End Fatigue

Your Good Health

No energy? These hidden fatigue triggers could be to blame!

Full, vibrant, 16-hour-a-day energy can be yours – no matter how long you’ve struggled with fatigue! – thanks to these savvy strategies, based on the latest medical research. A few simple tips can have you feeling fabulous in a snap!

You’ve tried exercising, or scaling back on exercise. You’ve tried eating better and sleeping more. You’ve even cut back on caffeine and social commitments. So why does your energy still run out long before your day does?

“Many common, hidden conditions can cause long term fatigue,” says internal medicine specialist Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., author of From Fatigued to Fantastic! “They can be as simple as a nutrient deficiency or as complex as a glandular disorder.”

Take heart – tracking down your true troublemaker is the first step toward reinvigorating your life! What could be causing your fatigue?

1. Your Cold Remedy
The Journal of Nutrition reports that regularly taking over 22 mg. of zinc daily – the amount in many cold-stopper lozenges – can cause blood iron levels to plunge as much as 35%. And research suggests that’s more than enough to send one in five women into anemia, leaving them constantly exhausted.

“On the other hand, getting too little zinc can trigger brain fog, achy muscles and even chronic fatigue,” says Dr. Teitelbaum. “So choose a multivitamin that gives you the ideal amount of zinc – between 15 and 22 mg. – and don’t take more.”

2. The Yeast Beast
Doctors hand out tens of millions of prescriptions for antibiotics every year – drugs that destroy helpful bacteria in our bodies along with the harmful ones that are making us sick. That often leads to the overgrowth of yeast, which many women know from itchy experience. “But most people don’t realize that yeast infections often produce no noticeable symptoms – except chronic fatigue,” says Dr. Teitelbaum. “And it can linger for months, even years, after you’ve finished taking your antibiotic!”

Suspect yeast is to blame for your draggy days? You can test the theory and treat the problem at the same time. “The trick is to starve the yeast and drive them out,” says Dr. Teitelbaum. “You can do that by avoiding sugar – their favorite food- and eating healthy acidophilus bacteria daily.” In fact, studies show eating just one cup of yogurt (a source of live bacterial cultures like acidophilus) daily, along with cutting out sugary sodas, candies, juices and the like, can wipe out those pesky invaders for up to 67% of women within three months.

3. Your Glands
A malfunctioning thyroid is often suspected when women are fatigued, but it’s also possible your adrenals are to blame. The adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys and produce a steady supply of energizing hormones such as adrenaline, but chronic stress and lack of sleep can overtax them and slow them down. “And since your glands are all connected, having worn-out adrenals can suppress the function of your thyroid, as well,” says Glenn S. Rothfeld, M.D., of Tufts University School of Medicine.

Surveys suggest well over 35 million women could be struggling with this problem. And while avoiding stress and sleeping eight hours a night are the solutions, there’s another step you can take: eat three or four meals daily, and include 4 to 5 ounces of protein with each one.

“Wild ups and down in blood sugar can be as damaging to the adrenal glands as lack of sleep or stress,” explains Dr. Rothfeld. “Regular, protein-rich meals can help keep your blood sugar steady, and that alone can improve adrenal function.” In fact, researchers say it could energize you in as little as one month.

4. What You Had For Lunch
Is something you ate sapping your strength? Some 50 million Americans are sensitive to certain foods, including wheat, dairy, and yeast products such as beer and pizza dough. “Regularly eating foods your system can’t handle can inhibit thyroid and adrenal gland function and lower your metabolic rate,” says alternative medicine specialist Elson M. Haas, M.D. “and the top symptoms of a food sensitivity are bloating and chronic fatigue.”

So try taking the top offenders out of your diet for a few weeks: you can find a complete list of them at www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/pubs/bibs/gen/allergy. “Finding their trigger food and avoiding it helps up to 90% of women banish fatigue – and flush out up to 15 pounds of bloat in as little as two weeks,” says Dr. Haas.

5. An Enzyme Deficiency
For all-day vigor, experts say your body needs to convert food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the enzyme that drives biochemical reactions needed for producing energy. “But a less-than-perfect diet and digestive problems can all sabotage this process, leaving you drained of ATP and energy,” says Susan M. Lark, M.D., at Stanford University Medical School.

To the rescue, digestive enzymes, which break down food into the raw materials your cells need to make ATP. They include cellulase, protease and amylase, and you can get them from foods! Just add a cup of fresh melon, papaya or cantaloupe, or half a cup of sprouted seeds to your daily diet (sprouted sunflower, flax, radish, broccoli and bean seeds are available at natural food stores and well stocked supermarkets.)

And make sure your multivitamin/mineral supplement contains 600 mg. of magnesium and 99 mg. of potassium – two key building blocks of ATP. “Those simple steps can quickly boost ATP production, helping up to 80% of women feel fabulous in as little as two weeks,” Dr. Lark says.