Tired of being tired? Natural ways to get the energy you crave

You're listening to LifeKit from NPR. Hey, it's Maryl. Is anybody else tired? Like a lot of the time. That is something I hear on a daily basis. People complain in almost every age group that they are tired. It's like you feel exhausted all day, even if you've slept enough, even if you think you're doing all the right things. Dr. Amy Shaw is a double board certified MD. She's a nutrition expert and author of the book. I'm so effing tired, a proven plan to beat burnout, boost your energy, and reclaim your life. As the title of the book suggests, Amy herself used to live in a near constant state of exhaustion. She was a young doctor with a busy private practice in two kids at home. When she noticed shifts in her mood in her body, weight gain, irritability and trouble sleeping. But she couldn't pin down a specific cause for all of it. And when she turned to her doctor friends for advice, everybody just said, you know, oh, of course you're tired. You're a mom with young kids. You're working full time. You're getting older. That was my favorite. I felt like there was something more, but I didn't know what. And it really felt kind of disappointing that nobody could help me and that this was just going to be life. Then Amy got in a car crash. She'd been rushing from a busy day at work to pick up her kids from karate. Her car spun until she hit a divider in the middle of the road. It was totaled. That week that I had to take off to kind of pick up the pieces, I really started to change my life. Amy was tired of always being tired and she wasn't willing to accept fatigue as her new normal. So she started looking for answers and got really intentional about her nutrition and her daily schedule. And when I did change that, that's when I started to see the real results results as in enough energy to hike to match up to you and get this while there a Peruvian tour guide told her they'd never seen anyone do the hike so effortlessly. Now we can't promise you that level of energy boost from this episode, but we will sure try. Life kit reporter Andy Tagel is going to talk more with Amy about her gutsy approach to energy. And she'll also talk with a psychologist and an award-winning author and offer you some simple and surprising research back strategies on how to jump start your energy. First step body energy. Okay, show of imaginary hands. How many of you are here because you're trying to kick your caffeine dependency? Your energy is like a bank. So if you drink coffee and you borrow from the bank, you have to pay back later. We all know there are no magic pills out there, but maybe like me, when you got to be on, you got to be on. So you often reach for quick band aid boosters like caffeine or sugary snacks, or maybe even a combination of the two, all the live long day. Because it feels like the only alternative is to try to function in zombie mode. The thing is those habits as in excessive caffeine and sugar consumption can wreak havoc on your gut, which in turn can mess with your whole system. Amy says you might have some clues if that's already the case. One of the telltale signs is your tire all the time, even if you've gotten a good night's sleep. Brain fogginess is another sign. So people will say like, you know, I just can't think straight. A lot of people will feel inflammation and their joints. See, according to Amy, your gut is the center of an important ongoing conversation in your body. This like constant communication between the gut, the hormones and the immune system. And when they're all in harmony, she says energy follows your gut health and hormone health. They're so intertwined that when you do improve your gut health, your immune health and your hormone health get better. And to explain how that works, take away one. If you want more natural gusto, be good to your gut. Our guts influence our energy on multiple levels. In addition to managing digestion and the absorption of nutrients, our guts both produce and support our hormones. Like, did you know 95% of serotonin is produced there? When needed, our gut bacteria create inflammation toward often veiters or disease, which can also slow you down. And the gut moves fast. This gut bacteria turn off really quick and they can respond very quickly to what's happening in your outside world. And so if you change what you're eating and what you're doing for even three days, you're going to start to feel the beneficial effects of this. The beneficial effects of being good to your gut, that is. But what does that mean exactly? Allow us to illustrate picture your gut like a food processing factory. There are all these little bacteria workers lined up along the conveyor belts of your digestive tract to disassemble whatever you decide to eat. We'll start with your favorite cheesy backup potato chips. What happens is that the gut microbes look at this and they say, well, there's this does not look like food to me. I'm not really sure what it is. So it calls in immune cells to kind of help it kind of isolate it, take it out of our system. So for a lot of food additives, artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, it's like one of those little workers hits a button on the wall calling for a special security team. Red alert, red alert intruder. That is called inflammation. And then in turn, you will get an elevation of your cortisol. And you'll get signs to the brain to kind of slow down what it's doing so that we can concentrate on getting rid or categorizing this toxin. Now let's turn to say a handful of blueberries. Your body is like, I know what that is. Get that and like let's absorb the vitamins and send it through and produce some good, feel good chemicals because we just were able to eat the skin. So those blueberries help feature gut to promote additional serotonin, which positively impacts our body's energy. And they also have anti-inflammatory properties. So when you need a snack and you grab that bag of potato chips over those blueberries, your body has to borrow resources. Use a little extra battery life and brain power that might otherwise be fueling your daily decision making and activities. Amy says, think about it like a bad hangover. Think of a day when you've had a lot of alcohol in the next day and how your gut feels and how your brain feels and how tired you feel. This happens on a micro level whenever we're eating junk foods or alcohol, etc. Woof. Am I right? If like me, you are suddenly super motivated to turn things around. Real virus foods are where to start. So things like the aforementioned blueberries, avocados, leafy greens, seeds and nuts, cruciferous vegetables as well, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts. These are foods that support that gut bacteria. Also on the do list food diversity, especially plant-based foods, try new vegetables, try new fruits, try new spices, because that is something that will really improve your gut health, which will then in turn improve your energy. That doesn't mean you have to go out and blow a whole paycheck at the grocery store though. There are a lot of budget-friendly foods that are also good for your gut. Dried beans, canpes and other legumes, for example. Also, the frozen section is your friend. Frozen berries are often actually healthier than fresh berries, because the frozen are often frozen at their peak of vitamins and freshness and same with vegetables moving towards what to moderate. Amy says you want to avoid processed meats and keep other meat consumption to a minimum. Like one serving a day and not more than five a week. Alongstanding dietary guideline, by the way, is to keep saturated fats to less than 10% of your daily calories. So a lean, ideally organic chicken breast would be better than an albifurker. If you're big on dairy, she's just sticking towards the fermented kind to help your gut. So yogurt, coffee, cottage cheese, feta, okay, top things to avoid. Number one, no surprise here, processed and ultra-processed foods. You're probably eating more of it than you think. Fried and high-preservative foods, as well as what Amy called one of the worst offenders to your energy levels. Sugar, sweetened beverages like soda or fruit punch, because she says you're often getting hit on multiple fronts. Sugar, caffeine levels, other food additives. So your blood sugar spikes and then drops and then your cortisol spikes when your blood sugar spikes. And then your inflammation levels rise and all of that happens so fast because it's a drink. Yikes. Anyone else totally sold but also a little overwhelmed? Luckily, Amy's got another quick idea to tilt the system. This one's a lighter lift, but still packs a bunch. Take away too. Supercharge your circadian rhythm. One of the biggest energy boosts that has become a non-negotiable for me is getting some sunlight in the morning. So easy, right? You've heard this a million times. Yes. But how often do you actually do it? Consider this your assigned to start. For real, all you need is a couple of minutes, ideally within an hour of waking up. And look, we're not talking tropical vacation levels of sunshine. It can be overcast, it can be rainy. It just means that you have natural light reaching your eyes and from your retina, there's a direct connection to your supercars made of nucleus in your brain. That is in the hormonal centers. That's like your body's master clock. It sets a bunch of things in motion. And it's so interesting because that gut bacteria that lives all the way in your lower colon also loves sunlight. They also send signals to your brain that they're happy and you get more energized and focused. So that is one of the easiest ways to boost energy that has nothing to do with changing the way you eat. But we're just getting started with our clocks. Our next power play is something Amy calls circadian fasting. Don't let the terminology scare you. A hundred years ago was not called circadian fasting. It was just called life. But now that we live in this 24 or 7 world, we have to actually stop eating at a certain time so that our bodies can rest and digest and then give it a break. Because when you don't give your digestive system adequate recovery time, you can't expect it to be able to perform at its best. Almost like if someone woke you up in the middle of the night and asked you to do like a complicated math problem, you'd probably not do it very well. And the next day you would probably be tired and mad that you had to our gut bacteria need a chance to be off the clock. He got their shoes. Like consider how you feel at the end of an average eight hour work shift. Amy says our cuts our custom to processing our food for 12 hours shifts at a time. But the data shows we Americans are typically eating for 15 16 hours a day and only leaving a break for about eight hours. And that often leads to poor health outcomes research has shown people who eat large meals very late at night have increased rates of insulin resistance GI problems like ass reflux and you guessed it often feel tired, especially in the morning. So if you want to be good to your gut and good to your body clock at the same time, you might consider taking deliberate scheduled consistent breaks from eating. One such way to do that amies idea of circadian fasting as the name suggests it's a style of eating that simply tries to sync up with your natural circadian rhythms. So you want to fast overnight aiming to eat in the light hours and fast in the dark. That isn't like a hard and fast rule. You don't have to brush through dinner if the sun is setting. The idea is just to give your gut as much time as possible to digest. So you might eat dinner at six or seven PM and then wake up at six or seven and then maybe not have your first meal until eight or nine in our book. Amy advises keeping three things constant first observe at least a 12 hour fast window. Second, you want to keep that window as close to your circadian clock as possible. Finally, stop eating three hours before you go to sleep. Of course with all of this, you want to check in with your doctor first if you have any questions or concerns and you want to keep checking in with your body to see how those schedule changes have affected your sleep, your mood and your energy. All right, how are we feeling? All sounds simple enough, but maybe easier said than done. A great after the break. Let's work on that mental battery and get you pumped. All right, next up, let's talk emotional energy to make changes. We first have to figure out where you're channeling your energy and what might be saving you. Of course, that list might be long. There are systemic factors that impact all of us to different degrees, many of which we have little or no control over. And carrying that awareness around that you can't just prevent all the bad stuff from happening can be heavy and scary. But I think what it also does is like if we're able to recognize that awareness with the sense of acceptance and moving into the idea of what is available for me to do, not what do I want the ideal situation to be like. But instead is what is available for me to do under their circumstances on the dissituation and the this reality. And that's takeaway three, assess your emotional energy bill and recharge on a daily basis because often times when we think about energy, we're thinking about how to boost energy as opposed to how do we preserve energy. This is in manual Mercedes, manny, an accounting psychologist in private practice in New Jersey. He's also a very proud father to three boys ages 10, 5 and 3. So you can imagine the amount of energy that is required. Mani says no matter your current stage or situation in life, you're not trying to find your way in the world working father of three, grandparent eager to reach retirement. Our cultural norm is to push for more do the most spread ourselves as thin as possible. The expectations are so high and so when we try to do everything and we fail at it, not only do we find ourselves physically exhausted, but emotionally psychologically just to plead it. And he says we can really start to get into trouble when we burn all our fuel on things that we don't really care about or that don't actually serve us. How much of our energy is spent stressing out, ruminating, thinking about problems that may not be within our scope of being able to resolve right. A 2025 Gallup survey found that Americans who live in ways aligned with their core values are more likely to be thriving than those who do not. And like, yeah, duh, right. But get this many widely practiced daily behaviors, namely frequent social media use news consumption, the use of AI and non essential shopping are far less likely to align with what we say matters most to us. And that gap between our values and our daily habits was closely tied to lower life satisfaction and to optimism. That took some air out of my tires pretty quick. The point if you want an emotional boost, find alignment to start here at life kit. We love a time on it. You could try logging just today or logging a week. Just take stock of how you're actually spending your energy, not just the highlights as in what is happening around me and what is my reaction. My response to things that are happening around me then add up and categorize your time and hour chatting with friends. Three hours of podcast, 10 hours commuting 12 hours on social media that can't be right. Then from your list, take stock of what feels good and what feels bad. Maybe break out some markers and do some color coding for feeling wild. Then try going one step further. What are the things that I actually have influenced or control over versus the thing that are completely out of my control? The answer to that question can give you the agency to best recalibrate your schedule according to your values. Like maybe you realize your TV watching clock is a lot bigger than you'd like it to be and your exercise block is a lot smaller. Maybe you realize you're always in a bad mood after interacting with that one person in the family. Some things will have a quick fix and others will remain movable. But man, he says just practicing some awareness around the energy vampires in your life can help take away their power. I simply lean back and like, okay, I'm going to let them finish whatever statement they have. I'm not engaging. If this is something that I need to deal with, let me just deal with it and move forward in my life as opposed to spending all this energy and all this effort into things that don't necessarily provide you a return on your energy investment. From there, a final calendar mandate from Annie that I love remember to charge your emotional battery every day. I love the idea of like, oh, you know what? I'm going to go to the spine and I'm going to get a massage, but the thing is that that's the equivalent of practicing once a month. A skill and then thinking why am I not getting any better this one hit like a ton of bricks because it's so simple but so often overlooked. And yes, this is me talking to me because every day you're dealing with stress every day that you're dealing with stress also means that every day you need to have a recovery process. You plug in your phone or you laptop most every night, no? Or if you forget you're not surprised when it dies in the middle of the day. Our operating systems are way more complex than any computer. So mind all those tabs open in your head and build in that personal emotional battery booster. That could look like a meditation or breathing practice morning yoga. It may have something to do with actual physical activity like working out, strength training or running. And let's quickly note if you're doing all of these things practicing healthy habits, managing your stress and you still can't seem to find energy. And he says it might be time to consult a care provider. Something about that in the case that there's either a medical physical condition that needs to be explored or they may be a psychiatric or mental illness condition that we need to be considered. In any case, many says protecting your peace in a way that's true to your values never a bad idea. I will call it the ultimate energy hack is to live present and intentionally and finding ways to then create a routine that actually sustains the outcome that we want. Something that we practice on a daily basis. Our last guest is here to help us cultivate an energetic spirit and that she fully agrees with many. Her novel approach to living in the present try surfing. Oh my gosh, I'm doing it like the guides like sort of cheerio go go go go go right like that is a really really exhilarating feeling. Karen Walrond is an author a speaker, a leadership coach and this episode's designated energy ambassador. She brings us takeaway for curiosity is critical explore more and don't be scared to be an amateur. Her most recent book is titled in defense of dabbling the brilliance of being a total amateur for Karen being an amateur is a wonderful thing. The etymology of the word it means one who loves and I was like well why aren't we more proud of being an amateur and not only that seek out. Amateur pursuits when we're living in a world that could definitely use more people to love right. Case in point those surf lessons we were just talking about. And I had never experienced like a body served before and you know like playing in the waves. But it's a totally different experience to be on the board when that wave takes you like it literally feels like you're almost on a little speedboat. Surfing was right on the edge of Karen's comfort zone. She loves the ocean but the task itself was a bit intimidating. It took a lot of physical exertion just to pedal out and then she was pulled under wave a bit on her first go. So when she finally popped up on that board. Oh, the energy that delight that little shot of exhilaration like that's kind of what you're going for right like it's all of a sudden you're delighting in yourself and there's so few opportunities in the world where you get to the light in yourself. Karen says what started out for her as a book about hobbies let her to much deeper lessons about how to connect to herself about finding vitality. And it's made her a real evangelist for the regular practice of trying out new interests classes past times places simply for their own pleasure and for the energy that brings. I really think there's a reason it's called recreation like recreation. It literally is about how do you get back to who you are without the overwhelm without the worry that goes out. A good hobby can bring play into your life or lead you to an invigorating flow state. It can connect you to other people in the real world or just to a sense of wonder and awe. Of course not everyone can or cares to learn to serve specifically. But Karen says the regular practice of amateurism be it coding or looping or painting or pottery or a different one of those every week can pay out individence just because you can say you've been there. The otherizing thing was also talking about it with my partner afterwards. The energizing is talking about it with you as I sort of relive that thing that happened in you know over a year ago at this point like the energizing thing it's that that lasts. And finding that kind of energy in your day to day life. The kind you get from the child like joy of discovery or exploration or growth when you try something new. Even in super small ways. It's worth the effort. I think when you're when you're a kid you're constantly delighting yourself or learning something new. But as you get older that becomes less and less frequent I think and I really I believe that that idea of chasing that delight in yourself like that's how we live well. That's how we age well like that that to me is the secret sauce of living. Okay, let's have one quick high energy recap. Take away one to give your body a boost be good to your gut. Fibers food and cruciferous vegetables are the name of the game. Take away two super chargers or cadien rhythm get that morning sunlight in and give your digestive system a break every day. Take away three assess your emotional energy bill and build in a stress relief practice daily. And take away four curiosity is critical explore more and don't be scared to be an amateur. That was life kit reporter Andy Tagle. Hey, before we go I have a favor to ask if you have a second. Would you leave life kit a five star review if life kit has ever helped you save a little money make a healthier choice. Or if we've just made you feel a little more seen a five star review is a great way to show your support. And thank you. This episode of life kit was produced by Margaret Serino. Our visuals editor is back Harlan and our digital editor is Monica Grebe. Megan Kane is our senior supervising editor and Beth Donovan is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Claremora Schneider Sylvie Douglas and Mika Ellison. Engineering support comes from Stacy Abbott fact checking by Tyler Jones. I'm Mary El Segara. Thanks for listening.