Tiredness can be a symptom of modern times. Working long hours and juggling responsibilities can stop us from getting our recommended 8 hours of sleep a night and can lead us to feeling fatigued and tired. But what if you are getting enough sleep each night yet still spending the day lacking energy, feeling drained and generally exhausted? It can seem frustrating when you make the effort to get your full forty winks but still feel continuously run down during the day. The problem could lie in the quality of sleep rather than the amount. There are many factors that can affect how well we sleep at night so even though you think you have slept well, if you’re still tired during the day, chances are that you haven’t.
Many studies have been conducted to show how quality of sleep affects our well-being. Feeling tired all the time can considerably lower our quality of life, stopping us from enjoying day-to-day moments and resulting in feeling moody and irritable. If you’re wondering why you are still suffering from tiredness despite getting a full-night’s sleep then here are some possible reasons that could explain it.
Not Enough Exercise
We spend a lot of time at our jobs and if that means sitting at a desk for nearly 8 hours that’s a lot of time sitting down. Having a sedentary lifestyle can affect our body and mind in more ways than we imagine. It’s not just unhealthy in terms of putting on weight but being sedentary causes you to actually feel more tired and sluggish. It can also affect your sleep because your body hasn’t expelled enough energy to produce the quality sleep you need.
You may think establishing an exercise routine will just add tiredness and fatigue to your day but taking up some form of exercise rejuvenates the body promoting better quality sleep. Whether it’s in the morning, during your lunch break or in the evening, a good daily workout will increase your body’s need for sleep in a productive and natural way.
Make sure you take walking breaks throughout the day so that you break up the amount of time you sit down. Getting your body moving will increase the chances of your sleep quality improving.
Dehydration
How much water do you drink a day? Dehydration contributes greatly to feeling tired. Many people are unaware of how little water they drink throughout the day because they spend their liquid intake on sugared drinks and caffeine that aren’t as beneficial as water. Dehydration has a detrimental effect on our body. Our organs don’t work as efficiently due to the heart sending oxygen at a much slower pace resulting in tiredness and feelings of exhaustion. Make sure you drink 8-10 glasses a day avoiding sugary drinks as these can cause unneeded energy dips.
Since our brain is made up of 85% water, it goes to show just how essential maintaining hydration is for optimum sleep quality. Increasing your daily intake should help keep your energy up for longer during the day and allow your brain to work at its best during the night so your tiredness is lessened all-round.
Having A Poor Diet
Having a poor diet can really affect how you feel throughout the day. If you find yourself reaching for the high-fat or high-carb foods then these could be causing you to feel more tired than you should. Eating a healthy, balanced diet can make a huge difference to our mind and body and using nutrition to combat exhaustion could be the key. There have been many studies that shows the effect that our diets have on the duration and quality of our sleep so it’s extremely important to consider your diet if you suffer from fatigue.
There are many foods that promote long, lasting energy including iron-rich red meat, whole grains, nuts, green leafy vegetables and dried fruit. It’s important to get a varied diet that’s low in sugar and high in fibre and good-energy nutrients.
Eating a healthy breakfast to start the day is essential to combat tiredness. Without breakfast our body goes through a long period of starvation and causes the body to use up its energy resources all the more quickly. So make time for a healthy, energy-rich breakfast like porridge, eggs, wholemeal toast or sugar-free cereals to give yourself a boost. Eating at regular intervals throughout the day will prevent further dips in energy so sensible eating is important in maintaining an optimum level of needed energy.
Depression Or Stress
Another cause for tiredness could be depression or underlying stress. Sometimes we don’t always realise that we are suffering from these conditions and we only see the signs as feeling fatigued and lack-lustred and therefore low motivation. Maybe consider if there is something underlying that may be causing you to feel this way. Is there something that’s causing you more stress than you realize? Have you been feeling low and emotional? They could all be perfectly normal but if these feelings are prolonged then it might be wise to consider speaking to someone.
Taking up exercise and adjusting your diet can help with both stress and depression as well as relaxation methods such as mediation. It’s really important to take care of your mind together with your body as emotional stress can affect both equally.
Blood Sugar Imbalance
Leading on from the type of diet you have, a blood sugar imbalance could be a cause of your lack of energy. Blood sugar levels can become imbalanced over time due to the type of diet you have. If you are eating a lot of processed foods or foods high in sugar then you may experience regular sugar crashes throughout the day. If this is the case then it’s important to decrease the amount of refined sugar in your diet to level out your blood sugar. This may mean eliminating refined sugar altogether – sugar from fruit is a lot healthier so avoiding these isn’t as necessary but if you feel you have a tendency to have a sweet-tooth then consider laying off the sugar for a while to see if it makes a difference.
Underlying Medical Problems
If you think that your diet is healthy, you drink plenty of water, you have no real causes of stress and you exercise regularly but still suffer from tiredness then there could be an underlying medical condition that needs to be addressed.
There are many different causes of extreme fatigue such as anaemia where your red blood cells have trouble making hemoglobin which is responsible for carrying oxygen around the body. Other conditions could be chronic fatigue syndrome, sleep apnoea, an underactive thyroid, glandular fever and many more. You mustn’t ever self-diagnose yourself so it’s important to go and see your doctor to discuss any worries that you may have.
So remember that although you are getting the right amount of sleeping hours, it’s the quality of these hours that are key to eliminating fatigue and exhaustion during the day. Adjusting your lifestyle can benefit you greatly so try making a few changes and see how much of a difference it makes over the next few weeks.
Featured photo credit: Unsplash via pixabay.com
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