Tips to help fight fatigue and boost your energy

Do you crave sleep or force yourself out of bed in the morning, already looking forward to the moment you can climb back in it? Or does it sometimes feel like you just can’t find the energy to complete even the smallest of tasks?

You’re not alone, as tiredness is one of the most frequent presenting complaints in health care,¹ but it’s not always easy to understand why we feel this way and what, if anything, we can do about it.

We take a look at the symptoms and causes of fatigue and share some top tips on how to boost your energy levels.

What is fatigue?

Many of us simply accept tiredness as an unavoidable consequence of our busy lives and carry on regardless. But feeling extreme tiredness all the time is known as fatigue.

While there is a difference between physical and mental fatigue, they often occur together. According to NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), there are a number of factors that may increase your risk of suffering from fatigue.

For example, it tends to be more common in females, people with a high BMI and those whose physical activity levels are low. Having a chronic medical condition can also make you more susceptible to fatigue.²

Symptoms of fatigue

Feeling tired is a general, and somewhat obvious, symptom of fatigue, but there are others, including:

• headaches,
• dizziness,
• slowed response and reflexes,
• lack of concentration and poor decision-making ability,
• lack of motivation,
• aching and weak muscles,
• or feeling moody and irritable.

These symptoms can be a result of various factors, as listed below, and some of these causes can also work together in combination; resulting in fatigue.

Causes of fatigue

Medical causes

Fatigue is a symptom commonly seen in a variety of illnesses, including sleep apnoea, diabetes and heart disease. It can also be a sign of kidney disease, an underactive thyroid or anaemia.

If you are experiencing frequent or prolonged periods of tiredness or any of the symptoms described above it would be advisable to see your GP, to rule out any medical cause.

Workplace and screen-related causes

Work-related stress and prolonged or excessive screen time during the working day have been shown to have significant negative impacts on both physical health and mental health. The sedentary nature of screen time can lead to:

• eye strain,
• neck and shoulder pain,
• and back pain,

while excessive screen time can lead to:

• depression,
• anxiety,
• and other mood disorders.³

>Read more on Taking a break from your screen

Numerous studies have concluded that the blue light from screens can affect the amount and quality of sleep we get, because it disrupts the body’s production of melatonin.

This is the hormone that regulates our circadian rhythms and which would in our natural state be triggered by nightfall, helping us to feel tired and fall asleep at the end of the day.

However, clocking up even more screen time, watching TV or catching up on social media when we get home ramps up the effect of a day spent working at a computer, and can exacerbate the problem.

Lifestyle choices

Excessive consumption of caffeine, alcohol and/or drugs, lack of exercise and poor dietary choices are common causes of fatigue.⁴

For example, how often do we turn to coffee to kick start our day or a glass of something in the evening to perk ourselves up, when actually both are sleep disruptors that may be contributing to our fatigue in the first place?

>Read more on the effects of caffeine

Similarly, if you’re not exercising your fitness is going to decrease and you may find yourself with more sedentary time when you’re inclined to snack.

We’re not saying you should stop doing the things you enjoy, or be out training every day, just that if you’ve ruled other causes out and you’re still feeling sluggish there may be elements of your lifestyle you can tweak to help tackle your tiredness.

Stress and mental fatigue

Depression and grief can place a mental strain on the mind, which can affect motivation and energy levels. But it’s also important to bear in mind that it’s not just the negative that can cause fatigue.

Positive events, such as getting married, moving house – even going on holiday - can be similarly stressful but it can be harder to accept that we may be struggling when we’re ‘supposed’ to be happy.

The solution? Try to accept it, gain a little perspective, delegate if you can, and focus on the destination, not the getting there.

How can I prevent and overcome fatigue?

The good news is that for most of us fatigue doesn’t have to be a fact of life and there are plenty of simple everyday things you can do help boost your energy and banish long-term tiredness for good.

Nutrition

A healthy lifestyle and a balanced diet can help boost your energy levels. Be sure to eat a healthy breakfast such as oats topped with banana and blueberries which contain vitamins and minerals that help stimulate the process of energy production.

Some examples of energy-boosting foods include fruit and vegetables, such as beetroot, melon and broccoli, and nuts, seeds and garlic.

>Find out more on which foods are energy-boosting.

Feeling fatigued could also be the result of having an iron deficiency⁵. Consider eating adequate amounts of iron rich foods, such as:

• pulses (beans, peas and lentils),
• lean red meat,
• iron-fortified cereals,
• nuts,
• and leafy greens.

Sleep

Sleep is arguably the most important contributing factor affecting our energy levels, but something that’s frequently sacrificed.

Much of how you feel when you are awake is impacted by the quality of your sleep, so getting long-lasting, good quality sleep is essential for our body to rejuvenate, build muscle and grow, as well as to resynthesize hormones and maintain energy levels.

>Read our top tips for a good night’s sleep.

Exercise

While it might seem ironic that, when feeling exhausted, one way to tackle this is to do more physical activity, the relationship between exercise and an increase in energy levels is a well-established one.

Exercise spurs your body to produce more mitochondria inside your muscle cells. Mitochondria are known as the powerhouses of cells, because they create fuel out of glucose from the food you eat and oxygen from the air you breathe. Having more of them increases your body's energy supply.⁶

Physical activity can also help to reduce fatigue by improving your quality of sleep. The better the quality of sleep you have, the easier it is for your body to regulate the necessary processes needed for day-to-day life.

Regarding mental fatigue and stress, exercise promotes the release of the ‘feel good’ hormones endorphins. This can help to create a happier state of mind and motivate you to exercise more regularly.

For more tips and inspiration to help get you moving more and keep you motivated, from our team of physiologists and wellbeing programme managers, visit our fitness and exercise hub.

Next steps

Fatigue can affect us all at some point in our lives, whether it be from a long period of over-working, an illness or from stress. And while in the short term you my feel like relaxing on the sofa with some snacks catching up on your favourite TV show, try to consider more effective ways of fighting long-term fatigue.

It's important to see your GP if your fatigue persists, as this could be the result of an underlying medical condition.

References

1. Tiredness/fatigue in adults – NICE
2. Risk factors for tiredness/fatigue in adults - NICE
3. The hazards of excessive screen time – National Library of Medicine
4. Tiredness and fatigue - NHS
5. Iron deficiency anaemia - NHS
6. Does exercise really boost energy levels? – Havard Health