9 Natural Ways To Improve Your Energy Levels

by Skye Macfarlane on Mar 25, 2022 0 comments

Energy is something we all want and need! Isn’t it crazy how much natural energy small people have and how jealous we are of them - running around from the moment they wake up! If you’re lacking in energy, you’re not alone and in this blog we share some natural ways you can improve your energy levels.

Energy is a complex thing - you obviously need it to get through your multiple to do lists, but you also need adequate energy levels to exercise, move and enjoy your life.

We notice a lack of energy more often than the days where we have a lot of energy. A lack of energy can make small things incredibly hard, like:

Eating well
Exercising
Getting things done in and around the house
Working

Often a lack of energy can really exacerbate low mood or feelings of anxiety, as you are unlikely to get all the things done that you would have liked and this can make you feel even worse.

🌿Related: The 5 Most Powerful Mood Boosting Herbs

How Does Your Body Make Energy

So how does your body ‘make’ energy and what are some natural ways to improve it?

There are so many things that contribute to creating energy - some come from Iron and B12 that contribute to moving oxygen around the body.

Others can come from having stable blood sugars that allow you to get through the day with an even distribution of sugars into your blood system and being adequately hydrated is also important as you are made up of quite a lot of water! You need water to help with the biochemical reactions within your body and also to move nutrients and oxygen in your blood supply around your body.

Your thyroid also plays a major part - it is basically the boss in our body. It is in charge of so many things, like your hormones and metabolism and this is what helps to govern your energy levels. The hormones the thyroid produce instruct the body on when and how to use the nutrients and oxygen you consume and that maintains your metabolism which is the series of reactions your bodies’ cells perform to provide you with energy.

The thyroid sends out messages to your heart to increase it’s rate to help breakdown the nutrients and to also pump them around the body. When you need more energy the thyroid can send out more hormones to increase the metabolism. Your thyroid allows your cells to grow, reproduce and provide you with energy.

Your thyroid is governed by your pituitary gland which is in your brain, it picks up the hormone levels in your blood and can sense if they are too low or too high. If the levels fluctuate it sends out thyroid stimulating hormones to adjust the levels back.

Energy also comes from your diet and how often you move your body. So, while there are lots of things to consider when it comes to energy, there are also lots of natural ways to help improve your energy levels if you’re feeling low or fatigued.

9 natural ways to improve energy

1 Drink More Water

Honestly it’s easy to forget about the importance of a humble glass of water, but it is one of the best natural ways to improve energy. Often the first signs of tiredness and low energy are due to the fact that you are mildly dehydrated. Some simple and delicious ways to incorporate more water into your day are:

Drink bottles. Keep one in the car and one on your desk. Add some flavour if you don’t like ‘straight’ water. Fresh mint, lemon balm or citrus fruits can help.
Add coconut water into your green smoothies
First thing before anything else in the morning drink a glass of water
Try sparkling water instead of a second wine (our Switchel is awesome for this!)
Freeze some of our tonics into large ice cubes and add sparkling water for extra flavour
Make a big pot of herbal tea and have that cold the next day

immunity-tonic-hydration-improve-energy

2 Keep To Your Bed And Wake Times

So much harder than it sounds but regular sleep times (complete with the blue light screen filter on your devices) can really help. The irregularity of sleep can take a major toll on your energy levels and also your blood sugars as well!

🌿Related: 8 Incredible Herbs To Help With Sleep

3 Don't Overdo The Caffeine

We know, we know, you are exhausted you need another coffee to get through the day. But too many coffees can have the opposite effect on your energy levels. It can exhaust you. Caffeine is stimulating and can lead to an over production of adrenal hormones like cortisol, which can make you feel ‘tired but wired’ and can also contribute to poor sleep.

So - by all means have your coffee or coffees but know that a natural way to improve energy is limiting your caffeine. Try and reduce the last one to before 3pm, or make it a decaf. Even better, have a herbal tea that is still satisfying but not stimulating.

4 Reduce Your Stress

Stress is an energy zapper. When you’re stressed your body is fighting to get through the ‘stress’ and doesn’t have time to metabolise food properly or help maintain your blood sugars or energy levels. As you are more than likely suffering from chronic or long term stress as opposed to an acute stress your body adapts to living like this and your energy levels suffer. In particular your adrenals - so what can you do to help?

🌿Related: 6 Signs You're Experiencing Adrenal Fatigue And How To Treat It

Natural ways to reduce stress and improve energy levels include incorporating adrenal and nervine supporting herbs like:

Holy basil (Tulsi) - Tulsi can help support the body in times of physical and emotional stress. It makes a lovely tea or tincture
Chamomile - Chamomile is so good at helping us to calm down. It can be taken as a tea, glycetract or tincture. You can have it through the day to help support healthier cortisol levels, as well as supporting a calmer nervous system.
Californian poppy - This amazing plant also helps to support your nervous system as well as supporting to help relax muscles which we definitely need when we are tense and stressed.

We use chamomile and Californian poppy in our Rest & Calm

Reducing stress is a natural way of improving energy and you can also help reduce stress through movement. Walking, stretching, swimming. Anything that moves your body can help. It can be as easy as doing a few yoga poses, or walking around the house outside in the fresh air, or stretching your body. Just start some movement. Starting a movement habit can be as simple as committing to five minutes a day. That’s it. Five minutes you can do, its not scary and you do have five minutes to spare.

5 Increase You Plant Based Minerals

Because Iron and B12 contribute to moving oxygen around the body, making sure you are getting enough of both is a great natural way to improve energy. Iron and B12 are important - so please make sure that you are not deficient in those before you consider supplementation!

If you know you often have low(ish) iron, you could consider adding in iron rich foods and plants such as nettle, molasses, red meat, dark green leafy vegetables, raisins and apricots. Our Daily Boost Tonic is a great and easy way of increasing your plant based minerals and plant based iron, you can have it as a hot drink or in your smoothies.

natural-ways-to-improve-energy

6 Eat More Green Things

Green leafy vegetables are packed full of plant based (non haem) iron, minerals and vitamins that can support healthy energy levels. They are also high in chlorophyll and antioxidants which also positively effect your energy levels.

7 Try Meditation

Mindfulness and meditation are often discussed when we talk about destressing our lives, which in turn leads to more energy. By reducing the ‘busy’ in our lives we can help to calm our body down and also possibly allow some perspective on things that might be stressful or concerning you. It can be a simple 3 minute meditation when you wake up or go to sleep. Or it could be as easy as stopping in the day to breathe in for 10 counts, hold for 10 and breathe out for 10. An exercise like this is a great natural way to improve energy.

8 Get Outside

The sun, fresh air and plants can have an energising effect on us, so getting outside daily is important. The sun provides vitamin D which you need for a healthy immune system (as well as mood and bone health) so if you can get outside and enjoy the sunshine you will feel better for it!

9 Activated B Vitamins

You can incorporate activated B vitamins into your diet through supplementation as a natural way to improve energy. B vitamins are essential to helping you obtain the energy from the food you consume. Activated B’s mean that the body does less work to utilise the vitamins, if you find a good supplement always take it with food.

Energy is something most of us desperately want, but the modern way we live means that more often than not we feel a little non-energised. Hopefully you have found something helpful in this piece that may give you a few more moments of energy. As always - reach out to us if you need any further information.

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