Energy
supplement, herb and vitamins, diet and food -
Natural ways to enhance
energy without caffeine, medications or drugs, by Ray Sahelian, M.D.
Lack of energy
is a common complaint by patients who visit a doctor's office. First I
discuss common reasons why people feel tired and then I offer some
suggestions regarding natural methods, supplements and pills that could
be of benefit.
Causes
Lack of
energy may be due to these conditions or causes:
Not enough good,
restful, deep sleep. Insomnia is one of the most common
reasons why people do not feel their best. Deep sleep
can make an enormous influence on how you feel the next day. Getting the
right amount is critical to staying energized the next day. It needs to
be good sleep, however, not a long night of tossing and turning.
Otherwise, watch your immune system and sex drive take a dip. Avoid
napping during the day if it makes it more difficult for you to fall
asleep at night.
Hormone balance, body temperature, digestion, immune function and other
important restorative processes all require good sleeping patterns.
Depression, emotional disturbances,
relationship problems, winter depression or
SAD, stress and anxiety
are all major factors. Avoid or reduce your time with people who bring
you down and are complainers and those who have a negative outlook on
life. Reduce your stress through meditation, deep breathing techniques,
relaxation audio tapes and prayer. Do you have a task that’s weighing
heavily on your mind? Just do it, and get it off your back. Find
something that you look forward to.
Lack of exercise, sitting too long in front of the computer or being
inactive for long periods of time.
Take a daily walk of at least a half hour.
Do yoga, it is one of the best forms of movement to enhance energy levels. Take
time to stretch your muscles, tendons and ligaments, it will improve
your overall mobility. Find or play a sport that you enjoy. Find music
that energizes you and makes you want to move or dance. Go outside and
take advantage of nice, sunny day or even a walk in the rain. Spend less
time surfing the Internet and go out with friends, take a hike, walk
through different neighborhoods, and just do something.
Poor
diet
with lack of adequate protein or due to a fad diet that leads to
vitamin or nutrient deficiencies. Some people may become deficient in
vitamins, minerals, certain fatty acids, amino acids, etc due to an
unusual or restrictive diet.
Anemia can be due to iron deficiency or vitamin B12 or folic acid deficiency.
Eating too much sugar or high fructose corn syrup has harmful effects.
Eat a good breakfast with a proper balance of protein, fat and complex
carbohydrates. Avoid a breakfast that is mostly sugar, white bread, and
simple carbohydrates or fructose.
Too much coffee, tea or caffeinated beverages. Drink more
water instead and make sure you get at least 4 glasses of water a day, more if
you live in a hot and dry climate. Avoid coffee or tea after lunch unless
decaffeinated. Even then limit your intake.
Too much smoking.
Too much alcohol or overuse of street drugs.
Certain allergies can make you feel tired.
Diabetes or persistent high blood sugar.
Drug
side effects. Many medications can cause tiredness. If you think back to
the time when your fatigue started, was it a few days or weeks after you
started a new medication? Some common ones include beta blockers, statin
drugs used for cholesterol, anti-anxiety agents, anti-histamines, etc.
Thyroid
disorders such as low thyroid (hypothyroid).
Hepatitis
or other liver disorders.
Cancer or a subsequence of chemotherapy treatment.
Autoimmune
disorders such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and others.
Occult infections, that is infections in the body that have not been
discovered.
Adrenal
insufficiency.
Chronic fatigue syndrome -
Some patients present
with persistent and disabling tiredness for many months or years but show no abnormalities on physical examination or
basic laboratory tests. In these cases the diagnosis of chronic fatigue
syndrome should
be considered. CFS is characterized by debilitating fatigue with associated muscle aches,
tender lymph nodes, joint pain, chills, feverish feelings, and postexertional malaise.
Diagnosis of CFS is primarily by exclusion with no definitive laboratory test or physical
findings. Medical research continues to examine the many possible causative agents for CFS
(infectious, immunologic, neurologic, and psychiatric), but the answer remains
elusive. Similarities with fibromyalgia exist and concomitant illnesses include
irritable bowel syndrome, depression, and headaches. Therefore, treatment of CFS may be
variable and should be tailored to each patient.
Sometimes taking too many dietary supplements can cause fatigue. If you are
taking a handful or more of pills a day review them to see if some of them or
the combination could cause problems or perhaps are making it more difficult for
you to sleep at night. You may wish to take a break for a week or two and see if
your symptoms improve.
Energy vitamin and supplement - are there herbs or natural products that
boost vitality?
If a full medical evaluation is completed and
no major psychiatric or physical causes are found, certain energy enhancing supplements may be tried
in consultation with your health care provider. Learn how each one works
for you by itself before combining with another supplement. Click on
each link for more information.
MultiVit Rx - We
have excellent feedback from users of this comprehensive and balanced
multivitamin. Users report better energy, vision, and
mood. You have the option to take one to four capsules a day depending on
your needs. Usually one capsule a day
is sufficient for most people.
B
vitamin and
coenzyme complex - B vitamins are excellent since they are involved in
hundreds of metabolic pathways in cells. These vitamins are particularly
important in those
whose diet tends to be on the unhealthy side which could lead to shortages of
these B vitamins in the body.
CoQ10 at
30mg, 50 mg or
60mg, taken in the morning provides healthy energy support.
Taking too high a dosage of this supplement, such as more than 100 mg, may be counterproductive in the long run.
Carnitine
can be taken at a dose of 250 to 500 mg. Most people notice a benefit
within a day or two.
Creatine is particularly
useful for muscle strength building. It helps increase muscle mass and
strength.
Trimethylglycine
is also known as TMG - it helps with mood enhancement, too.
Ginseng is often taken at
100 mg of an extract. Ginseng is considered to be an
adaptogen. It is
best to use it only a few days a week rather than daily.
Maca is an energy herb from
South America, specifically from the Andean mountains. It also helps people
improve their sexual interest.
Rhodiola is known to
provide more energy and
vitality. You can find much more
rhodiola information on this site devoted to this herb exclusively.
Rhodiola rosea intake can improve endurance exercise
capacity.
Royal jelly can improve
energy in many people, so can
bee pollen
supplements. If you buy both a
royal jelly supplement and
a bee pollen supplement, take them alone for a few days before combining
so you know how each one works by itself.
Spirulina may lead to a
mild energy enhancement.
Tongkat ali increases
energy and sexual stamina, but it also increases body temperature which is
not a good idea in the summer heat. If you buy a
tongkat ali supplement to
increase energy, use a low dosage and take it only every other day.
Food
Are there any you would consider energy foods ?
Almost every food is an energy food since it supplies calories, except
for extremely low calorie vegetables such as lettuce and green leaves. Those that have a high sugar concentration may initially increase energy, but
then give a let down when too much insulin is released and blood sugar levels
drop. It's very important to eat a variety of foods since each has its own
benefits. I don't think power bars, granola bars and protein bars are healthy
choices since they often contain a lot of sugar.
Energy drinks and caffeine, danger
A comparison of popular energy drinks found that the
caffeine in 8 ounces of
various brands ranged from 50-145 milligrams (mg), though most were in
the 75- to 80-mg range. By comparison, the caffeine in an 8 ounce cup of
brewed coffee can range from 65-120 mg, with an average of 85 mg,
according to the National Coffee Association. These drinks can cause
insomnia. Popular energy drinks such as Red Bull and Rockstar pose
potential hazards to teens, especially when mixed with alcohol. These
caffeine-laden beverages can cause rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure,
obesity and other medical problems in teens. Combined with alcohol, the
potential harms can be severe
Dr. Sahelian comments: Caffeine is one of my least favorite energy drugs.
It may give a short burst, but over the long run it actually drains
overall energy as opposed to enhancing it.
What do you think
of energy drinks or bars as a way to boost stamina?
There are some
energy drinks or bars that I am sure are helpful, but others
may have too much sugar or too many stimulants such as guarana, caffeine,
ginseng, etc. that may initially give a burst in the short run but could have a
draining effect later.
So, what's
up with all these energy drinks? If a person drinks one big can a day, is that bad?
There are hundreds of different energy drinks on the market,
each with its own different formula. I can't make blanket statements regarding
all of them. As a rule, though, I don't think they are necessary since
many of them contain lots of sugar and stimulants such as caffeine which are not the best
way to sustain all day energy. A healthy diet with plenty of physical activity
and deep sleep at night should take care of most cases of tiredness. Some of
the energy drinks may give you a short boost of a good feeling followed by a drop
hours later.
After
drinking Rockstar Energy Drink, my urine drug screen showed a barbiturate
present. Can you tell me if one of the ingredients in Rockstar would cause this
(barbiturate in urine)? My pharmacist thought perhaps it might be the guarana seed
extract. Other ingredients are (other than Vitamin B2, B3, B5, B6, B12) are Taurine, Ginkgo Biloba, Insoitol, L-Carnitine, Gingseng Extract, Milk Thistle
Extract, niacinamide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, and cyanocobalamin.
I seriously doubt
any of the ingredients listed above in Rockstar Energy Drink, including guarana, would have barbiturates
in them.
Red Bull and
alcohol intake
People who combine energy drinks with alcohol may feel more sober
than they truly are. In experiments with young male volunteers,
researchers found that the men were no less impaired when they drank a mix
of alcohol and the energy drink Red Bull than when they drank a standard
mixed drink. Drinkers did, however, seem to think they were less drunk --
reporting less fatigue, fewer headache symptoms and better coordination.
Energy drinks like Red Bull typically consist of carbohydrates, B
vitamins, and caffeine. There's a popular, though unproven, belief that
mixing energy drinks with alcohol can counter some of the effects of
drinking. The danger lies in these drinkers thinking that they can
function well and drive but then realize too late they are impaired, after
a car crash or other serious incident.
Emails
I'm currently deployed in Iraq and was browsing on your website during some down
time. I'm interested in one or two natural energy / fatigue products that could
really be of use to me over here.
There are several good choices:
MultiVit Rx is an excellent formula with several dozen nutrients that works
effectively in increasing energy levels.
Acetyl-carnitine has energy and mental alertness boosting potential while carnitine has mostly physical energy boosting properties, and less mental
SAM-e has energy and mood elevation benefits
B-Complex and pantothenic acid are good vitamin options for energy enhancement.
Rhodiola and maca are good herbs for increasing energy.
Does an ATP adenosine triphophate supplement increase energy levels?
I have not taken an
ATP supplement and
have not seen any human studies with ATP supplements to know whether they are
effective.
I am a 62 year old
male general good health, except for the fact I have absolutely no energy, or
desire to do anything. This has been going on now for several years. I am
currently seeing a doctor at the VA hospital ,but they just seem to drag their
feet. Have had countless blood tests, and the only thing that has come back is my
hormone level is very low. but they wont give me any testosterone supplements.
So I am trying to find a supplement to increase my energy, and better my mood. I
do feel depressed. This goes on every day, waking up feeling like crap, all day
long. There has to be something out there to make me feel better.
Perhaps some of the supplements suggested on this page could help
you and you can discuss them with your doctor.