Sunday, October 2, 2016

7 Things You Can Do to Help Your Chronic Tiredness

It is shocking to discover just how many people in America suffer from sluggishness and low-energy. Without energy, it is almost impossible to feel motivated to want to do much of anything. Without energy life pretty much sucks, and it takes every ounce of effort one may have in order to just get through each day.


Now please understand that the culprit/s of why you may be experiencing low-energy are so vast, could come from so many different sources, and could also all be stacked on one another. Getting to the real reason why YOU may be feeling so tired and sluggish can only come from much research on your end or through working with a wellness practitioner or coach. For the purpose of this article though, I would love to address several key areas that are all too commonly overlooked for most Americans.


The following are some great first steps to take if you are dealing with low energy levels. Like I mentioned before, the symptoms of “low-energy” can be the tip of the iceberg, and could be telling you that there is a more serious issue brewing underneath. Listen to the messages your body is sending you and take action right away.






# 1: RE-VAMP YOUR Diet!!!


Food is medicine. Our bodies are constantly creating new cells, that in turn run all of our precious organs. The cells that our bodies create need useable nutrition from the food that we put into our mouths each day. Most Americans really haven’t made the connection between food and health, and somehow assume that our bodies are like an awesome machine that would just keep working as long as it got crude oil. Nothing could be further from the truth. Well, actually it is always surprising to me just how long people do end up living on the standard american diet, while maybe not  a life lived in utmost health, it is still a life lived. But the point here is, our bodies depend on the food and water that we consume in order for all of its processes to continue to run smoothly. When one eats “empty calories”; processed food devoid of pretty much all essential nutrition, and drinks sodas (further demineralizes your body), where the heck is our body going to get the ESSENTIAL vitamins and minerals that it needs to run properly? All we need to remember is this: Food is Medicine. When we start treating our food as medicine, you would be surprised as to how little you will have to spend on actual “medicine:. The body is the most amazing creation. The body KNOWS how to heal itself, and is constantly striving to find homeostasis (balance). When given the right nutrition, water, and movement, you would be surprised to see just how much energy is gained back.


Now what is proper nutrition? Every BODY is unique in how it functions and what it needs. There is no ONE right diet for everyone on Earth. The best “generic” advice I can give though, is to ALWAYS stick to an organic Whole Food Diet. This means; cook meals at home with whole grains, legumes, grass-fed animal proteins, fruits, organic dairy (ideally raw, unpasteurized, unhomogenized), and sprouted nuts and seeds. Some people find that their body functions better with no dairy, or no animal products. Some people find that they can not tolerate wheat, or many other grains. Some people have reactions to night-shade vegetables and fruits, while some people are totally fine eating anything from the whole-food category.
Aside from sticking to a diet full of WHOLE foods, it is important to introduce friendly bacteria back into your gut. You can do this by eating raw, live fermented foods such as sauerkraut, fermented carrots, kombucha, yogurts etc. The gut is the second “brain” in the body. The gut microbiology play an important role in the forming of the Enteric Nervous System (ENS), a complex system of over 100 million nerves. The ENS is intrinsically connected with your brain through neural and endocrine pathways and the two are constantly in communication, making it seem as if there is only one brain and not two. As you can guess, the health of the gut is invariably connected to your mental health, and cognitive function.





2. Start to supplement your diet with Magnesium


We are pretty much ALL Magnesium deficient, due to the monocrop food grown in soil with a severe lack of minerals. Not to mention those Americans who drink soda and coffee, who are with every sip, stripping magnesium out of their bodies. Magnesium is SUCH an important mineral for the vital processing of over 300 enzyme systems that regulate diverse biochemical reactions in your body including; protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, blood glucose control, and blood pressure regulation. Magnesium is a major player in energy production, helps relax the nervous system, helps muscles relax and grow stronger, helps fix calcium properly and creates healthier bones, hydrates, alkalizes the body’s PH, improves digestion, and much more.



It is important to take a magnesium supplement that is actually utilizable by the body.  Most magnesium supplements come in pill form and have to pass through the stomach and intestines before a mere %15 of its magnesium content can be used by the blood stream. A much more bioavailable form of magnesium is “Ionic-Trace”, or “Angstrom-Size” magnesium. This comes as a liquid, and the particle size of magnesium is so super tiny in this form, that the body absorbs this angstrom size magnesium right away through the bloodstream.




3. Check your relationship with Sugar


Sugar addiction is pretty much normal in our modern day American society. Most processed foods have sugar added to it. Sugar can be hidden in labels under various “disguise” names. The most dangerous one to stay away from is “high fructose corn syrup”, especially with the sickly rise of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) in our world today, corn being one of the main genetically modified crops.
When we are addicted to sugar, we are dependent on the continual high that the sugar gives us, serving as a non-sustainable energy boost. Ultimately this roller coaster of riding the blood sugar wave is very detrimental to your health and will result in major energy level crashes in the long run. Another important thing to mention here is that sugar feeds a yeast called Candida Albicans. When our bodies are healthy and in balance, there is a natural balance of the Candida yeast present in our system. Because the standard american diet consists of so many processed foods, white flours (convert to sugars), and sugars- the Candida balance in our guts can be easily thrown off by the overload of sugar into our system. Add a bit of antibiotic medicine for that last infection you had, and boom, you have a perfect recipe for Candida overgrowth. When Candida gets out of hand, you will start to experience various symptoms, one of them being fatigue, sluggishness, and low energy. So experiment with cutting out processed sugar from your diet and see how you feel.  









4. Drink LOTS of Clean Water


Great rule of thumb is to drink at least half of your body weight in ounces every day. If I weigh 120 lbs, I would drink 60 ounces of water AT least every day. More importantly though is to assess the quality of water you are drinking. Never drink tap water unless for some reason your tap water is sourced from a spring and is untreated.
The best source of water you can get is straight from a natural mountain spring. Now most of us don’t have that luxury to bottle our own water from a beautiful mountain spring, but we can buy spring water and have it delivered to our door. There is also a great website called www.findaspring.com where you can locate the nearest natural spring near you.
We want spring water because it is still alive with naturally occurring minerals and has been structured by the earth herself, to be best utilized by our bodies. If you can’t get spring water I would suggest buying a great home water purification system.
Why is it important to drink enough water? Our bodies are roughly %70 water. Every single process that goes on in our bodies depend on water. It is through having adequate water intake, that our body is able to consistently flush out toxins from our system. A buildup of toxins in our system can lead to loss of energy and sluggishness.







5. Avoid Caffeine


Caffeine wrecks havoic on the body. I will list a few things that caffeine causes, and/or is linked to:
-increased loss of B-vitamins (through urine)
-contributes to irritibilty, anger, headaches, nervousness
-increases calcium loss
-short term mood elevation- but rebounds to depression
-causes sleepiness, tiredness, and feeling disorganized
-constricts veins- causes limited supply of oxygen and vital nutrients to tissues/cells
-burns out adrenal glands- and if untreated can lead to an autoimmune disease
-mood disorders
-inflammation
-been shown to inhibit DNA repairs
-linked to GastroIntestinal problems like IBS, heartburn, bloating, colitis, food allergies…
-coffee interferes with the digestion of protein
-caffeine lowers the stress threshold in nearly everyone


As you can see with this fraction of a list, I have already covered many reasons why caffeine should be eliminated. While this may seem like a daunting task, once the body has gone through coffee/ or caffeine withdrawals, and has gotten over the hump, you will slowly start to regulate your own energy levels. Over time, you will see life is actually much better on the other side of the fence where caffeine doesn’t rule the world. Having low-energy could very well be caused by adrenal exhaustion through the use of your daily cup of coffee or 5.









6. Get enough sleep-


Americans have had a weird relationship to sleep for the last half century. Many believing that the key to “success” is to work more, sleep less, because as they say “ I can sleep when I am dead”. Well, how about if you don’t sleep, you will end up dead right quick buddy. :) This may seem obvious but if you are feeling constantly drained- check your relationship and quality of sleep in your life. Are you getting less than 7-8 hours consistently a night? Is your sleep deep and solid, or light and easily disturbed? Do you spend the last waking moment before sleep taking care of work, or staring into a screen? If so, it may be time for a sleep makeover. Make a “winding down ritual” for yourself every evening; make sure to turn off all electronics in your bedroom, drink a soothing calming tea before bed, drop some lavender essential oil on your feet, and/or try meditating for 10 minutes before you hit the pillow. Sleep is when the body regenerates itself, where the day’s events are processed, and where energy is restored. If you are constantly running around busy as a busy in your daily life, and you live on limited sleep, chances are you are doomed to a life of sluggishness, and less than ideal energy levels. Make sleep a priority for yourself, you deserve at least 7-8 hours of good sleep a night.








7. Check your relationship to stress


Stress kills. Literally. Stress sends our cortisol levels through the roof as well as keeps our nervous system in fight or flight mode (sympathetic nervous system). Cortisol wears out our adrenal glands over time- and will make it that your mojo up and left.
In a nutshell if you want more energy- take a look at your life and see what areas could use some improvement as far as stress goes. Address what you can, then take it upon yourself to incorporate as many relaxation practices as you can throughout your days/week in order to help counter the raging stress hormones that likely flood your body.


I could literally keep writing about all of the different causes for having “low energy levels” because the causes are so vast and inclusive. But for the purpose of keeping this blog manageable, lets just call it quits for now :)



As always, in radiant health, and longevity,


Norianna

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