Diet Prescription for the Fatigued
November 7, 2008
All of us have experienced fatigue, either physically or mentally. After a week of tiresome work, one after the other deadlines, weekend overtime work, or probably after a sleepless night of cramming for an exam, naturally, our body will show signs that it is somehow a few steps close to giving up.
Many may have asked, is there a way to counteract fatigue thru diet? The answer is definitely yes. My mom has actually taught me this a long time ago that when she sees me studying for an exam until past midnight…she always forces me to compensate the stress with food. And I don’t have any problems following it since I enjoy food and I need it to stay awake.
According to my nutritionist friend, of course, if you want a diet prescription, they can do all the computations and the works, but basically the essence is to eat right (keeping in mind the right quantity and quality.) The right quantity varies with age, height, weight, activity level, and presence of other disease conditions. Quality wise, it should essentially be balanced. As I said, majority of the energy should come from carbohydrate rich foods (whole grains, breads, sweets, pastries, fruits.) A considerable amount can be obtained from proteins and fats, but proteins are generally used from maintenance and repair of tissues while fats are concentrated sources of energy but it has other functions as well.
Water intake should also not be neglected as dehydration is sometimes overlooked, but it could also give fatigue symptoms.
Also neglected by most people who are always in a rush during the morning is breakfast. This is an important meal because it will give you energy to be used as you start an activity packed day.
Caffeine, being a stimulant, are used by most people to rescue them from a low days but it should be taken cautiously as caffeine, taken in excess can also cause some undesirable adverse effects.
Iron sources are also important as its deficiency could also lead to fatigue (one of the main symptoms of iron deficiency. It could be obtained from green leafy vegetables and meats.
Meal pattern also matters. If you need to increase food intake because of increased requirements (i.e. active lifestyle), this does not mean that you have to take it in 2 or 3 sittings. Small frequent feedings are more encouraged since big meals could also produce drowsiness and feelings of discomfort.
Diet to Counteract Fatigue
November 6, 2008
I was talking about my sister who was looking for a quick fix supplement for her over-fatigue symptoms. This was because lately, she is all burned out at work – 10 hours everyday, and sometimes, even during weekends, she has appointments. In her free hours, she’s squeezing in other social activities. She doesn’t seem to know the words rest and relaxation (just like me.) This anti-dull movement seems to run in the family.
When I met up with my nutritionist friend recently, we were able to talk about this. First and foremost, she needs more than just a vitamin to fix herself up. Remember, my sister was asking about a good vitamin that she could use to fight her fatigue. True enough, there are vitamins that are promoted to fight stress and boost energy, but it doesn’t exactly work like that. Vitamins are substances which can only aid in energy metabolism. They are like helpers which can be seen along the pathway but they cannot be sources of energy. We get energy predominantly from the carbohydrate rich foods that we eat. Since my sister eats very little, she may need to increase her intake as well because vitamins could not do wonders if there is extreme insufficiency from the side of the source. Increasing her food intake is very much essential especially upon considering the kind of lifestyle that she lives –a very active one. Moreover, if the problem is lack or decreased appetite, vitamins can also help.
She also explained that in health and nutrition, there has to be a balance. The food intake should equal the expenditure. If what you take is less than what your body needs, then it may send signals (like fatigue symptoms) that what is being taken is insufficient. If this happens over a long period of time, weight loss can result.
There also has to be a modification on the expenditure side. To bring down the need for calories, she must also try to squeeze in more rest periods. Our body needs time to replenish energy and do all the repair works. Thus, this is more efficiently done when the body is at rest.
This is actually an advice for my equally hyper sister, but I know that a lot of people (including me) can relate to this. Fighting fatigue, under normal conditions, can be as simple as increasing the intake of energy rich foods and increasing the rest hours.
Diet for a Fatigue-rich Life
November 5, 2008
Diet and nutrition is vital to anyone’s life. When I’ve came to realize this, I always make it a point to drop by the office of my nutritionist after my medical consultation. Initially, I go there because I have to and my doctor told me so. Later on, I realized that this is something that is really important so it turned out to be something that I want to always consider as a vital part of not just the treatment of disease but also in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Yes, we all know for a fact that we cannot live for more than 3 weeks without food and we cannot survive beyond 3 days without water, so it can be as simple as eating and drinking regularly. However, the amount of each types of food is also critical for both ill and healthy people, regardless of age and developmental age.
This is something that we all need. Some of my friends think that they only have to see a nutritionist when they have a disease that warrants diet modification, but all conditions have corresponding diets. Even for normal healthy people, there is a required caloric intake to be able to maintain you ideal body weight and normal functioning.
Many people fail to realize this because for some it’s a matter of trial and error thing. It’s like “I’ll eat whatever I want – if I feel good about my body, then I’m ok.” My sister for instance is like this – she eats whatever she wants and does whatever she wants. It’s more of pushing herself most of the time to the limits. She always max out all her energy to the point of over-exhaustion. The thing is, there’s also not much substantial source of energy because she only eats a little. I don’t know if its intentional, to maintain a slim figure, just like what most women’s hidden motives are. And then one day, she called me saying that she’s experiencing extreme fatigue and she also asked if I know any good vitamins to immediately pump up her system. I ended up giving a piece of littany just to emphasize that health maintenance is all about doing the right thing and taking in the right thing everyday. It is not something that you max out until a problem appears and when its there, you cannot expect quick fixes.
Shielding Yourself from Sleep Anxiety Attacks
November 4, 2008
I was thinking at that moment when I’m on vacation if this problem is something that needs a pill. I also thought of going to a psychiatrist because the measures that I did on my own do not seem to work. It’s just frustrating at times when I cannot control my hyped up self, but there are times when these things could work.
They say that when you are worrying about things that provoke you to do something immediately, just think about the worst thing that could happen in case you postpone acting on it. This could help because most of time, it wouldn’t make any difference, things won’t either get any worse or better. If you are able to arrive at that realization, then you might feel better.
I also love to write my “to-do’s.” It also helps sometimes when I write the things that I have to do, which crossed my mind and schedule it at a feasible time. They say that this has a closure effect. You were able to acknowledge the fact that something has to be done and scheduling it at a later time, signals that it is okay to relax now because you will act on it as scheduled.
There are also times when distraction works. If you could channel your energy into something that you love to do and at the same time a thing that relaxes you, then anxiety may subside.
Ofcourse there are a lot of relaxation techniques available. For example, taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly. This can help calm down your tension-filled system - speeding heartbeat and fast shallow breathing that go with anxiety.
It’s so easy for me to say at this time but when I’m there in that situation, all these things seem to be unreliable…but yeah, I’ve proven its effectiveness. It’s just that sometimes, I tend to dwell on my anxiety feelings and irresistable hype-me-up urges more than thinking about solutions. In a way, I’ve been a willing victim, because my system constantly longs for stress…I feel like I’m going to get sick if I have nothing much to do. So I guess, along with these techniques, I have to learn to let go, as letting go of some things does not mean that you lose control. It’s actually staying away from things that you’ve been a slave to for a long time.
All Hyped-up and Sleep Anxious
November 3, 2008
I already mentioned about how my weekend plan was ruined by being anxious about things which may be important but not at that time when I’m supposed to relax. This has always been a problem for me – translating all the negative sleep ruining energies to a positive sleep enhancing energy.
To start with, where do all these anxieties come from? Does it come from the subconscious mind or from somewhere else that I have no control over? I want badly need to know so I would probably know how to shut them all off. Experts say that anxiety originates from an interplay of environmental, psychological, and biological factors, with stress and life events requiring adaptation or change, being the most critical.
I guess the one that I can relate to is the stress factor. Stress is characterized by aversive emotional experience and it is a highly aroused state. Anxiety is known to build up in the emotional experience side that when one’s experience is negative, naturally, the body will build up tension that is aversive of the negative stress experience.
I guess the problem with me is that I am sort of blinded to see that there is a problem. Sometimes, I fail to recognize that my body is stressed. I actually don’t see all the pressures at work as stress or as a negative experience, because it is already a part of my system, and somehow, I have learned to like it. It’s like take that away from me and I would not know who I am.
This made me realize that stress and anxiety reduction is not as simple as changing the setting, as going to a different place and literally leaving work at the office did not make any difference at all. It is actually a waste of time if you still haven’t learned to change your outlook about work and life outside of work. There has to be a line which separates them. There has to be a way to strike that balance and maintain it. Right now, I’m still in the process of learning ABC’s of that and it is a great challenge, I must say.
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