Feel Naturally Energized from the Inside Out

Major Points

• Instead of depending on stimulants that result in energy crashes, natural energy is derived from optimizing your body’s own systems
• Feeding your mitochondria with the correct nutrients and hydration results in sustainable energy throughout the day
• Your circadian rhythm is vital in energy regulation – consistent sleep and wake times can significantly enhance vitality
• Quick energy solutions such as caffeine and sugar provide temporary boosts but ultimately deplete your natural energy reserves
• Vitality Labs’ natural energy supplements aid your body’s inherent energy production systems without the severe side effects of artificial stimulants

Feeling tired is more than just an inconvenience—it’s a thief of life. Those precious hours when you’re slogging through your day represent moments you’ll never reclaim. But what if constant fatigue isn’t a given? What if your body is meant to feel naturally energized from morning till night, without the need for stimulants?

When we talk about natural energy, we’re not discussing quick fixes or temporary solutions. We’re talking about working in harmony with your body’s natural systems to produce a sustainable sense of vitality that carries you through each day with ease. At Vitality Labs, we’ve spent years studying how the body naturally produces and maintains energy. We create supplements that support these delicate biological processes, rather than overriding them.

Once you get to grips with the inner workings of your cells, tissues, and systems, you’ll discover the secret to feeling naturally energized. And the best part? You can wave goodbye to the crashes that come from artificial stimulants. So, let’s dive in and see how you can boost your energy levels from the inside out.

Why Am I Always Tired? The Energy Crisis of Modern Life

Our modern lifestyle is a recipe for an energy crisis. Notifications that keep us on edge, artificial lights that mess with our sleep, processed foods that send our blood sugar on a roller coaster ride, and a lack of movement all work together to sap us of our natural energy. And it’s not just about feeling tired—chronic fatigue can affect your immune system, mood, thinking abilities, and even your long-term health.

A lot of people wrongly blame their tiredness on getting older or being “too active,” when the truth is, their energy shortage is caused by lifestyle factors that are easy to fix. The continuous energy rollercoaster—feeling briefly energized after having coffee or sugar, then crashing a few hours later—harms your body’s natural energy control systems over time, resulting in a vicious cycle of reliance on stimulants.

To break free from this cycle, you need to understand what is actually happening in your body when your energy levels increase and decrease. Once you identify these patterns, you can take specific steps to support your natural energy production instead of working against it.

How Your Body Naturally Produces Energy

Your body is a complex, energy-producing organism with several interrelated systems that work tirelessly to keep you energized. The first step to maximizing these systems for optimal energy levels is to understand them.

How Your Body’s Tiny Power Plants Keep You Going

Think of mitochondria as the little powerhouses in nearly all of your body’s cells. These incredible structures take the food you consume and turn it into energy your body can use, called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). When your mitochondria are working at their best, you have steady energy all day long. But when they’re affected by poor diet, exposure to toxins, or stress, your energy production can suffer.

One of the most basic ways to increase your natural energy levels is by promoting mitochondrial health through proper diet and lifestyle choices. Foods high in B vitamins, CoQ10, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids provide the raw materials your mitochondria need to produce energy efficiently. Regular exercise actually stimulates your body to create more mitochondria—one reason why physically active people often have better energy levels despite expending more calories.

How Your Body’s Internal Clock Affects Your Energy

Your body has its own internal clock that controls a variety of functions, including hormone release, body temperature, and energy use. This internal clock, also known as your circadian rhythm, is closely linked to your energy levels. It tells your body when to be awake and alert and when to start winding down and preparing for sleep. If you stick to a regular sleep schedule and wake up at the same time every day, you’ll find that your energy levels naturally rise during the day and slowly decrease as night falls.

When you mess with your body’s internal clock—whether that’s from working the night shift, staying up late to watch TV, or just not having a regular sleep schedule—your body is forced to try to make energy when it’s supposed to be in rest mode. Over time, this can lead to a major energy drain and may even be a factor in chronic fatigue and other serious health issues.

One of the most effective, yet frequently ignored, ways to boost energy is to synchronize your everyday tasks with your body’s natural rhythm. Minor changes such as getting morning sunlight, avoiding blue light after sunset, and maintaining a regular sleep routine can significantly increase your energy levels in a matter of days.

The Downside of Quick Energy Fixes

• Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors, which prevents your brain from recognizing when it’s tired, but it doesn’t fix the root cause of your energy deficit
• Sugar gives you a quick energy spike, but then an insulin surge leaves you feeling more tired than you were before
• Energy drinks mix stimulants with sugar, which creates a double crash effect and puts stress on your adrenal glands
• Drinking too much caffeine can disrupt your sleep quality, which creates a vicious cycle of increasing dependence
• Stimulants hide important fatigue signals that your body uses to tell you when something needs attention

Quick energy fixes don’t actually create energy—they force your body to release all of its stored energy at once, which gives you a temporary feeling of alertness and then a deeper crash. Over time, this depletes your body’s energy reserves, which makes you more and more dependent on stimulants just to function normally. The most concerning thing is that these quick fixes hide the root causes of your fatigue, which lets potential health problems get worse without being addressed.

At first, breaking away from these quick fixes can be tough. Many people experience temporary withdrawal symptoms like headaches or irritability when they reduce their caffeine intake. But within 1-2 weeks, most people report more stable energy levels, better sleep quality, and less anxiety—all signs that the body’s natural energy regulation systems are bouncing back.

Boost Your Energy Through Your Diet

Your food choices are the fuel for your body’s energy production at the cellular level. Each bite you take can either help or hinder your mitochondrial function. Although fad diets come and go, the principles of nutrition that optimizes energy remain remarkably consistent: focus on nutrient density, stabilize blood sugar, and maintain proper hydration.

Foods that actually give you a boost of energy

Some foods are much better at giving you energy than others. These foods have a few things in common: they’re full of nutrients that help your mitochondria work better, they have carbs that release slowly, and they have healthy fats that keep you going. Dark leafy greens like spinach and kale are great because they have magnesium and B vitamins that help your body make energy. Nuts and seeds are also good because they have protein and minerals that help your cells make energy. Berries are great because they have antioxidants that keep your mitochondria from being damaged by oxidation and they have natural sugars that don’t make your blood sugar go up too much.

Consuming foods that are rich in protein, such as eggs, fatty fish, and legumes, can provide the body with the essential amino acids it needs to create neurotransmitters and recover from muscle strain. This is key to maintaining energy levels. Foods that are high in complex carbohydrates, like sweet potatoes, quinoa, and oats, release glucose into the bloodstream at a slow pace. This helps to prevent the sudden drop in energy levels that can occur after consuming simple sugars. Eating fermented foods, such as yogurt, kimchi, and sauerkraut, can also help to support gut health. This is an important factor in energy production and nutrient absorption, as a healthy gut can help the body to extract the nutrients it needs from the food you eat.

Keeping Your Blood Sugar in Check

One of the most important dietary factors in maintaining steady energy levels throughout the day is keeping your blood sugar stable. When you eat refined carbohydrates or foods with a lot of sugar, your blood glucose can spike quickly. In response, your pancreas releases insulin to help move that glucose into your cells. This can often lead to too much glucose being cleared too quickly, causing your blood sugar to drop below normal levels. This is a condition known as reactive hypoglycemia, and it can cause symptoms like fatigue, irritability, and cravings for more foods that provide quick energy.

To stop the cycle, you need to eat protein, fiber, and healthy fats with your carbs. This mix slows down how fast your body absorbs glucose. That way, your energy levels stay steady instead of going up and down. You can do something easy like eating almond butter with your apple or having some nuts with your berries. This can turn a snack that might make your energy crash into something that keeps you going. You don’t have to stop eating carbs. You just need to pick the right ones and eat them with other macronutrients.

Eating Schedule for Optimal Energy

The timing of your meals can be almost as important as the food you are eating when trying to maintain high energy levels. Eating your biggest meals when your digestive system is naturally most active, usually around noon, can decrease the amount of energy needed for digestion. On the other hand, eating large meals late at night can pull energy towards digestion when your body should be focusing on repairing and regenerating itself during sleep.

It’s not uncommon for people to feel more energized when they space out their meals. This slight metabolic stress can actually make your mitochondria work more efficiently. You don’t have to skip meals to do this. Instead, try to eat all your meals within an 8-10 hour window. This is often referred to as time-restricted feeding. By doing this, you give your digestive system time to finish its job and then take a break. Many people find that this helps them maintain their energy levels throughout the day.

Hydration: The Energy Source You’re Overlooking

“Even mild dehydration—as little as 1-2% of body weight—can impair cognitive function, decrease physical performance, and significantly reduce perceived energy levels. Most people misinterpret the early signs of dehydration as hunger or fatigue, reaching for food or caffeine when water is what their body actually needs.” — Journal of the American College of Nutrition

Water is a key player in every energy-producing reaction in your body. When you’re dehydrated, your heart has to work harder to maintain blood pressure, your body diverts energy to water conservation mechanisms, and your cognitive function suffers—all of which show up as fatigue. Adding electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and magnesium to your hydration strategy can enhance cellular water uptake, making your hydration efforts more effective.

Instead of waiting until you’re thirsty to drink water, it’s much more beneficial to make staying hydrated a regular part of your routine. Drinking 16-20 ounces of water first thing in the morning can help rehydrate your body after it loses water while you sleep and can also kickstart your metabolism. To stay on top of your hydration throughout the day, carry a water bottle with you and set specific goals for how much water you want to drink at different times. This can help you stay optimally hydrated without having to constantly think about it.

Recharge Your Batteries with Sleep

Even the best diet or exercise routine can’t make up for a lack of good sleep. Your body can only do certain energy-restoring activities when you’re asleep. These include getting rid of metabolic waste in your brain, fixing cell damage, and storing memories. When you sleep, your body recharges itself for the next day.

It’s Not About the Hours

Though the amount of sleep you get is important, the quality of your sleep matters more when it comes to how energized you feel during the day. Good quality sleep involves moving through all the stages of sleep, especially deep sleep and REM sleep, where the most restorative processes take place. A single night of continuous sleep can do more for your energy levels than several nights of interrupted sleep, even if those nights add up to more hours. You can use a wearable device to monitor your sleep and learn more about your own sleep patterns. This can help you figure out what changes you need to make to improve the quality of your sleep.

Creating the Ideal Evening Routine

Your mind craves clear signals when it’s time to shift from being awake to being asleep. Establishing a consistent bedtime routine encourages your nervous system to start transitioning from sympathetic (alert) to parasympathetic (relaxed) dominance. This should ideally start 60-90 minutes before you plan to go to sleep, with activities becoming more relaxing as bedtime gets closer.

Good bedtime routines often involve turning down the lights to trigger the production of melatonin, switching off screens that give off sleep-disrupting blue light, and doing relaxing activities such as reading, light stretching, or meditating. Regulating temperature is also important—your body naturally cools down a bit before you sleep, so a cool bedroom (about 65-68°F) helps with this. Some people find that herbs like chamomile, valerian root, or lemon balm in tea can further improve this natural wind-down process.

Wake-Up Rituals to Jumpstart Your Day

The first 60 minutes after you wake up can set the pace for your whole day. Exposing yourself to morning light is especially beneficial because it resets your internal body clock and stimulates the production of cortisol, a hormone that naturally wakes you up. Just five minutes of natural morning light can make a huge difference in your alertness and energy for the rest of the day. Combine this with some light physical activity—like a quick yoga flow, some easy stretches, or a short walk—to wake up your muscles and get your blood flowing without the stress of a high-intensity workout.

Exercise to Boost Your Energy Levels

It may sound strange, but physical activity can actually give you more energy, not less. When you exercise, your body reacts by increasing the density of your mitochondria, improving your blood flow, and enhancing the delivery of oxygen to your tissues. Just a little bit of movement can set off a chain reaction of energy-producing biological responses that can continue for hours after you’re done.

How Working Out Boosts Your Energy Levels

Engaging in regular physical activity conditions your cells to produce energy more efficiently. The more you exercise, the more mitochondria your body produces and the better they get at creating ATP, the primary source of energy for your body. Exercise also improves your cardiovascular health, which enables oxygen and nutrients to get to your tissues more efficiently and removes waste products that can make you feel tired. The endorphins that are released during physical activity provide an immediate boost to your mood and energy levels, while the improved sleep quality that comes with regular exercise creates a positive cycle of better rest and greater daytime vitality.

It’s less about what type of movement you do and more about keeping it up. While high-intensity interval training can provide a significant energy boost in a short amount of time, gentler forms of movement like walking, swimming, or yoga can also have a substantial effect on your energy levels and require less recovery time. The key is to find activities that you genuinely enjoy, because the most effective exercise regimen is the one you’ll actually stick with.

5 Quick Energy Boosters for When You’re Feeling Sluggish

• The 60-second power walk: Take 4 steps while inhaling, then another 4 steps while exhaling. Do this for just one minute while walking at a brisk pace
• Desk-side pick-me-up: Do 20 shoulder rolls while seated, 10 knee lifts per leg while seated, and 5 gentle side bends in each direction
• Full-body jumpstart: Do 10 gentle squats, 5 modified push-ups, and march in place for 30 seconds
• One-minute mindfulness: Do 60 seconds of alternate nostril breathing while standing with slightly bent knees
• Gravity-powered energizer: Hang forward with a relaxed upper body for 30 seconds, then slowly roll up to standing

These tiny movements can be surprisingly effective at breaking up patterns of fatigue, especially during afternoon energy dips. They work by increasing circulation, delivering oxygen to the brain and muscles, and triggering the release of energy-enhancing neurochemicals. Even better, they’re subtle enough to do almost anywhere without drawing attention or needing special equipment.

Stress: The Hidden Energy Robber

Chronic stress is one of the largest drains on your natural energy systems. When your body is in a continuous state of perceived danger, it diverts valuable resources to survival mechanisms and away from energy production and regenerative processes. The constant production of stress hormones depletes your body’s reserves, leaving you feeling tired despite getting enough sleep and eating well.

How Chronic Stress Saps Your Energy

Stress triggers your body’s fight-or-flight response, a state of high energy use meant for short-term survival, not long-term health. This evolutionary response floods your body with cortisol and adrenaline, increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar levels while shutting down “non-essential” functions like digestion, immune response, and cellular repair. When stress becomes chronic, this emergency energy use becomes your new normal, creating a constant energy shortage that shows up as fatigue, brain fog, and reduced vitality.

Today’s stress response seldom involves physical action, which means stress hormones continue to circulate in your system without the natural release that comes from movement. This increases energy depletion by interfering with sleep, hindering digestion and nutrient absorption, and triggering inflammatory responses that put additional strain on your resources. To break this cycle, you need to both decrease stressors where you can and incorporate regular stress-relief practices that tell your nervous system it’s safe.

Boost Your Energy Instantly with Breath Work

One of the most immediate ways to shift your nervous system from stress mode to a more energized state is to use your breath. Depending on what your system needs, specific breathing patterns can either activate or calm your system. For a quick energy boost, physiological sighs—double inhales through the nose followed by a long exhale through the mouth—can rapidly increase your oxygen saturation and alertness. The 4-7-8 breath pattern (inhale for 4, hold for 7, exhale for 8) activates the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing stress hormones that deplete energy when chronically elevated.

Box breathing, which involves inhaling, holding your breath, exhaling, and holding your breath again for equal counts, is a great way to maintain your energy levels throughout the day. This technique helps to reset your autonomic nervous system. It doesn’t overstimulate or sedate you, but instead helps to create a state of calm alertness that is perfect for sustained productivity. If you practice these techniques for just 2-3 minutes several times a day, you can significantly improve your ability to regulate your energy levels. The benefits of this practice increase over time.

Mindfulness Techniques That Energize You

Mindfulness techniques are designed to create a mental buffer between stimuli and your response, which helps to reduce the energy that is often drained through reactivity. Simple techniques such as body scanning, which involves systematically noticing sensations without passing judgment, can help to break the cycle of stress-response patterns that drain energy. Even taking a brief moment to practice mindful awareness—like fully experiencing the sensation of water on your hands when you wash them, or truly savoring each bite of food that you eat—can help to break the cycle of energy-draining thought patterns and restore a sense of presence.

Meditation doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out process to boost your energy. Studies have found that even short 5-10 minute sessions can lower cortisol levels and help regulate energy. What’s important is not how long you meditate, but how often. Regular, short practices are more beneficial than infrequent, long sessions. Incorporating micro-mindfulness practices into your day—like taking three deep breaths before checking your email or taking a moment to feel your feet on the ground between tasks—can have a cumulative effect on your energy that can improve your vitality over time.

Your One-Week Natural Energy Reboot

Boosting your energy levels doesn’t mean you have to completely change your life in a single night. By taking a gradual approach, your body can adjust while you develop lasting habits that build on each other over time. This one-week reboot offers a planned but adaptable structure for regaining your natural energy.

Day 1-3: The Clean-Up

The first phase is all about getting rid of the most significant drains on your energy. Start by gradually reducing your caffeine intake, cutting down by a third each day while drinking more water to help with withdrawal symptoms. Cut out or significantly reduce refined sugar and processed foods which cause blood sugar levels to spike and crash. Start a digital sunset by switching off screens at least 90 minutes before you go to bed, allowing your brain to naturally produce melatonin. Start keeping track of your energy levels throughout the day, noting any patterns and triggers that affect how you feel. These initial changes might make your energy levels dip temporarily as your body gets used to them, but this clean-up phase is laying the groundwork for sustainable energy.

Day 4-6: Establishing New Energy Patterns

Now that the primary energy zappers have been minimized, it’s time to introduce practices that actively bolster your natural energy systems. Add one energy-enhancing food to each meal, concentrating on nutrient-rich choices like leafy greens, high-quality proteins, and healthy fats. Include two 5-minute movement sessions daily, ideally in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon when energy naturally ebbs. Practice the 4-7-8 breathing technique for 3 minutes upon waking and before meals to prepare your nervous system for energy creation and proper digestion.

Develop a regular sleep schedule to balance your body’s internal clock. Aim to go to bed 20 minutes earlier each night until you find the right amount of sleep for you. Most adults need between 7 and 9 hours of good quality sleep to feel their best. Keep a journal of your energy levels to see how these changes affect you.

Day 7: Creating Your Personalized Energy Routine

On the last day, we will focus on putting everything together and making it personal. Take a look at your energy tracking notes to see which practices were most beneficial for your unique body and lifestyle. Choose 3-5 key energy practices that were both effective and sustainable, and commit to making these your foundation moving forward. Set up cues in your environment that will trigger these habits—like putting a water bottle by your bed to remind you to drink water when you wake up, or setting an alarm for short movement breaks during your work day.

Make a basic weekly schedule that includes these key habits but still allows room for the demands of everyday life. Keep in mind that being consistent is more important than being perfect—sticking to your energy-boosting habits 80% of the time will yield noticeable results over time. Think about sharing your schedule with someone who can hold you accountable and provide support as you transition from this structured reset to your new lifestyle focused on optimizing your energy.

When to Seek Medical Advice for Low Energy

Although changes in lifestyle can significantly boost energy levels for most individuals, ongoing tiredness can sometimes indicate underlying health issues that need professional intervention. If you’ve been consistently using practices that support energy for 2-3 weeks without seeing any improvement, or if your tiredness came on suddenly or is accompanied by other worrying symptoms, it’s time to seek advice from a healthcare professional.

There are many medical conditions that can cause fatigue, including thyroid disorders, anemia, sleep apnea, autoimmune conditions, and certain nutrient deficiencies. You can get a comprehensive blood panel to identify many of these issues. If you are still tired even after getting enough sleep, you might need to get a sleep study. Certain medications can also cause fatigue as a side effect. You should talk to your doctor about the medications you are taking to see if they could be making you tired.

Don’t forget that asking for medical advice doesn’t mean you’ve failed in your attempts to optimize your energy—it’s actually a smart way to take care of yourself. Sometimes the most natural way to feel energized is to address the biological imbalances that are preventing your body’s energy systems from working at their best. Working together with healthcare providers who value both traditional diagnostics and lifestyle approaches often leads to the most complete energy solutions.

Boost Your Life From Today Onwards

Regaining your inherent energy isn’t just about feeling less fatigued—it’s about feeling the liveliness that makes life radiant and significant. By aiding your body’s inherent energy-production mechanisms rather than suppressing them with stimulants, you create lasting energy that fuels not just efficiency but happiness, inventiveness, and presence in every aspect of your life. For further assistance on your journey toward natural liveliness, Vitality Labs provides specialized supplements intended to cooperate with your body’s energy systems, not work against them.

Common Questions

As you learn to harness your body’s natural energy, you may have questions about the process. Here are some of the most common queries we receive about energy transformation.

Keep in mind that everyone responds differently depending on where they’re starting from, how consistent they are, and their own biological factors. The most useful information for optimizing your energy comes from tracking your own personal experience.

When will I start to feel more energized using these natural methods?

Most people start to feel improvements within 3-5 days, especially from optimizing hydration, stabilizing blood sugar, and improving sleep quality. These initial improvements often show up as more consistent energy throughout the day rather than dramatically higher peak energy. You might first notice that you no longer crash in the afternoon or that you feel more alert in the morning before you experience an overall increase in energy.

It usually takes 3-6 weeks to fully reap the rewards of natural energy optimization as your mitochondria function improves, your circadian rhythms stabilize, and your new habits become automatic. Some people who are particularly drained might feel a temporary drop in energy during the first week, especially if they’re cutting back on stimulants or processing toxins, before bouncing back to much higher energy levels. This “healing crisis” is actually a good indication that your body is recalibrating its natural energy regulation systems.

Staying consistent brings about cumulative benefits over time. A lot of users have noted that their energy levels keep getting better for months and sometimes years as their cell health, hormone balance, and metabolic efficiency keep getting better. The long-lasting nature of these improvements is what sets natural energy enhancement apart from the decreasing benefits you get from approaches based on stimulants.

Will I feel more energetic if I stop drinking caffeine?

Whether or not you feel more energetic after quitting caffeine depends on your genes. Roughly half of all people have a genetic variant that makes them metabolize caffeine slowly. This makes them more susceptible to the sleep disturbances and anxiety that caffeine can cause. If you’re a “slow metabolizer,” you might feel a lot more energetic if you quit caffeine. This is because your sleep quality may improve, and you may stop experiencing the afternoon surge in cortisol (a stress hormone) that can happen after you drink caffeine in the morning.

Those who metabolize caffeine quickly can actually benefit from moderate caffeine consumption (usually less than 200mg per day, consumed before noon) in terms of energy levels. This is due to caffeine’s ability to block adenosine receptors and mobilize fatty acids for energy production. However, even for these people, it is beneficial to have caffeine-free days to prevent the development of tolerance and maintain sensitivity to the positive effects of caffeine. The most important thing is the timing of caffeine consumption. Consuming caffeine within 10 hours of bedtime disrupts the sleep cycle for almost everyone, regardless of how quickly they metabolize caffeine.

What’s the biggest energy-draining mistake most people make daily?

The most common energy-draining habit is reactive morning behavior—grabbing phones immediately upon waking up, which triggers stress hormones and initiates a reactive neural state before your brain has fully transitioned from sleep. This seemingly minor action triggers a series of stress responses that drain energy resources throughout the day. Creating a proactive morning routine that includes hydration, movement, and intentional mindset-setting before engaging with external demands can transform your entire day’s energy trajectory with just 10-15 minutes of investment. For more insights on boosting energy in the morning, check out this article from Medical News Today.

Do supplements really boost natural energy, and if so, which ones should you consider?

Good-quality supplements can help your body produce energy, especially if you have certain deficiencies or increased needs. Instead of artificially stimulating you, the best energy supplements give your mitochondria the raw materials they need to make ATP more efficiently. For more information on how to boost your energy levels, check out this article on how to get energy in the morning.

Supplement	Main Energy Benefit	Who Should Take It
B-Complex Vitamins	Key cofactors for energy metabolism	Most adults, especially those on plant-based diets
CoQ10	Supports the electron transport chain in mitochondria	Adults over 40, and those who take statins
Magnesium	Necessary for ATP production and muscle function	People under stress, athletes
Rhodiola Rosea	An adaptogen that improves resilience to stress	People with fatigue related to stress
Iron	Necessary for oxygen transport to tissues	Women who menstruate, people on plant-based diets (with testing)

Supplement quality varies widely, with many commercial products containing forms that are ineffective or dosages that are inadequate. Look for supplements with certification of third-party testing, forms of nutrients that are bioavailable (like B vitamins that are methylated), and information about sourcing that is transparent. Always start with changes in lifestyle that are foundational before adding supplements, as even the best supplements can’t compensate for sleep that is poor, hydration that is inadequate, or stress that is high.

Keep in mind that taking more supplements doesn’t always mean you’ll get better results. In fact, consuming too much of certain nutrients can actually reduce your energy levels or create imbalances in related systems. It’s often best to work with a healthcare provider who knows what they’re doing to get personalized recommendations based on testing, not just symptoms.

What can I do to keep my energy up during busy times such as meeting deadlines or traveling?

During busy times, it’s important to focus on conserving your energy and recovering in a strategic way, rather than relying on stimulants to push you through. Try using a technique called energy “bookending,” where you spend 10 minutes before and after a period of intense work doing things that will help support your nervous system. For example, before you start a demanding task, you might do some box breathing or a short burst of movement to help get your body in the right state. After you finish, you could try doing progressive muscle relaxation or a guided visualization to help your system recover.

During intense periods, it’s crucial to take small breaks for recovery. The Pomodoro Technique, which consists of 25 minutes of focused work followed by 5 minutes of complete disengagement, can help prevent energy depletion by giving your brain regular recovery periods. During these breaks, you can look at something in the distance (to relieve eye strain), do some gentle movement, or practice deep breathing for 60 seconds. These short interventions can help prevent the buildup of stress hormones that could otherwise deplete your energy reserves.