Natural Ways to Get More Energy

Have you been feeling tired and fatigued? Like the third cup of coffee is as pointless as the first? Try combating your tiredness with at-home, affordable and natural remedies.

Natural ways to increase energy and get through the day

Sleep better!

Such an annoying piece of advice, but it is a cliché cure for many ailments for good reason. When the body sleeps, all internal systems get a chance to work out kinks from the day, restore energy levels and repair any damages that might have been cost during stressful meetings or adrenaline-peaking workouts.

Quality sleep allows your body to reset, and you get to wake up renewed, refreshed and feeling like you don’t need a cup of coffee to get your energy flowing for the day. While added hours of sleep are an obvious way to improve your overnight rejuvenation, the quality of sleep you get can be beneficial too.

Ensure that your body is ready to rest at the time of bed by eating an hour or two before laying down, avoiding caffeine too late in the afternoon and by limiting screen time up to thirty minutes before closing your eyes and rolling over to sleep. All these mentioned activities trigger processes into motion in the body that use energy instead of preserving and renewing it.

If you are feeling anxious in the moments of sleep time, trying listening to a podcast, reading a book or journaling your stresses onto paper. Simple methods might be an eye-roll at first, but you’ll be rolling your eyes at yourself in no time for not following them sooner.

Drink more water

This is the next most annoying piece of advice, if not the first. But again, it’s overused and stressed because of its potency and timelessness. Our bodies are mostly water. Say this to yourself: my body is mostly water. When you remind yourself that your body is mostly water, the idea of eight measly glasses being enough to replenish your supply is unimaginably absurd, if you’re getting that much at all.

Water is essential for the full functioning of everyone’s body, and it can extra helpful in times of disease, illness and fatigue.

Fewer carbs

Carbohydrates, especially simple carbs, give your body a quick jolt of energy and then leave most people with a crushing sensation. If you are about to go on a long run or do another high-intensity activity, a simple carb snack is perfect to get you fueled for a long haul and your metabolism will produce new energy by the time you would have otherwise experienced a crash.

The first solution to carbo-loading is to avoid eating carb-heavy meals and snacks during the day. The next solution is to eat low-glycemic carbs instead of simple starches. Low-glycemic carbs include nuts, oats, brown rice, legumes, sweet potatoes (and more!) and they avoid the energetic rush and crash by taking longer to metabolize in the digestive system.

Drink vegetable juice

Vegetables are loaded with minerals and vitamins that your body needs to function and that can readily turn into usable energy for the remainder of your day. When vegetables are juiced, some of the fiber gets lost in the process, which for some people becomes a reason to eat whole veggies over juiced. However, the lost fiber makes vegetable the perfect afternoon (or morning, who are we kidding?) pick-me-up as it now demands less of your metabolic energy to break down and absorb the nutrients.

If you can, invest in a juicer for your kitchen at home. This will save you money over running out for juices and the raw vegetable juice recipes you can make at home are clean, preservative-free and naturally low is sugar.

Increase exercise

If the idea of exercising exhausts you before you can get to the gym, temper your expectations. Start out with a 20-minute walk or a gentle yoga flow. Exercise gets your metabolism working so you can produce a natural energy supply. Add in regular moderate exercise to your week and you’ll feel an incredibly gentle and sustainable boost of energy.

B Vitamins

Vitamin B12 is pretty popular for its role as an energy vitamin. If you haven’t tried adding B vitamins to your diet, prepare to feel an energy boost in the first few days of adding them to smoothies or supplements in pill form. Some of the best foods to get B12 from include salmon, eggs, beef liver, mackerel, lamb and sardines (yum).

Herbal remedies

Some herbs – adaptogenic herbs – can help to naturally regulate and balance the body’s ability to handle stress. When faced with a stressful situation, the human body is still designed to respond with fight or flight as if to fear. The biologic byproduct of fear response is cortisol. As the adrenal glands pump cortisol into the system as physical protection, many internal systems become stressed and wreak havoc on your energy level.

Adaptogenic herbs such as ginseng, ashwagandha, rhodiola and holy basil help to combat fatigue, stress and anxiety and to boost energy.

Add chia seeds to smoothies, teas or water

Chia seeds are a superfood that that Mayans and Aztecs used for warriors during ancient wars. The seeds are still popular today and exported globally to deliver necessary fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6 to the body. These omegas boost brain functioning, help us to sleep better and aid in the reduction of inflammation.

Chia seeds are best absorbed by the body when dissolved in liquid, so try adding them to your smoothies, teas or even a glass of water with lemon. The little seeds grow a filmy bubble around them once they’ve been soaking for a few minutes and are pretty addicting to add to snacks!