4 reasons you’re always tired

If you’ve ever wondered what’s making you feel so sleepy, here are the top 4 reasons you’re always tired.

If you’re constantly using caffeine as your wake-me-up, it’s time to start thinking about alternative solutions. Feeling tired every day can make you under-perform at work, feel grumpy or sluggish, and make you crave sugary foods. We’ve spoken to the experts to find out how your daily habits could be making you fatigued – and what you can do to start feeling more awake.

Skipping meals

Dietitian Jennifer Low explains how, if we’re not eating regularly, our blood-sugar levels can drop: ‘This can make us feel both tired and irritable. Try to eat regularly, and whether that’s three meals and three healthy snacks a day, or just three meals a day…it doesn’t matter, just whatever works for you. Listen to your body.’ So make sure you leave time to eat in your busy schedule, keep snacks at our desk that are easy to eat. Meal-prep the night before so you don’t have to leave the office for food, saving you money, time and unnecessary calories!

Carbs

Have you cut out all carbs from your diet on ‘mission summer bod’? A classic mistake. Not only will this have a negative impact on weight-loss, but it will also effect your sleeping. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that helps to make serotonin, a hormone that regulates sleep and appetite. Dietitian Helen Phadnis says, ‘Carbohydrates make tryptophan more available to the brain so the best bedtime snack combines protein and carbohydrates.’ So while reducing your carb intake can aid weight-loss, cutting it out completely will ‘lead to problems sleeping, which in turn reduces the body’s production of ghrelin, leading to hunger’. Eat sweet potato, oats and rice for good, nutrient-dense carb sources.

Caffeine

Although we drink it for an instant hit, the caffeine from tea and coffee stays in your system a long time after consuming it. Often it can leave you feeling even worse than before! Try to drink more water and herbal teas instead. Helen advises avoiding caffeine after 2pm and warns that ‘even decaf varieties still contain caffeine’. Camomile tea is a great bedtime drink known for calming the nervous system, sending you off into the perfect sleep.

Exercise

A report by the University of Georgia found that by engaging with exercise you can reduce fatigue significantly. It may seem counterintuitive to work out if you’re feeling tired, but this could actually be the answer to your problems. In the investigation, it was found that ‘sedentary people who completed a regular exercise programme reported improved fatigue compared with groups that did not exercise’. Exercising releases the feel-good hormones endorphins, which lift your mood and blast away tiredness. So even if you can’t face the gym, go for a brisk walk during your lunch break or head out for a gentle jog and feel yourself come alive again.