Chronic Fatigue: Reasons why you are always tired
Feeling tired from time to time is a normal part of life. Being a mom, doing the house chores and taking care of an ASD child can be exhausting, but being always tired might be a symptom of something else going on.
Today we want to address our blog post on you and your health because to raise strong kids you need to take care of yourself first.
There are a lot of things that could contribute to tiredness and feeling exhausted. Here are some things to explore.
Food Intolerances
Up to 60% of the population have one or more food intolerance, unfortunately, most of them don’t even know it.
If you don’t know if you are allergic/intolerant to a certain food but you are always tired there is a big chance you are constantly eating something you are not supposed to. Dairy intolerance, for example, is a common source of fatigue because we are constantly exposed to it, we have milk in our coffees, yogurt for breakfast, a cheese sandwich for lunch, creamy pasta for dinner so that is a lot of small reactions that can wear you on over time.</s/+an>
People with gluten intolerance or celiac disease also present a symptom of chronic fatigue while eating something with wheat on it. According to a recent study (on children) fatigue from an allergy can show up as irritability, so if your children are cranky all the time consider food testing them as well.
Our recommendation:
–Eliminate possible intolerances: You can try to avoid dairy for a couple of days and see if you notice any changes. If you are still tired you can move on and do the same with soy or gluten. Many times, is the simple changes that make the most difference.
–Keep a food journal: Try to follow up on what you eat, many times although we don’t “drink milk” it can be present in the shape of cookies, pasta, bread so that might be a trigger too.
If you eliminate all possible sources of food intolerance and remain tired make sure to visit a functional Medicine Doctor for a proper test.U
Carbs/Sugar overload
Another common reason to feel tired all the time is a high consumption of sugar and carbs. During my college years in California, I had a fast food diet that not only made me gain 40 pounds (that I lost later on) but also, I experienced a level of exhaustion that I have never experienced before. I was sleeping 8-9 hours a day so sleep was not an issue, and just right after I clear my diet from the incorrect/trashy food I felt a HUGE difference. My head was clear, my brain fog was gone and I had an immense increment of energy.
So, a lot of the tiredness we experience can be traced back to our sugar/carb intake because when we ingest carbs our intestines break them down into sugars that go into our bloodstream. Those sugars are not used immediately but are processed in our livers and turned into glycogen, that gets stored in the muscles as well and ends up converted in body fat.
To break it down once we exceed our carb needs the rest goes stored as fat, and while that happens our bodies send signals that we need more fuel, because we experience low blood sugar, and the cycle starts all over again.
Our recommendation:
Eliminate all bad carbs such as white bread, sugar, pasta and replace them for healthier options such as zucchini pasta, exchange sugar for raw honey or other natural sweeteners and focus on protein instead of carbs.
Along with weight loss, people that try the Keto diet experience: sustained, stable energy, lower cravings, mental clarity, and stable moods.
If you go for keto or a lower carb and higher fat diet, make sure to keep it for at least 2 or 3 weeks to see changes.
Emotional exhaustion
Our emotions play a bigger role in our life that we realize. Emotions can get us sick and debilitated if not managed properly.
I realize that we underestimate the power of our emotions a few years ago. While moving to California I left all my friends and family back in Mexico and I was feeling lonely and homesick, all those feelings led me to binge eating, which led to weight gain that leads to depression, that had me overeating again. It was again like a never-ending vicious cycle.
During that time, I was feeling exhausted and I’m positive that it was because of my poor dieting but also it was due to the fact that I missed my family and was alone. After those years I came back home, I lost weight, had more energy and felt way better, but further than my diet change I believe that the constant support and company of the people that I loved made the change possible.
Feeling lonely and misunderstood can weight us down more than we realize. We understand that being a mom it’s a full-time job where you can easily forget about your first responsibility, yourself.
Finding support groups, getting together with friends, and hanging out with your family and loved ones have a huge impact on the way we feel. As a mom, you are always meeting everyone’s needs but you need to remember to take care of yourself as well.
Get together with friends, go out for coffee and make the conscious desition to invest time on somethings that make you happy and gives you life. Remember, you are never alone!
At World Stem Cell Clinic, we believe that that having an informed parent –in an effort to empower him and his family– is the only way to for us to deliver optimal healthcare. Visit our website to find out more about our services and let us be part of your journey.