How to boost energy levels naturally

How to boost energy levels naturally

Energy is something that we are trying to get more of, to get up earlier, go to bed later and to be able to work harder, exercise more and deal with the demands of day-to-day life.

I’m always trying to experiment with different ways of trying to hack sleep and get more done. It unfortunately doesn’t always work and can cause more detrimental effects in the long run to your overall health.

Now I’m trialling getting up at 4:30am…..

This does mean I’m in bed at 8:30am. But at that time, I’m usually just watching something rubbish on Netflix and not actually doing anything productive with my time.

It has been going well recently, but last week we were watching the second series of ‘Gangs of London’. It is very intense, and the end of the episode closed in, the end credits rolled up and Charlotte turned to me and just gave me a look of ‘we can watch one more’. And before you know that annoying playthrough on Netflix has started the next 60-minute episode and I’m then not going to bed till 9:30pm which makes 4:30am a little trickier.

This trial has led me to looking in to other ‘hacks’ to try and get more productive during the day, this blog will share those with you.

  1. Sleep

You know the research behind getting a decent 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. If you are anything like me then this is rarely the case. But more important than the 8 hours sleep is the consistency of your wake-up time.

It is vital to wake up at the same time each day and the reason is that it helps with your circadian rhythm. This is your body’s clock, it regulates sleep, hormone production like melatonin which helps you to sleep. It also regulates cortisol which helps you to wake up in the morning. When you go to sleep and wake up at different times it can upset this cycle and cause fatigue and poor concentration.

  • Sugar

Sugar is a big one for me. I love a sweet treat especially in the evenings. I have done a lot of research into this and a lot of it points back to the type of foods I was eating. I used to go to Waitrose across the road and grab the £5 meal deal, which included a chicken salad wrap, bag of mini cheddars and bottle of water. In my head I knew the mini cheddars were no good for me, but I loved them.

It wasn’t until I kept getting drowsy around 3pm that I started looking into this. There are lots of resources around the types of foods you should eat, and the order Tim Spector is wonderful with this.

Really, we should be eating very little starch which means pasta, bread and rice should be limited and if you are going to eat them then you need to ensure you are eating them last.

A rounded lunch should include vegetables, protein and then minimal carbohydrates.

The order in which the food should be eaten is vegetables (which is broccoli, kale, spinach), followed by your protein (chicken breast, salmon or eggs) and then some carbohydrates which could be fruit or rice.

The way this works is that the fibre in the vegetables coats the glucose receptors and blocks them so there isn’t such a spike in glucose meaning the crash after you have eaten is not as high. If it doesn’t go up as much, then it won’t come down as hard and cause you to feel fatigued 60 minutes after eating.

There is also a lot of research around apple cider vinegar and diluting a teaspoon in 250ml of water and drinking this before you eat. The research suggest it reduces the blood glucose spike.

  • Caffeine

This is a tricky one as most of our clients drink some form of caffeine, a lot feel that they CANNOT start the day without caffeine.

This is NOT the best time to drink caffeine. This s because cortisol is at its peak for two hours after you wake up. Cortisol is a fight/flight hormone and primes your body for the day. It works very similarly to caffeine.

Therefore, when you drink caffeine, you are making that cortisol obsolete. You want to use that cortisol and then have your caffeine two hours after you wake up for maximum benefit.

This will also reduce the caffeine low you get and mean you crave less caffeine as the day goes on.

You probably already know this, drinking caffeine after lunch is going to impact your sleep.

Limit it to two hours after waking up and then cap it at 1pm.

  • Cold therapy

Cold showers, ice baths and cold therapy are great ways to boost your energy. I started using ice baths a couple of years ago and it has been an amazing part of my recovery, but not only that I have noticed other health benefits:

  1. Not getting sick as often
  2. Improved mood
  3. More energy

The way it works is that it causes a constriction of the blood vessels in your body and then when you get out of the bath it causes the blood vessels to dilate which helps to flush the muscles out of lactic acid and helps nourish the muscles with oxygen and vitamins.

They also reduce inflammation by limiting the flow of cytokines (proteins that cause inflammation). This helps with recovery and ability to exercise repeatedly.

The ice baths also help to release endorphins and dopamine, these are our ‘feel-good’ hormones and contribute towards mood and energy levels.

If you haven’t tried it, then start with splashing cold water on your face 10 times in the morning over the sink. Then move to a cold shower, switch the last 30 seconds of your shower to cold. Then try a cold bath for 2 minutes and then look at getting an ice bath.

This is a good time of year to be testing it as it is getting colder, and you can leave it outside.

If you are on the fence about Chiropractic, why not come to one of our taster consultation days and see what you think. Email iza@westchiropractic.co.uk to find out more.

  1. #BoostEnergyNaturally
  2. #EnergyBoostTips
  3. #FightFatigue

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