It just seems like you never have enough energy. You drag yourself from one end of your day to the next like a semi comatose zombie.  Three cups of coffee to you are about as stimulating as a glass of warm milk combined with soft music. Your sleep is a black hole of nothingness that leaves you just as tired after eight hours as you were when you hit the pillow the night before. Your mind feels slow, you are mildly depressed; you just can't seem to get your act together. On the other hand, you feel there is nothing particularly wrong with you. You're not sick, you get enough sleep, you're life is relatively normal and boring - so why do u feel so tired all the time? Chronic fatigue or energy depletion is one of those amorphous conditions that could have something hidden and hard to pinpoint. It may also be a combination of factors.

“Don’t start a diet. Start a lifestyle”

(Quote from Dr. Phil McGraw)

Where to start 

  Perhaps the best way to start is to 1^st make sure that you really do have a clean bill of health. It's probably way past time you had a complete physical anyway, so you might as well make an appointment for a thorough blood test (CBC) and a quick exam by a hematologist. You want to rule out some of the most common diseases that are associated with chronic fatigue, anemia, diabetes, hypoglycemia and others. It will be an easy matter to rule these out, and just knowing that you don't have a more serious condition should lift your spirits and make you realize that there is probably something simple you can do to increase your energy level.

More than 65 yrs. ago, one of the greatest scientists of the 20^th century noted astutely that energy was the “currency” of life. His name was Albert V. Szent – Gyorgi, M.D., Ph.D., the discoverer of Vit. C. & a noble laureate. Recently some of the top biologist in the world R proving that he was right on the dot. Energy drives all cellular activities, & without energy, there could be no life. The relationship between energy, life - & the aging process – is found in microscopic structures called mitochondria, located in each of the body’s 60 trillion cells. Known as the “power plants” of cells, mitochondria produce the energy to make heart cells beat, lung cells breathe & brain cells think. But when things go awry in mitochondria, they become “ground zero” in the aging process. Within mitochondria, dozens of chemical reactions (known to scientists as the Krebs cycle & oxidative phosphorylation), convert glucose & fat to the chemical form of energy, adenosine triphosphate. A variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants & even free radicals (atoms missing an electron) sustain the production of energy.

            But a small # of free radicals leak out of these chemical reactions & in doing so, they damage proteins, fats, & DNA, the biological code that programs our cells. This free radical damage is inevitable – it is the reason why all living creatures age. The damage makes mitochondrial energy production less efficient, resulting in less energy & the creation of still more damaging free radicals.

             The good news is scientists R finding that supplementation with specific “mitochondrial nutrients” can greatly enhance the energy output of mitochondria & slow age – related free radical damage. The nutrients R carnitine & acetyl-L-carnitine, alpha lipoic acid, CoQ10, glutathione & carnitine/acetyl-L-carnitine. Different forms of carnitine, a nutrient found in protein, help transport fat through mitochondria to where they R burned (or oxidized) for energy. Considerable research has shown that a variety of mitochondrial nutrients enhance energy levels in people with heart failure, a disease characterized by a catastrophic loss of energy in heart cells.  In 1 study, researchers found that children suffering from heart failure had abnormally low levels of carnitine. When some of the children were given carnitine supplements, they recovered faster than those not given supplements.

 Behave Ur way to success. Deep down, U know that only 1 weight management strategy really works: Eat less, exercise more, change your lifestyle.

Eating habits -- Even if U think U have fairly good eating habits, a closer examination may surprise U. The best way to get a handle on what U R eating is to keep a daily log of every single thing U eat and drink. Carry a small notebook with U & record everything that goes in your mouth & how often, write down everything from chewing gum to that major 6-course meal. After two weeks, take a closer look at what's been going into your system.

Ever hear that saying, "Garbage in, garbage out?" If U R eating garbage-- lots of fatty meats, lots of sugar, lots of empty - calorie foods (Simple Carbs), such as sweet rolls & white bread, lots of alcohol  & diet soda- then U R probably going to feel like garbage. It's that simple. Make sure that your diet is balanced and contains a greater proportion of fruits, vegetables and fiber than it does meat, fat, cholesterol and empty simple carbohydrates. Alcohol is something to read about, it is known that it works like a depressant and that it is basically a poison to your system.  It does nothing to make you feel energized. (In some cases this may be true) Alcohol puts a tremendous stress on your liver; it also feeds harmful bacteria, such as yeast cells in your intestines. How about coffee? It’s a stimulant you say - it will pick me up. Well, it could be doing exactly the opposite in the long run. No one denies that coffee is that strong.

In fact taking it in moderation (1 cup every so often before/after a workout) could be beneficial, Caffeine has been shown to spare muscle glycogen as a fuel source. Instead, it mobilizes stored fat from fat cells, which is then used as fuel instead of glycogen. It has also been shown to reduce muscle pain during exercise, which means U can train harder for a longer workout.

Source of reference: USA Weekend, Let’s Live Nov.pg.53.02,