Can stress make you more tired?
If stress is an on-going torment, it may eventually start to take its toll on your energy levels. Some ways in which stress can make you more tired, are as follows:
- By affecting your sleep
- By using up more energy
- By influencing your food choices
- By limiting the benefit of self-care practices
Throughout this blog, we explore some of the effects of stress on your energy levels in more detail and offer some solutions to help.
1. Sleep deprivation
Unfortunately, issues with stress and sleep often go hand-in-hand and, if left untreated, the two conditions can continue to become more intertwined, and a vicious cycle can soon develop. Stress can give rise to a number of physical symptoms including an increased heart rate (or uncomfortable palpitations), quicker breathing, tense muscles or a raised body temperature; not to mention the mental symptoms too, including an increase in anxiety.
Unsurprisingly, until many of these symptoms are under control, benefitting from some sound sleep can be somewhat challenging. Then, in the reverse, if you are struggling with sleep deprivation, the symptoms of which include drowsiness, brain fog and irregular blood sugar, can easily mean that you struggle to deal with stress.
What can help?
Luckily, as the issues of stress and sleep often go hand in hand, it can also mean that some of the same approaches can work to help tackle both issues.
Herbs such as passiflora, for example, have been used traditionally to help relax the nervous system; helping to ward off unwanted stress and ultimately also facilitating better sleep. In terms of nutrients, magnesium is a nice choice to help minimise both the physical and mental symptoms of stress, as mentioned above.
2. Stress uses up energy
Traditionally, it would have been the case that we would only have been stressed for very short periods of time. Longer-term stress, which is more readily experienced nowadays, just isn't sustainable. For this reason, it can very quickly leave you feeling overly tired or lacking in energy, as it uses up vital resources.
When you become stressed, stress hormones including cortisol and adrenaline are responsible for mobilising your energy stores. This means making energy stores more readily available in the bloodstream, which you'll apparently need to overcome your current, stressful situation.
Whilst the mechanisms aren't straightforward, and can vary slightly from person to person, stress can also affect your appetite. For many, this leaves you without an appetite, meaning you don't end up getting the quality or quantity of food that you require to fuel you efficiently.
What can help?
Rather than succumbing to ever-draining energy reserves, why not work on putting your energy into productive causes, such as some gentle exercise? Although this may seem counterintuitive, the return could be surprising!
As long as you don't do too much, some regular, gentle exercise can actually be stress-busting. So, in a roundabout way, this healthy habit can actually help to protect your energy levels. Doing as little as a brisk, 10-minute walk daily could help prevent stagnation and clear your head.
3. Stress can impact your food choices
Unfortunately, stress, a lack of sleep, or both, could actually risk influencing your food choices.
Firstly, when it comes to stress, you might know only too well the feeling of butterflies you get if you're worried or stressed. This sensation comes about as blood is diverted away from the digestive tract (as the resources are needed elsewhere!). Unsurprisingly, as the focus is no longer on your digestive tract, this can also play havoc with your appetite with the usual release of hormones and reminders to eat being a little skewed.
Then, unfortunately, if we don't stick to our normal routine of regular meals, this can eventually catch up with us. Eventually, you are most likely to be left feeling ravenous or, at the very least, in dire need of some energy, and by this time you may be more inclined to reach for a quick fix of energy. This can often mean you're more drawn to energy-inducing, yet low-nutrient options such as some sugar, fat or caffeine-laden convenience foods. Some similar processes can occur with a lack of sleep, as our blood sugar is likely to be wobblier, even after one night of disturbed sleep!2 Watch my self-care video tip below for more information on stress and poor food choices, and how to help overcome it.
As well as the risk that we don't acquire the same amount of nutrients from our diet as we'd like, there's the added complication that stress can also drain us of nutrients. In our greatest time of need, nutrients that risk being excreted in excess include magnesium, zinc, calcium, iron and B vitamins.1
What can help?
It's important to attempt to fuel ourselves efficiently in order to help tackle stress accordingly, and everything else that life throws at us, for that matter!
In addition to the calming herbs, such as passiflora, which can help to tackle stress more head on, sufficient nutrient take is also essential to help ensure everything is working away quietly in the background, gently supporting our ability to handle stressful situations.
Whilst opting for a fresh, nutrient-dense diet is, of course, key during times of unavoidable stress, an additional multi-nutrient could be the safety net you need to help you through.
My Self-Care Tip: Don't let stress govern your food choices
In my latest self-care video, I explain why stress can make you crave certain foods and how you can consciously overcome it.
4. Self-care practices may not be top of mind
When life throws you certain hurdles, it can be easy to become bogged down and forget to look after number 1 – YOU. After 2020, now more than ever, we're being reminded about the importance of regular self-care practices, in order to help protect both our physical and mental health.
Especially if we are feeling extra stressed, not sleeping well or both, taking some time to relax and recuperate is super important.
What can help?
Self-care is pretty individual, so it's whatever works well for you! For some, it could be a task like washing their beloved car, for others (and myself personally), something more relaxing such as settling down in comfies with a good book or going for a soothing bath does the trick.
My advice is to try and set aside at least 10 minutes daily (more if you can!) to indulge in some good quality self-care. Remember, adding some calming herbs such as passiflora either before or during your chosen activity, can help make them even more fulfilling.
References
1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31504084/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2084401/
