[Lifestyle] Eat at regular times, take three minute breaks and hum – how to fight feeling exhausted

[BirSaNN]

Do you drag yourself out of bed, bone tired? Stifle yawns over your morning coffee? Find your eyelids drooping during the kids’ story time? Welcome to 2023, which has been dubbed the year of “hyperfatigue”. Everyone is exhausted. Yet everyone is struggling to sleep. So if you find your days stalked by sleepiness, what strategies are out there?

1
Think positive
“If you’re exhausted, day-in, day-out, there may be a physical basis for your exhaustion, and no amount of positive thinking is going to sort that out,” says Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, sleep and energy expert and author of books including Tired But Wired. If that’s the case, see your doctor.

But if it’s just the odd day when you feel you’re running on empty, try positive thinking. Constant negative thoughts are depleting, says Ramlakhan, but your brain has a natural negativity bias. Our survival as hunter-gatherers depended on picking up and storing negative information. In the aftermath of a global pandemic, this poses a particular challenge. Especially as fatigue is a common side effect of anxiety.

It takes microseconds to embed a negative memory, but 30-40 seconds to embed a positive one, explains Ramlakhan. So slow down. Take conscious stock of happy moments. “Then, when you’re feeling low and tired, close your eyes and conjure up the image of that memory: how it felt, the colour of the sky …” Positive thoughts are uplifting.

2
Eat at the same time every day
“New evidence suggests that when we eat, not just what we eat, matters,” says Dr Emily Leeming, gut health expert at King’s College London. “Hormones like melatonin make you sleepy, while cortisol makes you more alert. If your body clock is off-kilter, these can be released at the wrong times.”

Our main internal clock, or circadian rhythm, is found in our brain and is set in part by light and darkness, Leeming explains. “But we also have mini clocks in each of our cells, and in our gut bacteria, where food timing can act as a signal, keeping them running on time, so to speak.”

Earlier this year, researchers at the Salk Institute found that altering the feeding times of mice had a knock-on effect on the circadian rhythms within myriad regions of their bodies. Humans who eat at erratic, snatched intervals between meetings and nights out might also be sending their body clocks into a state of confusion.

The fix? “When you can, eat your main meals around the same time each day,” says Leeming. “Your body will then ‘know’ when mealtime is. It will even start to release a little insulin before a meal, ready to grab the sugars from your food so you’ll have more energy and feel more awake.”

Caffeine, of course, is a quick fix for fatigue, “but you don’t want to use it as a Band-Aid,” she warns. “Balanced meals that contain protein, fibre and fat, will release sugar into your blood slowly, helping you feel perkier for longer.” Add shredded chicken, avocado and chopped vegetables to a salad; and snack on oatcakes with cottage cheese and kimchi.

3
Rest little and often

Our circadian rhythms are important, says Ramlakhan. “But built into those is a shorter rhythm – the ultradian rhythm – a cycle of about 90 minutes.”

She is, therefore, a passionate proponent of regular, short rests, ideally every 90 minutes and for three to five minutes, with occasional longer breaks. “If we were to live in rhythm with our cycles, we’d allow ourselves the intermittent, intentional replenishment of energy. We’d oscillate, rather than drive on relentlessly and into the ground.”

Resting does not, however, involve social media scrolling. “We get our energy from physical, mental, emotional and spiritual practices,” Ramlakham adds. Her prescription might involve: “eating something healthy, hugging someone, playing with the dog, or going outside to look at the sky.”

Heat doesn’t help with tiredness. “Tiredness in hot weather could be a sign of dehydration, so drink enough during the day,” says Leeming. How much? “Your pee should be the colour of pale lemonade,” she says. “If it’s more like concentrated apple juice, you need to drink more.”

link: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jun/30/eat-at-regular-times-take-three-minute-breaks-and-hum-how-to-fight-feeling-exhausted