Reasons why you’re tired all the time

FireIce SG

You get more than enough sleep every night, yet you wake up in the mornings feeling like a wreck. What's draining your energy? Some of these lifestyle culprits may surprise you.

You may not have difficulty falling asleep, but what's your sleep quality like?

Ideally, you should sleep soundly and wake up feeling alert, refreshed and ready to take on the day.

If it's been a while since you've started your day that way, you may want to look at how you're sleeping: Do you toss and turn a lot during the night? Does your partner's snoring keep you up? Is your bedroom conducive to a good night's rest? Do you wake up frequently to use the bathroom?

All these factors can affect your sleep quality, even if you do get the recommended six to eight hours a night.

When you're sapped of energy, the last thing you want to do is exercise.

But low-intensity exercise is just the prescription if you're constantly sluggish. Just 20 minutes a day reduces stress, boosts energy levels, increases stamina and keeps your heart and lungs healthy (therefore allowing these organs to pump blood and oxygen throughout your body more efficiently).

No matter how tired you feel, get outdoors and move at least once a day. A brisk stroll, a few laps in the pool, or even sprinting up the stairs are enough to bring you back to life.

Iron is an essential element in the production of blood - specifically, haemoglobin, which is a protein component of red blood cells responsible for transferring oxygen around your body.

If you are deficient in this mineral, you'll have less oxygen reaching your tissues and your body will be deprived of the energy it needs.

Fatigue is one of the most common and obvious signs of iron deficiency. This lack of energy may be accompanied by shortness of breath, coldness in your hands and feet, and even dizziness.

Your doctor will be able to test if you are iron deficient.

A common cause of iron deficiency is a lack of iron in the diet, so be sure to increase your intake of iron-rich foods, like leafy green vegetables and red meat.

Heavy menstrual bleeding and blood loss from pregnancy can also cause iron deficiency.

Your frequent exhaustion may be a sign that there's something wrong with your thyroid, which is a gland located in the front of your neck.

The thyroid produces hormones that control your metabolism. If the gland is underactive, you may have hypothyroidism; an overactive thyroid gland produces too much thyroid hormone, causing a condition called hyperthyroidism.

Both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism cause problems like fatigue, and muscle soreness and muscle weakness respectively.

A blood test can determine if you have a thyroid issue or not, so speak to your doctor if you want to rule this out. The good news is that both conditions are easily treatable.

Vitamin B12 is crucial for the production of red blood cells, nerve and DNA. Without it, you may experience problems like weakness, a lack of concentration and fatigue.

Vitamin B12 is only found naturally in meat, dairy products, poultry and eggs, so if you are a strict vegetarian or vegan, you risk developing a deficiency. It might be a good idea to speak to a nutritionist to find out how you can increase your B12 intake (either with a supplement or with foods that have been fortified with this vitamin).

Spending all day in front of your computer, only to come home and spend those few hours before going to bed in front of your tablet or phone can strain your eyes and neck muscles.

In the long run, this can leave you feeling exhausted. To prevent this, avoid using your gadgets at least three hours before bedtime and, if you're on the computer a lot during the day, remember to take frequent breaks to rest your eyes and stretch.

Dehydration can make you feel lethargic; you may even experience headaches, poor concentration and drowsiness.

This is because a loss of fluid causes a drop in blood volume, forcing your heart to work harder to pump blood and nutrients throughout your system.

Don't wait until you feel thirsty before chugging a glass of water, because your body would likely already be dehydrated at this point.

Instead, aim to drink six to eight glasses of water a day - more if you're active - and cut back on dehydrating beverages like caffeinated drinks and alcohol.

This story is adapted from  HerWorldPlus.com.

TehJarVu SG

fifi can mah???

"avoid using your gadgets at least three hours before bedtime..."

FireIce SG

i dont feel tired all the time leh

FireIce SG

For so many people, there’s nothing more satisfying than sleeping in. You get up when your body wants. You can ease into your morning. You don’t have massive under-eye circles. It’s all pretty awesome.

Waking up early, on the other hand, is the pits. Only a few magic unicorns are truly jazzed about rising before the sun does, and yet too often life demands it. Work and school start early, plus that dreaded 6 a.m. HIIT class may be the only one that fits in your schedule all week.

To a certain extent, becoming an A+ early bird is beyond your control. “The ability to wake up early is determined by your genetics. It’s not something you should be forcing,” says sleep expert and clinical psychologist Michael Breus, who’s got a nifty quiz to figure out your type. (And yes, that was permission to embrace your late-riser if you can pull it off.)

But if you do have to get up early—or are determined to make this the year that you GSD before noon—there’s a way to do it without too much pain.

Sleep generally runs in 90-minute cycles—and the goal is to wake up at the end of one. “You’ll be in a lighter stage of sleep at that point, which is easier to rouse yourself from,” Breus says. Most people are best served by getting either six hours or seven-and-a-half hours a night, he says, not eight (you’ll be in the middle of a new cycle). So, if you know you work best with seven-and-a-half hours of zzz’s and you need to be up at 6:30 a.m., it’s lights-out at 11.

If your alarm is right next to your bed—or on your wrist—it’s so easy to hit snooze. Forcing yourself to physically get out of bed may be a simple trick, but it’s an effective one. Another option? Enlist a wake-up buddy, i.e., a person who will call you and hold you accountable, Breus says. It’s kind of like having a screaming toddler who forces you out of bed, even if you’re not a parent.

When the alarm goes off at 5 a.m., your first inclination might be to sprint for a cup of coffee. Don’t. “Your body breathes out one liter of water a night and you need to replace that first,” Breus says. Hydrating right away will help give you the energy to avoid crawling back under the covers. (For bonus points, squeeze a bit of lemon in it like a true wellness all-star.)

Sunlight helps turn off your “melatonin faucet,” Breus says, which in turn helps you avoid that groggy, I-seriously-don’t-want-to-be-awake-right-now feeling. Stand by the window for a few minutes if it’s light out (bonus points for drinking water at the same time!) or use a light box.

Breus recommends a cool—not cold—shower to get the blood flowing. And blast the guilty-pleasure Bieber tunes. “Saving your workout music for your workout isn’t necessarily the best idea,” Breus says. The overall goal is to start off in a good mood, so you’re more likely to give the whole getting-up-early thing a go again the next day.

yahoo

minx SG

Hello, sometimes stomach has excessive gas will make one tired..... heartburning makes it worse....... horrible..

^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~ SG

eating less before sleeping can reduce heartburn...

FireIce SG

... not clocking enough sleep, study finds SingHealth poll shows four in 10 people ... weekdays, according to a study by SingHealth Polyclinics. They had less than seven ... quick solution for these patients." The SingHealth study, which was published in the ...

^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~ SG

sleep enough or not is not a choice leh.

If can choose we surely choose to sleep 14 hours everyday

FireIce SG

sometimes i sleep 14 hrs and woke up more tired