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Dealing with Fatigue Originally published in Natural Living Magazine "I'm not refreshed after a night's sleep and I flop on the couch the minute I get home. In the morning it takes me three cups of coffee to get going and I feel like I'm walking through a fog all day". Does that sound like you? If so, you're not alone. An ever increasing number of people are presenting to their physicians with a similar story and the reason is simple: people are fatigued. As a practicing naturopathic physician, the most important part of deciding on a treatment for any condition is to attempt to understand the underlying root, or roots, of the health problem. And this usually calls for a thorough examination of all aspects of a person's health, including diet, exercise, lifestyle, and stress levels. With fatigue, the root of the problem can range widely from anemia and hypothyroidism to depression and hypoglycemia. But what I've most often noticed in people suffering from constant fatigue is a diet that's poor and unhealthy and/or a history of sustained stress. DIET It goes without saying that proper nutrition is a fundamental key to wellness. But in regards to fatigue, our diets should be well-balanced and free of food-allergens. It is very common in North America for a person's diet to be too high in refined sugars -- which are present in most processed foods-- and over time the body may develop difficulties in regulating its own blood sugar levels. And this can certainly cause fatigue. If it is found that blood sugar irregularities are causing the fatigue then a comprehensive strategy needs to be taken to balance blood sugars including dietary modifications. And while this topic deserves a lengthy discussion on everything from lifestyle changes and the use of important botanical medicines, the quickest and easiest way to clean up your diet is to cut back on sweet and processed foods and get back to the legumes, grains, fruits, and veggies. Whole foods are still the best foods. Recall also that there are certain nutrients that are crucial for blood sugar metabolism. One of them is chromium. Chromium can effect the way insulin is used by the cells; a crucial component to proper blood sugar metabolism. Check to see that your multivitamin includes it. As for food allergies, the first step is to identify the food allergens themselves and eliminate them from the diet. This can be difficult, especially if you find out that you are allergic to something you enjoy. But if food allergens are affecting your health, it's better to reduce them from your diet; atleast temporarily. The second step in treating food allergies is to treat the gastro-intestinal tract to reduce the body's susceptibility to allergens. (readers will recall a previous discussion on this topic in Natural Living? Volume2 Issue2). Glutamine can be especially helpful in maintaining the health of the gastro-intestinal lining. Recall that glutamine is a preferred nutrient by the cells that line the intestine and serve to help the lining regenerate if damaged. STRESS Then there's stress. Stress and the intensity of modern life can influence our health in profound ways. Periods of prolonged stress, for example, can disrupt the way our adrenal glands operate. Sitting above the kidneys, these glands help us to cope with stress by secreting stress hormones: cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. At the beginning of a stressful period, the adrenal glands secrete the hormones we need to handle the stress. During this introductory period, people under stress cope well. But if the stress is sustained, the adrenals will fail to keep up and people become increasingly fatigued. A useful test is to measure how a person's cortisol levels vary throughout the day. The results of the test help establish how the gland is functioning. And if it is found that your adrenal glands are burned out, then stress reduction is the key. This is easy to say but can often involve considerable lifestyle changes depending on the source of the stress. A great place to start is including some exercise in your weekly routine. Committing to walking four times a week for 40 minutes puts you well on the road to stress reduction. Others find activities such as yoga or a meditative practice relaxing. The adrenal glands themselves can be encouraged to regain their normal function, and remember that this is about trying to regain normal function not taking a medication as a substitute for normal function. There are a number of nutrients which are crucial to the functioning of the adrenal gland including vitamin B5, vitamin B6, zinc, magnesium, and vitamin C. The B vitamins are usually contained within a multivitamin, however the dosage will be insufficient to directly treat the adrenal glands. I will often encourage patients to add a B-complex (containing at least 50 mg of all B-vitamins except B-12) until normal functioning has returned. Proper nutrition, as always, can go a long way to ensuring an adequate source of these nutrients. Chinese medicine has a valuable comment to make on fatigue, and regards it as a deficiency. The type of deficiency depends on the severity of the fatigue and any other accompanying symptoms: digestive problems, pain, lack of mental clarity, etc. Interestingly, one common type of deficiency is known as "kidney deficiency", suggesting that Chinese medicine has recognized a relationship between the kidneys, adrenals and fatigue for some 2000 years. In addressing such fatigue, Chinese medicine would choose one of two treatments: acupuncture or botanical (plant-based) medicine. Acupuncture treats stress-related fatigue by choosing certain acupuncture points to tonify the adrenal glands. Interestingly, acupuncture points will often be chosen on the kidney meridian to treat this type fatigue. Medicinal plants such as astragalus, Siberian ginseng, or glycerrhiza can be combined in specific proportions to create a "Qi tonic" suitable for addressing the lethargy. Astragalus is a particularly interesting medicinal plant whose use is not restricted to treating fatigue. Astragalus has an immune stimulating effect. Many of the Chinese medicine formulae that are used to prevent recurring upper respiratory infections feature astragalus as one of the main ingredients. Fatigue is perhaps an underrated condition. But it seems to me to be the inevitable result of our fast-paced, fast-food lifestyles. In some ways fatigue can be seen as a warning signal that is telling us to slow down and start taking better care of our bodies. There may be different ways to approach the topic, but perhaps it's best to regard fatigue as an imbalance in your physical or emotional life. The goal of treatment, then, is to restore the normal equilibrium and let fatigue give way to life and vigor. By Dr. Gordon Sims ND   <back to Natural Living Magazine Online Archive Directory>

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