Guide to fighting fatigue

Do you always struggle to stay awake while your friend is raring to go? Part of the answer could lie in your DNA, but a whole range of other factors play an important part in how fatigued we feel.

Luckily you can put a stop to extreme tiredness starting today.

Research has revealed those who experience energy slumps may have a gene mutation that controls the amount of energy in our cells. It becomes active when our fuel stores start to deplete, such as during exercise.

If it’s faulty, this process is active even when you’re at rest, making you feel tired even though you’re not doing much. Conditions such as depression, anaemia, fibromyalgia, and an underactive thyroid can also affect your energy levels.¹

A lack of iron causes anaemia, so up your intake of iron-rich foods like lean red meat and broccoli, while an iron supplement may also help.

Your body clock could also trigger fatigue. We now spend most of our time indoors, under office lighting, so we’re not exposed to the natural daylight our body clock needs.

This has a knock-on effect on our sleep quality, which could trigger insomnia.³

If you’re suffering from persistent tiredness, which doesn’t improve with sleep or gets worse with exercise, it could be chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

You might also experience problems concentrating, a sore throat, tender lymph nodes, dizziness, and joint pain.⁴

If you’ve felt this way for at least four months, ask your GP to carry out some tests to rule out CFS.

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If you find yourself waking up tired in the morning, even after a good night’s sleep, you can feel groggy and irritable all day.

There could be several reasons for waking up tired, from your alarm clock to insomnia and sleep inertia.

There are a handful of fatigue-fighting vitamins and supplements which may increase your energy levels. These include:

Sleep is essential but feeling sleepy all the time can make us feel groggy, irritable and can even sometimes be dangerous!

If you find yourself always tired and sleepy even after a good night’s sleep, try these fatigue-fighting tips and tricks and combat any excessive daytime sleepiness.