addressing mental health issues. Eventually, managing mental wellbeing can help resolve symptoms such as fatigue, and support overall health and wellbeing.

 

Low blood sugar

Eating balanced meals can help to stabilise blood sugar levels by providing a steady flow of nutritional resources that the body can convert into energy. This means starting the day with a balanced breakfast, like a plant based protein smoothie, followed by protein-rich wholefood snacks (such as boiled eggs and nuts) as the day goes on.

Getting these nutrients in your diet can be tricky, but consuming a variety of whole foods including fish, wholegrains, nuts, seeds and dark green, leafy vegetables can help to boost your intake. In the meantime, addressing nutrient deficiency with a supplement may improve your energy. It is important to keep in mind that the quality and effectiveness of supplements can vary, so seek the advice of a qualified health Practitioner who can help choose the right combination for you.

 

Gluten free diet

This is a follow on educational video from the previous one that I share about how to be gluten free or low gluten without breaking the bank account.  Dr Kylie Vincent and I also talked about the problems when we cannot break down gluten.

Gluten: differentiating between Coeliac disease and gluten intolerance

Coeliacs Awareness Week runs from 14-20 June 2000.  I often hear comments like Ïf you are not coeliac, then you can eat gluten".    Any practitioner that makes this comment certainly is not up to date with their scientific knowledge of what affects the gastrointestinal tract. 

In year 2000, the protein Zonulin was discovered by a gastroenterologist and scientist that affects the tight junctions in the gut and how it affects non-coeliacs. The result of having compromised gut integrity that creates permeability is an increase in body burden and inflammation.  This has many downstream repercussions in our state of health.  Enjoy this video and the next one which is my interview with Dr Kylie Vincent on Gluten free diets.

Are you tired and overweight? You may be having an underactive thyroid

When the thyroid is underactive or subclinically underactive (I shall explain the subclinical term I used deliberately here), you may have the following symptoms:

•           Unexplained weight gain
  
•           Difficulty losing weight
•          Constipation despite good hydration and fibre intake
•           Low energy and libido
•           Feeling cold all the time, or feel the cold too easily
•           Dry flaky skin
•           Hair loss or brittle hair
•           Depressed, confused and difficulty concentrating
•           Fluid retention
•           Husky voice without a sore throat
•           Pre menstrual tension
•           Infertility /difficulty conceiving

The thyroid can be underactive (through blood tests) or subclinically underactive.  By subclinically I mean the blood test results are still within the range but you have all or some of the above symptoms.

For example, the most common test ordered for the thyroid is Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) which is produced by your pituitary in the brain.  The higher the number for TSH, it means the more effort your pituitary has to put in for your thyroid to produce hormones.  Think about it as a mum asking her child to do his/her homework.  She asks in a nice calm tone initially.  And if the child does not respond, she speaks louder with her instructions, and if the child still refuses to respond, mum raises her voice (which mean TSH goes up).  The range is large to be considered “normal”, and often patients think that anything in the normal range means they are fine.  Not so with the thyroid numbers.  The same applies for thyroid hormones Free T4 and Free T3.

The other important marker to consider for the thyroid is thyroid antibodies.  The higher the antibodies, the harder your body is attacking against the thyroid.

Watch my Youtube video here on home help that you can implement to help an underactive thyroid.  If you have persistent symptoms, please seek the help from a qualified healthcare professional.  We offer functional tests here to measure all 7 markers of the thyroid.

7 Reasons Why You May be Constantly Fatigued and How To Adddress the Problem

If you have slept through the night and still wake up exhausted, you have a fatigue problem.  Many people push through the day, in their tiredness, to fulfill their responsibilities for their work and families.  As fatigue is so common, many people deem it as normal.  What is common is not always normal!

Reasons why you may be constantly tired:

1. You are not nourishing yourself properly.  Eating on the run, picking up take outs and processed foods that are nutrient deprived and calorie dense gives your blood sugar big waves of highs and lows.  This often leaves you tired and wanting more sugary or carbohydrate rich foods.  It may also be due to a lack of good fats in your intake from wanting to restrict calories.
2. You have metabolic syndrome, are diabetic or prediabetic.  All these conditions result in disarrayed channelling of sugar into the cell for energy production.  Instead, sugar from the carbohydrates consumed is circulated in the bloodstream and causes oxidative stress, and an increase in abdominal fats from the resistance to insulin.  You should refrain from consuming high carbohydrate foods, and increase your intake of protein, good fats and vegetables.
3. You have a detoxification problem.  You may not be moving your bowels at least once or twice a day.  Constipation and the reabsorption of toxins can cause fatigue.  Or you may be moving your bowel too often, especially watery diarrhea and you are losing key minerals involved in energy production.  Detoxification is not limited to the bowels.  The liver, kidneys, lymphatics and skin are also key detoxification organs.  Hence if you are tired and have other symptoms like nausea, constant skin breakouts, bloated all the time, headaches, etc.  it may indicate that you need some detoxification care.  Hemaview live blood screening allows you to look at some of these imbalances live on screen and treat appropriately!
4. You have an undiagnosed thyroid problem.  There has been increasing detection of subclinical and clinical hypothyroidism as well as autoimmune hypothyroidism.  If you are tired and gaining weight for no reason, you could be having a thyroid problem that is undiagnosed.  The health system in New Zealand uses TSH as a measure of your thyroid health, which isn’t a true measure of the thyroid.  It measures the thyroid stimulating hormones which are produced in your hypothalamus, in the brain.  Having a number in range does not mean that you are converting and using the appropriate amount of thyroid hormones.  You could be having autoimmune thyroid issues which also results in fatigue.  At NutriActionz, we run complete Thyroid Profile in Australia to get a measure of 7 markers that can reflect the health of your thyroid.  We have seen numerous cases where TSH remains within range, but free T3 is low, or reverse T3 is high, or there are elevated thyroid antibodies causing the patient to be very fatigued.
5. You have constant low grade infection, always feeling under the weather.  Your immune system could be fighting some form of infection, acute or chronic, using up the little energy you have, leaving you depleted!  Exploring this cause of fatigue some times leads to the discovery of some serious undetected illnesses, like cancer! 
6. Your adrenals are exhausted from long term stress.  The depletion of your adrenals gives you a reverse energy production process, you wake up tired in the morning and have a lot more energy around bedtime at night.  Your cortisol and DHEA could be out of range.
7. Your digestive system and mitochrondria are not functioning properly.  You are not absorbing nutrients from your food either through inability to break it down properly, or making energy from it.  If you have hypochlorhydria, SIBO, gut permeability or gut flora imbalance, you may not be absorbing what you eat.  Your gut has the biggest exposure to many different substances in a day.  An inability to process through appropriately can leave you tired, bloated with or without heartburn, belching and flatulent, and not supplying the nutrients for your energy production powerhouse, your mitochondria, to make energy appropriately.  At NutriActionz, we treat gastrointestinal problems at the source.  Do not suppress your symptoms, get to the root of it, with our tests available and regain your energy! 

These are not the only causes of fatigue but are the common causes we see in clinic.  If you are constantly battling to get more energy to live your life to the fullest, or even to get through your day, you deserve to feel better.  You may have identified where your problem is, if it is a bad food intake you are having, improve that.  However, if there are other deeper issues that need to be investigated functionally, make an appointment with our clinic so you can treat the cause and regain your energy again!  Enjoy summer, enjoy your family and friends, and enjoy life!

Metabolic syndrome may be the cause of your fatigue, diabetes or weight gain

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of signs that can drive many serious diseases in our society.  Some of the indicators of metabolic syndrome include:

• Waist circumference over 80cm for women and over 94cm for men
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes or prediabetes or poor control of blood sugar
• Carrying extra weight around the waist – beer belly
• Increase triglycerides in your blood lipids test
  
  

Metabolic syndrome increases your risk of serious diseases such as diabetes, stroke, cancer and Alzheimer’s.  We live in an age of plenty, where our genomics are designed to cater for survival against scarcity.  Average calories per day have increased from 2100 to 2800 over the past 60 years, and energy expenditure from physical activity has reduced by 46% over the same period.  Excess adipose (fat) tissues lead to systemic inflammation.

Every cell is equipped with its own energy sensing mechanism.  Like a fuel gauge, cells can sense states of high or low energy (ATP) and activate the adaptive mechanism accordingly.  When ATP is low, our cells activate an adaptive response to boost cellular energy which stimulates glucose and fat burning and reduce oxidative stress and inflammation.  This also activates the mitochondria (energy production powerhouse in the cell). This is called the AMPK response.  However, if there are large fluctuations with insulin induced from the diet, AMPK levels will be low and there will be less down regulation of inflammation, hence more pain, increase in fatigue and subsequent development of insulin resistance.

The more carbohydrate rich food we eat, the more insulin needs to be secreted. The more processed a carbohydrate food is, e.g. pastries compared to kumara (sweet potatoes), the more insulin is secreted to deal with larger blood sugar fluctuations. Insulin promotes glucose, protein and fat storage, inhibits fat burning and promotes growth of tissues.  Some insulin is essential, some growth of tissues are crucial for cell functioning, repair, growth and muscle building.  With excess carbohydrate intake in modern societies, insulin levels are higher, which by nature of the anabolic function of insulin, is associated with common health problems like acne, polycystic ovarian syndrome, atherosclerosis, hypertension and cancer.

So if you are having issues of weight gain, increasing waist circumference, fatigue, sweet cravings, imbalance in blood sugar levels, diabetes or prediabetes, I highly recommend that you address these problems before it turns into more serious diseases.  Consume foods that increase your satiety, with good fats and protein, rather than carbohydrates.  I can help you with dietary, nutritional and physical activity strategies to reverse your problems and run appropriate tests to monitor your progress over time.

Undiagnosed Subclinical Hypothyroidism may be making you Sick, Tired, Fat, Inflamed and Anxious

Subclinical hypothyroidism is not only commonly ignored, it is also grossly under diagnosed.  It is easy to dismiss tiredness, feeling sick and fat to our modern lifestyle of having too much to do and too little time.  In turn, this affects sleep, mood and can cause anxiety.

There are many reasons why subclinical hypothyroidism is under diagnosed.  The symptoms are common with many other causes – tiredness, weight gain, anxiety, dry skin and hair, cold hands and feet, poor memory, low sex drive, infertility, hoarse voice, etc. 

The measure of TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) is very commonly used by doctors to measure the “normality” of thyroid function.  Unfortunately, through running functional testing for thyroid profile for many of our clients in clinic has revealed that very often, a patient’s TSH is normal but the free T3 is not normal or low.  The free T3 is the active thyroid hormone and if that is low, any or a combination of the above symptoms can show.

What can you do to make sure you have the correct diagnosis?

If your symptoms have been persistent, you need to order the right tests. 

1. You need to know your TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, Thyroid Peroxidase, Antithyroglobulin, TSH receptor antibodies.
2. Vitamin D status

It is also important to make sure that you have adequate amount of trace minerals iodine, selenium and zinc to allow conversion of thyroid hormones to function adequately.

If you have high exposure to heavy metals, which can show up in mercury dental amalgams, pesticides, exhaust fumes, cigarette smoke (both active and passive smokers) you will “crowd out” your important thyroid nutrients.  Removing these sources of heavy metals and having adequate minerals is the first step to help chaperone your thyroid nutrients into your cells.

At NutriActionz Natural Health Clinic, we use appropriate testing and work through your individual biochemistry to ensure that the root causes of your problems are identified and addressed.  If you have been suffering from the above symptoms for a while and want some light at the end of the tunnel, contact us for a consultation so we can lead you on the right path.

Sleep Hygiene to improve the Quality and Quantity of a Night’s Sleep

Sleep problems are common these days and are often worse in summer.  Whilst there can be many problems that lead to poor quality and lack of sleep, maintaining good sleep hygiene can help to alleviate some of the problems.  If pain is keeping you awake, make sure you address the problem so that you are not constantly woken up because of pain.  If frequent urination at night is a problem, investigate the possibility of benign prostate hyperplasia or chronic nocturia which should be treated.

Here are 10 tips to help you sleep better:

1. Keep a journal of the things that need to be done the next day.  You can keep the journal beside your bed so that tasks can be dumped into the journal and you will revisit them in the morning.
2. Do not have constant exposure to computer screens 2 hours prior to bedtime.
3. Exercise earlier in the day, especially vigorous aerobic type exercise.  As strenuous exercise can produce lactic acid in the muscles, this can affect your sleep quality.  Gentle exercise that helps increase endorphins are helpful in aiding sleep, but should be done at least 3 hours before bed.
4. Avoid caffeine (tea, coffee and any caffeinated beverages) after 2 p.m.
5. Do not drink massive amount of water later in the day.  Sip your water after dinner and make yourself a chamomile tea to calm down.
6. Make sure the temperature in the room and comfortable for sleeping.  Having too many sheets or inadequate sheets can wake you up unnecessarily.
7. Keep the bed to relaxation, sleep and sex.  The bed should not be associated with work and stress.
8. Obesity is a leading cause of sleep apnoea which is a common reason overweight people do not sleep well.  Reduce your weight.
9. Actively work on reducing stress or your perception of stress in your life.  Being a perfectionist often does not help with stress management, be a realist!
10. Have an aromatherapy bath before bed.  Drop some lavender and ylang ylang essential oil into your bath and relax!

If you constantly have sleep problems, it could be a sign of more serious medical condition and needs to be checked out by your health care professional.

Typical Pattern of Fatigue with Adrenal Fatigue

The adrenal glands are the size of a grape each sitting on top of the kidneys and are responsible for making stress hormones for us to respond to stress.  However, persistent, ongoing stress can drain these glands make them into sultanas.  When the glands are drained and tired, the person often feels tired on waking, and have quite specific tiredness patterns throughout the day.

According to Dr. James Wilson, adrenal fatigue has a typical pattern of fatigue different from other types of fatigue:

On waking, the patient is fatigue because the lack of cortisol and aldosterone from fatigued adrenals creating low blood glucose levels that in turn creates fatigue.  Low aldosterone also causes low blood pressure.  It may take a couple hours to 4 hours to finally wake up.

After lunch, there will be a mid afternoon low around 3 p.m to 4 p.m. and the adrenal fatigue patient will feel better after 6 p.m which will last till 9 p.m..  If the patient stays past 11 p.m., he/she will get a second wind and can keep going till 1 or 2 a.m.  This pattern of fatigue is typically observed in adrenal fatigue patients.

If you suspect you or a family member or friend could be suffering from adrenal fatigue, these many be some of the symptoms:

• Tired for no reason
• Tired even after 8-9 hours of continuous sleep
• Feeling run down and depressed
• Craving salt or sugar
• Difficulty bouncing back from illness
• Depending on coffee to keep going
• Unable to handle stress and constantly feeling overwhelmed
• Decreased sex drive
• Dragging through the day

We can help you and your family/friend.

Conventional medicine only recognises extreme cases of adrenal dysfunction called Addisons disease where patients are put on corticosteroids to sustain them for the rest of their lives.  This is a rare disease with an incidence of about 0.004% of the population.  There are thousands if not tens of thousands who are left unattended and are told that they are “normal” when there is nothing normal about what they feel.

Louise Thompson who published a book this year, “A busy woman’s guide to High Energy Happiness”, struggled with severe adrenal fatigue where at her worst, she was not able to get out of bed and dress herself. I can relate to this, seeing what my late father went through. In the years prior to his cancer diagnosis, he complained of fatigue every day. His doctor put it down to old age.  In Louise’s case, she underwent all the possible tests she could and was told by her doctors that she was “normal”.  In her search for an explanation for her fatigue, she was treated naturopathically for her adrenal fatigue and that turned the corner for her. Her book describes her journey and the physical and thought processes that drain us of energy. It is a hands-on book with numerous exercises about our belief system and challenges us to take energetic actions. I find this book as useful for women as it is for men.  This book is available at our clinic.

All tailored supplements mentioned in the book are available at our clinic. You can have a tailored approach to supplementation, which may include other support for your thyroid, immune, digestive or hormonal systems. 

My advice to you:  Do not confuse what is normal with what is common.  If you are commonly tired, that is not normal. Whilst adrenal fatigue may not be the cause of your fatigue, you could have other reasons why you are fatigue, most of which natural medicines, dietary and lifestyle changes can help tremendously. 

Natural Solutions to deal with Fatigue and boost your Energy

Are you feeling tired all the time?  Do you wake up feeling un-refreshed and fatigued despite getting a full night’s sleep? If you jump straight into bed at the end of the day, have a good night sleep but still have to drag yourself out of bed and struggle through the day, you may be suffering from fatigue.

Most people nowadays have extremely stressful and busy lives.  So, it is normal to feel tiredness some of the time.  This tiredness generally resolves itself after some rest and relaxation.  However, increasingly more and more people are experiencing persistent, unremitting tiredness.  Chronic fatigue is becoming a common presenting compliant of many New Zealanders and Australians.  However, it is often misunderstood and at times even dismissed, particularly if there is no easily identifiable cause.

 There are many reasons for fatigue.  Things that may lead to fatigue include:

• infection
• low iron levels
• digestion issues
• liver issues
• hormonal imbalances
• insomnia
• excess body fat
• inflammation
• toxicity in the body
• stress and adrenal fatigue
• unstable blood sugar level
• mitochondrial dysfunction

As you can see, there can be multiple reasons why you feel tired.  Basically, you can feel fatigued and lack energy when your body systems are not functioning at the optimum levels.

Persistent ongoing stress is a big contributor to fatigue.  Our adrenals are designed to pump out stress hormones for the fight or flight response. The hormone, adrenaline, converts our stored glycogen into sugar for us to run away from the saber tooth tiger.  The muscles have the sugar and the pupils dilate all ready for the run.  Modern day stress usually does not have a physical component, and the sugar made ready for the muscles to use is often not used up.  Persistent high levels of sugar in the blood stream can compromise immunity, increase inflammation, store fats and cause insomnia.

Persistent high level of stress hormones also shuts down proper digestion, which in the long term, affects our absorption of nutrients.  Nutritional deficiencies and a sluggish digestive system from stress and adrenal fatigue can profoundly impact energy production.   

Poor energy production at the cellular level is the key contributing factor for feeling weak and fatigue.  To increase your energy level, you need to ensure that your mitochondria are working at full capacity for optimal energy.  Mitochondria are the “powerhouses” within every cell.  They make energy to keep each cell in your body functioning well.  Mitochondria require certain nutrients to work efficiently.  No matter what else is going on in your body, you will have reduced energy production if the mitochondrial function is impaired.

If you experience fatigue, improving mitochondrial function is the important first step towards improving your energy levels.  Damage to your mitochondria is a primary reason why you feel fatigued.  This damage occurs when bad diets and lifestyle choices stimulate the formation of free radicals.  Free radicals are potentially harmful substances formed in your body that can damage your cells, your mitochondria and your DNA. Here are some common nutrients that can help support your mitochondrial function naturally and give your energy levels a boost:

• Magnesium - an essential mineral that is used in over 300 biochemical processes in your body and is essential for the conversion of sugars, fats and proteins to energy.  Over half of New Zealanders and Australians are magnesium deficient.
• CoEnzyme Q10 – a vitamin like compound that is essential for energy production. CoQ10 is a powerful antioxidant that is beneficial in the management of fatigue as it enhances cellular energy production.
• Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids – these nutrients from fish oil or krill oil are vital for the integrity and      stability of every cell in your bodies.  Omega-3 can help lower stress levels and reduce fatigue by stimulating the growth and size of the mitochondria.

The nutrients above can help wipe up these free radicals and help boost your energy levels.  However, these nutrients may not be sufficient and depending on the level of mitochondrial dysfunction, additional nutrients may be required, especially when you have been suffering from fatigue for a long period of time.  In short, if you are tired, make sure you eat a healthy balanced diet and drink plenty of water throughout the day.  The quality and balance of the food you consume will have a significant impact on your energy and vitality.  Engaging in regular exercise is also important to help address some of the underlying issues causing your fatigue.

If you have adrenal fatigue, you need to rebuild your adrenals to support normal body function again.