You don’t want to hear me tell you that you should stop taking energy drinks. Trust me when I say that I don’t want to tell you that either. However, any energy drink you do use should be used judiciously, rather than as a panacea for all your fatigue-related issues. The key to having energy is to determine exactly why you don’t have energy, and then work to change the underlying causes of your fatigue.
First, it could help to speak to a practitioner of naturopathic medicine. They can tell you if the cause of your fatigue is a low thyroid or adrenal problem. A high number of cases of chronic depression stem from thyroid issues, and an energy drink certainly won’t help you in those cases.
Second, examine your sleep habits. Are you getting enough sleep at night? Is it restful sleep, or do you toss, turn and wake your way through the night? If you are having sleep issues, try backing off any late night caffeine or sugar intake. If you do that and still have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep, then maybe you could try a new pillow, or a different mattress. The point, as mentioned above, is to determine what is causing the problem, rather than just piling chemicals on it in an attempt to counter the effects.
A few general diet/lifestyle things you can do that have been shown to increase energy levels:
1) Remove heavily processed foods with high amounts of chemicals out of your diet.
2) Drink more water. Not more juice or more coffee, but more actual water.
3) Exercise more! Before you think I am telling our most-severely out of shape readers that they need to immediately become gym rats, let me clarify. If you currently do “almost nothing” in the exercise realm, then simply adding a 10 minute walk in the evenings would qualify as exercising more. It’s all relative, so gauge where you are on the physical fitness scale, and slightly increase the exercise.
If you need to use an energy drink or energy shot for a specific event, no problem… Drinking them occasionally isn’t that bad for you, as long as you do it in moderation.
In our next blog post, we’ll take a look at natural herbs and oils that have an energizing or otherwise healthy effect on the body. Until then, stay healthy and stay alert. The world moves pretty quickly, and if you blink…you could miss it.