"Beat your fatigue" guide by YORKTEST
If you are persistently feeling tired, day to day activities become very difficult. Falling asleep whilst watching television and feeling exhausted during the day are classic tell tale symptoms that your vitality levels need urgent rejuvenation.
We've put together some simple recommendations to tackle fatigue and return your sense of vitality.
1. Eat Regularly
If you're not eating regularly, your blood sugar levels can drop. Ensure your body has a regular supply of fuel by eating breakfast, dinner & tea. When it comes to snacks in between go for fresh fruit and nuts.
2. Avoid Caffeine
Drinking coffee during the day is a classic but ultimately flawed habit to boost your sense of vitality. The old adage what comes up must come down applies here. Racking up the caffeine drinks to keep alert will eventually result in feeling energy zapped. Significantly reducing caffeine intake is an important step in returning your sense of vitality.
3. Breathe deeply
Sounds like simplistic advice, but persistent shallow breathing is associated with under-oxygenation of the blood and an associated nose dive in energy. So the advice here is simple, learn the art of breathing from the abdomen.
4. Exercise
Paradoxically doing little activity can increase your feelings of lethargy. Don't think the advice here is going to be joining your local gym. Whilst this is a good idea it's not the only way you can introduce exercise into your lifestyle. You're far more likely to keep up exercise if you're doing things you ENJOY doing. For example, dancing, gardening and walking are all forms of low intensity cardio-vascular exercise which can begin to tackle feelings of lethargy.
5. Sleep
Facing the next day after a disrupted night of sleep is an unpleasant ordeal. There are a number of steps you can take to increase your chances of a good night's sleep:
- Now it's summer the sun rises in the early hours and if your curtains don't block out enough light then the chances are you'll end up waking up. If you suspect this could be the case then either fit thicker curtains or alternatively consider wearing an eye sleeping mask.
- In the earlier part of the evening reflect on your day and write down any problems you've encountered and how you might tackle them. Such action mitigates the chances of lots of worrying thoughts preoccupying your mind later when your trying to sleep.
- For many of us, living in built-up areas often means night time is all too often accompanied by unwanted noise. Waking up to the sound of a car alarm at 3 in the morning is enough to leave you awake for the rest of the night. Foam ear plugs are a good solution to combat this.
- Set your alarm to get up at the same time of the day every day and resist the temptation to nap during the day.
- Reading your favourite novel in the comfort of your bed is a pleasant luxury, but one which can keep you awake long after you have finished the last chapter.
6. Take a food intolerance test
Unwittingly the very food you eat could be the source of your fatigue. Persistent fatigue is a recognized symptom of food intolerance - "Food intolerance can cause fatigue" - Source: NHS Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
If you need to know if the contents of your shopping bags is behind your lethargy then we can help.
Click YorkTest Food Intolerance Tests to learn more about the tests I recommend. YorkTest have a reputation for offering a solution to combat fatigue, which is backed up by the fact that over 30% of YorkTest customers purchase their products as a solution to lethargy.
Fatigue case study
Martin Phillips (professional footballer) - Torquay - Submitted July 2007
He may have lost his job as a professional footballer but at least he's got his health. That's the outcome for Martin Phillips whose 13-year long career as a midfielder for Torquay United came to an end earlier this year due to fatigue.
Now, with a baby on the way the 31-year old midfielder player can concentrate on becoming a father although he has no idea yet of what career he will do now his soccer days are over.
Martin, whose stadium ports of call included premiership clubs such as Portsmouth and Manchester City, suffered a viral infection 12 months ago which left him so debilitated that he was unable work in such a physically demanding occupation.
"I rarely competed for 90 minutes because I was so tired during the game. I'd come off the pitch absolutely knackered. You do what you can, but when I couldn't do the training either then you know there is a problem."
"I went to a doctor who said I had something called chronic fatigue; I'd never even heard of it. The good thing is I am over it and I can get on with my life knowing I am fully recovered. What will I do for work? I've no idea."
Chronic fatigue affects over 240,000 people in the UK according to figures from Action for ME. 77% of these will lose their job through the illness and although it is curable many patients will live with the symptoms (lethargy, drowsiness, low concentration levels, tiredness and mood swings) for years.
Phillips, who lives in Ivybridge, Devon, heard about a 113 foodScan test by YORKTEST and took the test, supplying a pinprick sample of blood from home. His results showed he was allergic to milk, eggs and peanut. Once he cut the suspect foods out of his diet then the fatigue disappeared.
All a bit too late to save his football career but with fatherhood on the way, a new and more exciting chapter begins. A new baby will keep him up on nights but at least he'll know it isn't food that is making him tired.
Milk Intolerance FAQs
If I'm milk intolerant should I avoid goats milk?
Many people who are intolerant to cows milk will also be intolerant to sheep and goats milk.
So what products contain milk?
Fresh, long-life, homogenised and sterilised whole, semi-skimmed and skimmed milk, all powdered milk. Tinned milk. milk drinks and prepared instant powdered hot or cold malted, chocolate or coffee drinks.
Cream, butter, margarine, ice cream, yoghurt, cheese.
Casein, caseinate, hydrolysed casein, milk solids, whey, lactose or lactalbumin.
Do some processed foods also contain milk?
Yes, and here are some examples:
Baked foods, eg. some bread, rolls pancakes, scones, cakes, biscuits, packet snacks.
Instant mashed potato, soup, ready meals, processed meats and sausages, custards, puddings, sauces, chocolate, confectionery.
Medicines may contain lactose.
Will taking out milk in my diet make me calcium deficient?
Milk is an important source of calcium in our diet, so must be replaced by calcium rich foods or a calcium supplement. Many foods are supplemented with calcium.
What foods are high in calcium?
Soya milk, legumes, curly kale, meat, okra, sardines & pilchards (with bones), salmon, spring greens, watercress, parsley, figs, sesame seeds, tahini, almonds, apricots, hazlenuts, brazils, broccoli, spinach, oranges, chocolate.
I love cheese and will find it hard to cut it out!
Tofu, hoummous, taramasalata, soya "cheese" spreads, mushroom, fish or vegetable pate (read the label or make your own) are all cheese substitutes.
I love milk, what are the alternatives? (often labelled dairy-free or suitable for vegans)
Milks made from soya, rice, oat, almond, coconut, pea and sunflower oil are all milk free.
If I am milk intolerant will I have to permanently exclude it?
After a period of excluding milk, some people find they can tolerate sheep cheese or milk or evaporated milk.
Even if you have a food intolerance, it doesn't mean the end of all your favourite foods. Look at the recipe below:
Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe
Egg and Yeast Free Chocolate Cake
Preparation time 10 mins
Cooking time 30 mins
Ingredients
150ml strong black coffee
6 tbsp water
100g margarine
75g caster sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup
200g plain floor
1 tsb bicarbonate of soda
25g cocoa powder
3 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
Fudge icing ingredients
100g butter
75g sifted icing sugar
50g sifted cocoa powder
Method
Pre heat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F / gas 4
Line a loose-bottomed 8inch cake tin in the usual way
Place the first 5 ingredients in a pan and heat, stirring until the sugar has disolved
Add the milk and vanilla essence
Then whisk in dry ingredients until well blended
Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the pre heated oven for approximately 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean
Cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack
Zap the icing ingredients in a food processor and spread over the top of a cake
Acknowledgment
Thanks to YORKTEST for permission to use this article submitted in their newsletter.
Click here to download free information on their food intolerance tests.
Client Loyalty Discount
Quote my code PCPJH010 for a 10% discount when placing TELEPHONE orders (020 7436 5122) with The NutriCentre.