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Doctors say that feeling tired during the day is not necessarily a matter of not getting enough sleep. Binge dinners, energy drinks, stress and lack of exercise can make you feel worse. If you constantly feel unwell, you need to undergo a medical examination.
If you yawn during the day, feel sluggish at work, or feel tired even when you wake up, the problem may be more than just lack of sleep. The Huffington Post reported that several doctors reported that eating too much and too late at night can disrupt the body’s biological clock and sleep quality, which can lead to poor mental performance the next day. Additionally, excessive reliance on energy drinks, lack of exercise, excessive sugar intake and chronic stress can also be important causes of fatigue.
Mary Valvano, MD, of BetterNowMD explains that one of the worst habits that can affect your mental state is scheduling the largest meal of the day for the evening. He said: “You should have breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.” This saying actually has a biological basis.
He explained that human cells metabolize food in different ways depending on the time of day. For the same food, if you eat it at 8 am and 6 pm, your body’s ability to use the food to convert energy may be different. Eating a lot of food, especially late at night, can affect blood sugar regulation, making it difficult for the body to effectively use food to provide energy for the next day.
Additionally, eating too much at night can also disrupt the body’s natural circadian rhythm and reduce sleep quality. Ruwini Wijetilaka, MD, internal medicine specialist at Parsley Health, explains that lack of sleep, especially deep sleep, will undoubtedly deplete the body of energy. Adults should get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night.
Apart from dinner, energy drinks are also things that doctors remind you to pay attention to. Experts say that not only can energy drinks affect your mental state, but research also shows that overconsumption can harm heart and brain health, cause inflammation and increase blood pressure.
However, caffeine is not completely unacceptable. Valvano said tea, especially green tea and fermented teas, may help improve mental state by supporting the mitochondria that produce energy in cells.
Danielle Kelwas, a physician in Chattanooga, Tennessee, explains that being sedentary and eating a diet high in sugar and processed foods can also affect physical strength. She recommends at least 30 minutes a day of moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking, biking or swimming, to increase blood and oxygen flow to the brain and muscles.
In terms of diet, you should consume more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins, and reduce sugar and processed foods to maintain a more stable energy supply and avoid sudden drops in energy caused by blood sugar fluctuations.
