Are you feeling more sleepy than usually?

There can be many reasons as to why you are feeling sleepy during the day. It can be that you just need more sleep if you are not getting enough at night or keep waking during the night. There are also medical reasons as to why you may be feeling tired. Lack of vitamin B12 is often a cause of tiredness and brain fog. It often goes undiagnosed for years. Low iron or Ferritin levels can also cause you to feel lethargic. Blood cells carry oxygen around the body to the organs that need it to enable them to produce the energy they need to function. A lack of red blood cells means your whole body has to work a lot harder to get the energy it needs in turn making you feel tired. A full blood count will be able to show if you are lacking iron. You may need supplements for at least 6 months if your iron levels are really low.

An under active thyroid is another cause of feeling sluggish and tired. The thyroid produces thyroxine and this is what controls out metabolism. If this isn’t working as it should you may need to take medication to raise your levels back to normal.

When should you take supplements?

Now a days we are inundated with different vitamins and supplements that we can take. You have your standard victim in a – d for example but there are also a number of other vitamins or supplements that may have huge health benefits. Some of these supplements have been around for years, but knowing which ones you should take can be tricky.

There seems to be a link between taking vitamin d and lowering your risk of Corona virus. This link is still being investigated. It they have started to send out vit d to vulnerable people.

If you are trying to get pregnant you should be taking either a good pregnancy vitamin or at least flood acid as this has been proven to lower the risk of spina bifida.

If you are u sure as to what you should be taking it is always a good idea to ask your doctor. If you feel you may be low on something such as iron for example or is best to try and get a blood test to confirm it. If the doctor cannot really advise you as it is not something that is medically recognised then you may go and see a medical herbalist who will be able to discuss what vitamins, herbs abs supplements you should be taking.

Should we all be taking a daily vitamin supplement?

There is a growing interest in promoting healthy living across the nation with many people trying to increase the amount of exercise that they do and eat more healthily but should taking a daily vitamin supplement be part of this regime or can be get all the nutrients we need from our food?

To explore this idea, as silly as it sounds, we need to think back to how farming methods have changed over the years. In the past there were a lot less chemicals used on the land to control pests and weeds. Every few years the ground would have a fallow year allowing the nutrients in the soil to renew but now the intensive farming methods that are used do not allow for this to happen so the soil and therefore the crops do not contain the goodness they once did.

It is for this reason that the taking of a daily vitamin and mineral supplement is advisable as a huge amount of food would need to be eaten to supply the required number of vitamins in our diet.

At different times of the year we can become deficient in certain vitamins for example vitamin D supplements should be taken through the winter months when we do not get enough natural sunlight to top up our reserves.

Vitamins for children

Although many parents try and ensure that their child eats a balanced diet, very often they simply do not get enough of the vitamins they need in a day. This is especially true if your child struggles with fruit and vegetables which is often a good source of vitamins.

It is often advisable to supplement children’s meals with a vitamin to ensure they are getting 100% of their recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, C and D, which are often the most important at this stage. Vitamin D is absorbed through sunlight so during the winter months many people have very low levels of this.

You need to check carefully as to what vitamins your child can have for their age. Breast feeding mothers are no being given vitamins that they can give to their baby in case their milk is not sufficient in all the nutrients the baby needs. Once your child is old enough to have a vitamin tablet you should get one that is chewable. These are not only easier for them to swallow but often taste nicer too. Be sure to read the information on the leaflet or that is printed on the bottle to compare one sort of vitamin to another to help you decide which ones to choose.

Supplements to help your mental wellbeing

With mental health a hot topic at the moment, many people are trying to have a look at their life and see what they can do to improve it. Modern life can be stressful and people often say that they feel overwhelmed, under pressure and anxious in the day to day settings. These emotions can not only have an effect on our mental health but also our physical health. Often people with these sorts of emotions feel tired, lack of energy, irritable and have little confidence. It is important to keep your mental health in check and often supplements can help you along the way. There are a number of supplements that you can take to boost your body from the inside out. Some are designed to relax you others are designed to give you the all-important vitamins and minerals that you may be lacking.

Not many of us get all the vitamins we need from our foods, as we often struggle to eat healthy all the time which is why taking a good quality multi vitamin daily may be enough to boost your body and your immune system. If you are struggling with depression or feelings of anxiety then you may opt for a herbal route of medication before you resort to anti-depressants prescribe by a doctor. It is important to read the information carefully when taking any herbal remedies and seeking the advice of an expert if you are not sure about something.

Taking high dose vitamins

If you search on the internet, you will find a number of vitamins that many people state will help to improve this and that. Often people are suggesting to take rather high dosages of vitamins to see the true effect it has, but doing this without medical back up can result in irreversible damage to your body.

Many people swear by vitamin B6 as a way of helping with tiredness, mood swings, hormone imbalances and a number of other issues. The daily recommend dose of B6 is around 1.3mg for an adult between the ages of 19 and 50. Often people will be self-medicating with 200mg plus a day of the vitamin in desperation to see results. For many people this may be ok and not have any negative side effects, but with B6 having an effect on your nervous system, taking high doses for a long period may cause irreversible damage.

Before taking any high dose vitamin supplements it is vital to consult your doctor and explain what you want to take and why. If they advise you against it, then it is probably best to take their advice and start on a lower dose.

 

Are you Anaemic?

Anaemia is a serious condition which can affect men or women of all ages. Often we only discover we are anaemic after having a blood test carried out at the doctors. You may notice that you feel extremely tired even soon after you have slept. You may have noticed a loss of energy and that you feel like you have no motivation. You may also have heart palpitations and feel like you are short of breath. These are all common signs of anaemia which can often be why people eventually go to the doctors to find out what is wrong.

When you have anaemia, your body doesn’t produce enough red blood cells. You don’t get enough oxygen, which makes you feel fatigued and can also cause serious health complications.

Your doctor will carry out a full blood count and check your level of red blood cells. If the results come back low then you will be given a course of iron tablets to take to help replace the iron lost in your body. These are usually stronger than the over the counter supplements you can buy. Often you will need to take the iron tablets for 6 months and then have another test to see if you can stop them.

 

Taking probiotics to help your immune system

Bacteria is needed in our bodies to help with many functions, bacteria in the gut is needed to digest our food and allow us to take the nutrients we need from it to stay healthy. It is estimated that there are roughly 10 trillion microorganisms living in the human intestines. Once these get to work on our food we can then absorb it in to our blood stream.

Research has shown that over 80% of our immune activity takes place in the gut, so it makes sense that if we have good bacteria in our gut this can help us stay healthy and fend out viruses and infections.

Probiotics are found in foods that contain living bacteria, but the healthy kind that your body needs to be strong. You can also buy over the counter probiotics that can be taken to help boost the good bacterial in your gut. By taking probiotics either through food or supplements, you are giving fuel to the good bacteria in your body and essentially strengthening it.

Yogurt is one of the best foods for probiotics but always go for the natural ones and add your own fruit to taste. Yogurts that say they contain live bacteria often have less than natural yogurt and the bacteria in these products have probably been pasteurized, killing the cultures, resulting in no value to your body.

 

What foods are a naturally good source of iron?

Iron is a very important nutrient and often people who do not have enough iron can become anaemic and find they have very little energy. Iron is a component of haemoglobin in red blood cells that distribute oxygen around the body, it is also contributes towards myoglobin that is found in muscles and tissues.

If you have a good balanced diet then you should not need to take iron supplements unless you have been advised to do so. Iron is found in a number of foods and is often associated with dark green veg such as Kales, Broccoli and Spinach. Other good sources of iron include Liver, meat and fish, Eggs, nuts, iron fortified cereals and dried fruits such as raisins.

If you feel that even after a good night’s sleep you still have little energy and are struggling to stay awake then it may be worth going to your doctors to see if they will give you a blood test to check your iron count. This is a very common test and can quickly determine if you are in fact getting enough iron.

If you are pregnant then you will often need even more iron in take than usually and will be advised to take pregnancy supplements to help with this.

 

 

Taking food supplements to boost your immune system

The experts say that is we eat a balanced diet then we should not need to take extra vitamins and minerals as we will be able to take them from our food, but it is very hard to get your recommended daily intake of nutritious food every day.

Some vitamins and minerals can be taken in the form of a daily tablet, when buying these it is important to always buy them from a reputable company and that you carefully read the directions on the packaging. You may find that the supplement tables you are taking actually have little effect as some cannot be absorbed from the tablet making them useless.

If you find that you are getting ill a lot, feeling tired or having problems with your joints then the first place you should go is your doctors. Very often they will do blood tests to find out if you have a deficiency in something and they will be able to prescribe you with supplements if they are needed and are going to be effective.

Taking a good all round multivitamin is often a good way to ensure you are getting all the nutrients you need but it still doesn’t beat eating healthily.