How I Defeated Fatigue

I have always known the importance of a balanced lifestyle for feeling vital and energetic. However, I suffered from fatigue paradoxically in my younger years. This life challenge was due to lack of credible information and my wrong assumptions about healthy lifestyle.

After investing significant time and effort in gaining healthy habits, I got rid of fatigue and exprerienced an abudance of energy in my body and the brain. I want to share my lifehack with readers who might be facing this type of life challange. Feeling fatigue is not fun.

Many people suffer from occasional or chronic fatigue for various reasons. The main reasons for feeling lethargic revolve around misaligned lifestyle choices with one's biological and mental position. However, chronic diseases, genetic makeup, environmental factors, and aging can also cause a lack of energy in some cases.

I exclude illness and other factors but only focus on lifestyle factors in this article even though they might be crucial for some people. My emphasis in this post is on creating a balanced lifestyle to increase energy and defeat fatigue naturally based on my experience in younger years. Balance is an important term within this context as our biological systems are interconnected.

Surviving and thriving without energy is impossible. Our bodies need certain conditions to produce energy. The fundamental requirements are air, water, food, sleep, rest, exercise, and sunlight. Even though they sound so basic and straightforward, many people struggle to meet these essential requirements for energy production; thus, they suffer from fatigue.

I conducted a comprehensive literature review on this topic when I was strugling with fatigue. However, it was overwhelming to fit them into a single article. Therefore, I thought it could be more beneficial to share my observations and personal experience to elaborate on a natural and holistic approach to beating fatigue and increasing energy.

Like many people, I suffered from a lack of energy as a young person. But, ironically, the older I got, the more energetic I felt due to consciously making beneficial lifestyle changes. So, even though age is a known factor for fatigue, it is not a significant cause for lack of energy.

In my opinion, we can be energetic at any age as long as we meet fundamental requirements and align our lifestyle with these natural necessities. Some of us might need extra nutritional supplements and relaxation boosts as we age.

Our metabolism plays a critical role in feeling energetic or lethargic. Some of us have faster, and some have slower metabolic rates. However, the critical biological factor for energy production is our mitochondria, as introduced in this article: 12 Tips to Get Denser Mitochondria for Joyful Energy.

I won't repeat the details in this article as I covered them in the previous one. But, briefly, these minuscular organelles, known as mitochondria, create ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) via cellular respiration by breaking down nutrients in every human. The denser our mitochondria, the more cellular energy we produce.

However, having sufficient energy does not necessarily equate to being energetic. Several other factors affect our energy sources and utilization. For example, we might have excellent mitochondrial health, but if we are sleep-deprived for a day, we might feel very sluggish.

Stress is one of the factors for energy drainage. If acute stress passes the threshold and turns into chronic stress, we experience fatigue more frequently. Our body needs acute stress and inflammation for recovery from damage. Nevertheless, long-lasting stress with too much inflammation puts us into a vulnerable state affecting the health of cells and organs.

In addition, our emotions play a significant role in accumulations of stress. For example, how we respond to stress also plays a critical role in managing it. Emotional stress is one of the root causes of nervous breakdown and symptoms of chronic fatigue affecting our mental health.

We can cope with stress using various natural methods. Some common approaches are mindful living, working in a flow state, meditation, recreational reading, therapeutic writing, listening to music, social conversations, yoga, and activities that give us pleasure. Gentle workouts, dance, and outdoor activities can also be helpful to reduce stress. High-quality nutrition and sleep are valuable contributors to reducing stress.

Nutrition is also a direct factor in creating energy or causing fatigue. As we are all unique, we need customized nutrition for our individual requirements. There is no one diet that works for everyone. Our metabolism, structure, gender, and genetic makeup requires specific nutrients.

However, we all need fundamental nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, proteins, and healthy fats. Lack of some vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, B12, vitamin D is well known for their effects on the energy system. However, too much of some nutrients can also be problematic. Therefore, balance is a vital concept that we need to keep in mind at all times.

For example, while some of us are tolerant to carbohydrates to some extent, some of us are sensitive to them. Excessive and frequent carbs consumption can cause fluctuation of blood glucose, causing insulin spikes, leading to fat gain and metabolic syndrome.

Insulin is a tricky hormone affecting several other hormones. Insulin resistance may reduce our energy as we operate in constant energy-saving mode. So aiming for insulin sensitivity can be an excellent health goal.

Food affects our hormones. Our endocrine system also depends on the quality of food we consume. Hormones play a critical role in our energy system. Stress and sleep also affect our hormones. Deficiency or excess of some hormones causes fatigue. For example, while cortisol is an excellent hormone to manage stress, elevated cortisol levels affect melatonin adversely hence causing sleep deprivation and leading to a crash in the long term.

While nutrition is vital for creating energy, mobilizing nutrients and balancing energy are provided by regular movement. Therefore, daily exercise is a crucial requirement for our health. People who undertake moderate exercise regularly are more energetic than sedentary people. Exercise also helps us eliminate toxins, allergens, heavy metals, and pathogens through motion by activating the lymphatic system.

Nutrition that does not align with our body can cause food intolerance, allergies, and bloating. Food intolerance, bloating, and allergies are known causes of fatigue. For example, when I experienced leaky gut syndrome my energy levels were extremely low. Even sleep and exercise did not help much to beat fatigue.

In addition, dehydration, as simple as it sounds, is a significant cause of lethargy. Balance of electrolytes contribute to feeling energetic. Air pollution is also a known factor for feeling sluggish. So, fundamental needs like food, water, and air that we sometimes take for granted, can play a critical role in energy production.

In addition to environmental factors, sunshine is another contributor to energy production, directly affecting our hormones and neurotransmitters. For example, exposing our eyes to morning sunlight causes a significant energy boost during the day. It reduces melatonin and increases energy-producing hormones.

Ironically, what we consume for fun also can cause fatigue. Typical examples are alcohol, drugs, and tobacco smoking. So refraining from anything toxic to our body, especially at excessive levels, looks like a good rule of thumb to increase energy and reduce fatigue.

And addictive behavior such as social media could be an energy drainer. Social Media Fast Was The Best Decision For My Mental Health And Well-Being.

Some people love coffee as an energizer in the morning. It does wonders for some of us, but too much caffeine also causes a crash in the long term. The body needs more caffeine gradually to produce the same effect.

I used to love drinking coffee; however, my digestive system couldn't cope with it. As a workaround, I learned to use cold showers to have the effect of caffeine in the morning. It worked for me. I also heard that it worked for some other people.

Interestingly some of us have more energy when we eat food, but I feel more energetic with an empty stomach, especially in the mornings. Therefore, after trial and error, I stopped eating breakfast which helped me remain vibrant during the day. Fasting works for some people but does not for others. Therefore, we need to customize our needs based on individual requirements.

These approaches worked for me but there is not a single solution that works for everyone. Therefore, while we consider fundamental human needs, we need to find practical ways to tweak our lifestyle to create better energy and reduce fatigue. Therefore, investing time and systematically experimenting with different approaches until we find the optimal solution for our vitality can be a practical and sensible approach.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a joyful life.

Please note that this story is not health advice. I shared my observations and perspectives for information purposes only. If you have related health conditions, please consult your healthcare professionals.

The original version of this article is published on another platform. If you enjoy writing, you can join Vocal as a creator to find your voice and reach out to a broad audience. I also write on Medium and NewsBreak.