BITESIZE | 3 Hidden Causes of Low Energy (and What You Can Do About Them) | Dr Rangan Chatterjee #663

0:00Before we get into this week's episode, I am really excited to share that I am bringing my Thrive Tour, Transform Your Health and Happiness, to Canada and Europe this September and November. It's a live, interactive, uplifting show that over 20 ,000 people came to last year across the UK and Australia. I'll be sharing powerful stories, life-changing insights and simple tools that will inspire you to feel better, think clearer and live with more intention and joy. To get your tickets right now and see all of the dates and venues, go to drchatterjee.com forward slash live. I really hope that you can join me.

0:46Welcome to Feel Better Live More Bite Size, your weekly dose of positivity and optimism to get you ready for the weekend. I've decided to try something a little bit different as a bite-sized episode this week. I wanted to record a solo episode about the topic of energy because one of the most common things I hear these days is that people feel exhausted and overwhelmed even when they seem to be getting enough sleep. So in this episode, I share a few often overlooked reasons that can leave us feeling low in energy, along with some simple strategies that could quickly begin to help. It's really important for me to emphasize that there are many different reasons why people can feel exhausted.

1:38Persistent exhaustion probably means that you need to see or would benefit from seeing a healthcare professional because, of course, it could be very simple things like iron deficiency, or it could be things like sleep apnea, or thyroid issues, or depression, or anxiety, or even burnout. All of these things can also result in exhaustion and fatigue. Let's assume, though, that it's none of those things. Here are three things that I commonly see that I often find people are not thinking about. So the first thing is what I call misalignment. If you are spending your life doing things that don't light you up on the inside, you may experience tiredness as a consequence.

2:26Sometimes it's unresolved stress, people pleasing, a lack of meaning, loneliness. All of those things can also result in tiredness. I think a lot of the time we think about tiredness as only physical. but it can also be emotional. Just imagine that you're in your house, it's the evening, and you're really, really tired. You've really stressed. You've had a busy day. And let's say a close friend of yours who you haven't seen in months or years suddenly knocks on the front door. Are you still tired? I think a lot of us would go, yeah, we were feeling tired, but suddenly when we see one of our best mates, our energy, the feeling we have inside us is completely different.

3:16Our whole being has changed because someone who means a lot to us has just turned up. That just shows us how quickly energy can shift and how important alignment is. Now, I get it. Sometimes we have to do things in our life that aren't aligned with who we want to be or who we actually are. I totally understand that. Some people are in a job that they don't enjoy, that the consequence is that they feel tired a lot of the time. You see, a lot of people don't realize that burnout, yes, it's on the rise, but burnout is not just a consequence of you having too many things to do at work and an unsympathetic boss.

3:58Those, of course, can be very good reasons for burnout. But I've also seen a lot of cases of burnout where people, they're in a job, that doesn't light them up, that sometimes asks them to act completely differently from the person who they know themselves to be. So there are many reasons why we might feel tired, but this misalignment is a very common cause. And again, it's a cause that people often don't think about. So if you think this might be you, I want you to try and ask yourself a few questions. like what in life gives me energy? Who in my life gives me energy? What consistently drains my energy?

4:42Who in my life consistently drains my energy? Where are you abandoning your own needs? Where are you not able to say no? Now of course I don't know the answer to those questions for you so ask yourself those questions maybe in a morning journaling practice or once a week on a Sunday if that's a day off for you. And the more you ask yourself those questions, the more you're likely to start identifying, oh, this is what's going on here. I'm not saying no here. I keep putting other people's needs ahead of mine. Once you've asked yourselves those questions and identified what's going on, then you can take small steps to change it.

5:23The second thing I want to talk about is sleep. But I'm not just talking about the quantity of your sleep, I'm also talking about the quality of your sleep. And this is really important. The amount of patients I've seen over the years who came in knackered saying, Dr. Chatterjee, I regularly sleep seven or seven and a half hours of sleep every night, but I still wake up tired. Bearing in mind the caveats that I mentioned before, when there could be other things going on, when it comes to sleep, I've often found that people aren't thinking about the quality of their sleep. They're just looking at how long they slept for, but you can sleep for seven hours and have really good quality restful sleep, or you can also sleep for seven hours and have it very superficial and light.

6:09So there are two things here that I found can really help people when the quality of their sleep is not as good as they might want. So the first thing is, what are you doing in that one hour before bed. It's really, really important. You essentially want to send your body signals that the workday is over, the time for doing things is over. Now it's relaxing time. You want softer, enjoyable, relaxing inputs. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors, they do their hunting and they're working the day. They'd go out for the hunt, dig the tubers, do what is required around the camp and the tribe in the day. Nighttime was about lighting the campfire, sitting around, telling stories, sharing stories, connecting with the people around them.

7:03So what are you doing in that one hour before bed? Are you watching the stressful news? Are you busy doing work emails? okay you have to understand that if you are you may still be falling asleep but it is not restful sleep because your stress hormones may be staying elevated okay so think about music yoga if you are going to watch television watch something relaxing yes I would say if you can avoid screens for an hour or so before bed I think it's helpful having said that if you are on your screen or using your phone, think about what you're consuming. Could it be a relaxing podcast, some relaxing music, you know, an audio book where the narrator's voice is a voice that you find relaxing, okay?

7:54It's basically about those inputs that you give your brain in the one hour before bed. They could have a profound impact on the quality of your sleep, okay? So that's the first thing I want you to think about when it comes to sleep quality. The second thing is movement. Have you moved your body enough in the day? And the truth is, these days, many of us haven't. Now, look, I could make the case to you that physical activity is really good for your body, your brain, your creativity. Yes, all those things are true, but specifically when it comes to exhaustion, our bodies are designed to move. When you move you actually process stress and emotions and if you've been stuck at a computer all day, sat in a car, stuck in an office, sat down for your lunch, driven home in the evening, sat on your sofa, you have to understand that your body, your biology has expected movement and yes you may still fall asleep but because you've not processed the stress that was built up in the day or the emotions through movement, you may find that the quality of your sleep wasn't what you wanted it to be.

9:07So have a think, could this be applying to you? Perhaps a 30-minute walk at lunch if you're able to, even a 10-minute walk after your evening meal if you can, just to wind down and process the meal and your emotions can be really, really helpful. Now, the third thing I find people are not thinking about enough is what foods are they consuming? Now, I'm specifically talking about foods that are going to balance your blood sugar. So here's the thing. Of course, many of us now know that generally for our short-term health and long-term health, it's better to minimize or reduce ultra-processed foods.

9:49Because ultra-processed foods tend to lead to blood sugar spikes and therefore blood sugar crashes. And when your blood sugar crashes, you can feel tired and low energy. And you do that persistently day after day, you can get caught in a vicious cycle where you're eating more ultra-processed food snacks because you had an energy drop, you're consuming more caffeine to get you through. And that all means that you're not going to even sleep well the following night and you're just stuck in a vicious cycle. So yes, try and reduce your intake of octoprocess foods, no question. But even if you've done that and you're eating mostly whole foods, I've also seen something that causes a problem.

10:31Too many carbohydrates. Now I'm not here to bash carbohydrates, okay? I think the diet we all thrive on depends on the state of our health and what our goals are. The reality is, in the modern world, many of us are insulin resistant. Maybe as kids, we were insulin sensitive, so we could have a big carb load and we can handle it. Our blood sugar still stays relatively stable because the insulin shuttles the glucose out of our bloodstream and it allows it to stay stable. But unfortunately, because of the lies many of us now lead, the wrong food choices, not moving enough, too much stress, not sleeping enough, we become insulin resistant.

11:18And insulin resistance is actually at the heart of many conditions we struggle with these days because it leads to metabolic dysfunction, which can lead to things like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, strokes, Alzheimer's. That's all in the long term. And those things are really important. But in the short term, if you're low in energy, you may not realize that sometimes even whole food carbohydrates can lead to big blood sugar spikes. I personally am a fan of something called a CGM, a continuous glucose monitor. I don't think people need to wear them all the time. I think some people who get health anxiety may need to be careful with stuff like this.

11:58But for me personally, it's helped me understand which foods a spike in my blood sugar and which foods are keeping it more stable. And for me, I found that sweet potato wedges in the evening, certainly the volume I used to consume was giving me a big high and therefore about two hours later I was getting a big crash which would make me feel tired and hungry again. The point I'm trying to make here is if you're feeling exhausted, it might be to do with blood sugar roller coasters. And the kinds of things you can do to try and keep your blood sugar more stable is to try and prioritize protein at each meal, try and prioritize healthy fats like avocados and nuts, things like that, but also just pay attention.

12:50You know, if you don't have one of these CGMs, just pay attention. What happens two hours after your lunch? What happens two hours after your dinner? Could this be a blood sugar issue? So those are three things that I have commonly seen that I often find people are not thinking about. Perhaps some of them are relevant for you. Give them a go. And of course, I want to reiterate what I said earlier on, which is that there are many different causes for exhaustion. It is impossible for me to know the ins and outs of your life and tell you exactly what's causing it for you. But if it has been going on for a prolonged period of time, it's probably worth going to see a healthcare professional and checking if there's something that needs addressing.

13:35I hope you enjoyed that Bite Size solo episode. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back next week with my long-form conversation on Wednesday and the latest episode at Bite Size next Friday.

13:57Now before you go, I just wanted to let you know about something I'm really excited about. On July the 1st, I'm kicking off my first ever 21-day energy reset. It's a simple challenge built around the four pillars of how you feel each day, how you relax, eat, move, and sleep. and if you're someone who's tired of feeling tired, then this challenge is for you. Over 21 days, you'll build simple daily habits that will help you wake up with more energy, feel calmer and clearer and start to feel like yourself again. Small actions which will lead to a big change in how you feel and the best part, you won't be doing it on your own, you'll be doing it alongside other people and I'll be there with you on the live kickoff call.

14:48It's£29.99 to join and you can sign up now at drchatterjee.com forward slash resets.