When you feel sluggish mid-afternoon, sleep deprived, struggle with adrenal fatigue, struggle to stay alert, or just exhausted, do you reach for sugar or caffeine? These quick fixes tend to leave us feeling even more exhausted later. Moreover, this self-medicating pattern leads to a constant feeling of energy deprivation and fatigue. Luckily, there are numerous affordable and easy ways to boost your energy naturally. Skip the energy drinks or extra cups of coffee next time you feel as slump and try these natural and inexpensive ways to banish tiredness:

 Stay Hydrated

Feeling tired, sluggish and exhausted is one of the main signs of dehydration. Therefore, sometimes when you think you need a caffeine fix or sugar rush, your body is simply asking for the most basic form of nourishment; pure water. You can also squeeze in some lemon to help with digestion which is key to maintaining high energy levels. Since our bodies are 75% water, even mild dehydration is enough to affect our metabolism.

Always stay hydrated by drinking enough water throughout the day. According to the Institute of Medicine, women should drink about 9 cups of water and other fluids per day and men should drink about 13 cups. Staying properly hydrated is particularly important for people who are really active, nursing mothers, pregnant women and people who are fighting disease or an illness. If this sounds like a lot of water, remember that many vegetable and fruits contain water. You can also take it a notch higher by opting for coconut water or adding honey and lemon to your water in order to replace the electrolytes our bodies sweat out especially when working out.

 Vegetable Juice

Fiber is lost during juicing and this makes vegetable juice easy for the body to digest and absorb. Because less work will be required for the body to reap all the nutritional benefits of vegetable juice, you’ll definitely notice a significant increase in energy. Moreover, drinking vegetable juice helps your body get rid of toxins while feeding cells.

In fact, drinking vegetable juice can stop an illness in its tracks and keeps your energy level up before it dips. Avoid store-bought juices which are loaded with preservatives and sugar.

 Quality Sleep

People who spend their nights tossing and turning in bed end up feeling exhausted and sleep deprived the next day. While we sleep, our bodies repair and restore the day’s damage. On the other hand, a by-product of cellular activity known as adenosine is responsible for the body’s perception of being worn-out or tired. Adenosine usually builds up as we undertake our daily activities during the day, but it’s cleared from our systems during sleep helping us feel, rejuvenated, fresh and alert. What can you do if you’re having trouble sleeping?

• Eliminate caffeine especially after 3 p.m. because its effects can last up to 10 hours.
• Maintain a constant sleep schedule: Go to bed and wake up at the same times every day even during the weekends in order to regulate your body clock.

Adaptogenic Herbs

Adaptogenic herbs are healing plants that have proven to be very helpful especially when you’re feeling stressed, exhausted or fatigued. These plants regulate the adrenal system which restores and balances the body’s ability to handle stress. Instead of targeting a specific body part, adaptogens help the entire body cope with anxiety, stress and fatigue. The best adaptogens that help boost our energy include licorice root, ginseng, holy basil, rhodiola and ashwagandha. Incorporating these healing herbs into your diet will help you feel less exhausted, more focused and calmer.

Eating Healthy – Reduce Carbohydrate Consumption

Although carbs provide our bodies with energy, foods rich in carbohydrates tend to leave us feeling sluggish. This is caused by simple carbohydrates like those found in processed foods (think past and white bread), cookies and sugary drinks, which usually burn through the body very quickly. Though these foods provide a fast energy boost, it is followed by a crash as blood sugar quickly drops.

This can be avoided buy simply sticking to low-glycemic, whole-grain carbs that take longer to digest and usually help avoid crash and burn effect. Oats, nuts, sweet potatoes, brown rice and legumes are all low glycemic carbs that provide our bodies with a steady and reliable supply of energy.

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There’s many things to take into consideration when you talk about “Being Healthy”.  Things like your age, your lifestyle and also your body type all play a part in what different people determine as “Healthy”. It is good to try and focus you diet around foods that have been proven to provide health benefits – Organic / fresh food, lean meats and loads of veges, especially greens. However factors like your busy life style for instance, sometimes don’t allow you to cover all this with purely diet.

There are a whole range of supplements out there, that you can add to your diet to cover any deficiencies that will boost your energy.

• Bee Pollen
• B12
• Magnesium
• L-carnitine
• CoQ10 – (Ubiquinol)

 B Vitamins

B12, which is also known as the energy vitamin is a complex vitamin that supports thyroid function. It also keeps our blood cells healthy and vitamin B12 deficiency is one of the main signs of low energy levels. However, since our bodies cannot store extra amounts of vitamin B12, it relies on vitamin B12 foods such as beef liver, sardines, grass-fed beef, raw cheese, tuna, lamb, cottager cheese, salmon, eggs and raw milk to restore our B12 levels when they are depleted.

Daily Exercise

Regular exercise also makes you feel more energetic because it helps your lungs and heart work more efficiently. When you work out, your heart responds by pumping more oxygen into your bloodstream and you feel more energetic. Studies show that performing exercise at a low intensity level or leisurely pace is more beneficial and this is actually the start of a positive mood.

Remember, relationships can either make you feel fabulous or terrible and bad relationships are energy sappers. Therefore, you should develop plans to cleverly remove you from toxic relationships or relationships that don’t add positive energy to your life.

Wishing you good health!