This week, I have a guest post from the lovely Ziggy of Natural Medicine and Health. This is a great one for you if you need a bit more energy! Enjoying life, being full of beans and reaching your goals is something we all aspire to but sometimes our physical health can be a bit of a roadblock. Tiredness and lethargy can rub the shine off life and if we’re feeling a little dull, then our shiny dreams of success can sometimes seem a little dim. Is there something you can do to bring back the shine? You bet! But first, let’s look at why this sometimes happens. Our adrenal glands are tiny little critters that sit on our kidneys and part of their role is to make, and pump out, cortisol and other messenger hormones that increase or decrease our energy levels. It’s these little glands that help keep us vibrant and shiny and all geared up for life but (yep, there’s always a “but”) if you’ve been burning the candle at both ends, been unwell or been pushing life to the max, the adrenal glands might have run out of juice. When the adrenal glands get a little tired themselves, they stop sending out all those lovely energy boosting goodies and you start to feel tired, worn out and lethargic. Your quality of sleep might decline as well and even though you feel exhausted, you might not be able to fall asleep easily. With the adrenal glands on strike and with less sleep than you actually need, you get a double whammy hit with the lethargy stick. Your motivation begins to sink and those dreams of success and of living life as it should be, seem to fade underneath the cloud of sleep deprived weariness. Ok, so what can we do about this? There are a number of natural therapies and herbs that can be invaluable in helping the adrenal glands to fire up and work more efficiently again. But before we get to them, the first thing to do is to make sure you’re eating lots of fresh fruit and veggies and drinking at least 1.5L of water a day. There’s a tonnes of research that shows not drinking enough water is a prime reason for brain fog and general tiredness so that’s key. Also having at least ten minutes of exercise a day as well can help push the energy button too. There’s a little train of links that show why exercise is important. Exercise pushes the heart to perform which increases your breathing which increases oxygen to the cells of the body which increases energy. But as the salesmen often say “but wait, there’s more!” There’s some fabulous herbs that can have a massive influence on your energy levels without the side effects and nasty impacts of things like energy drinks. The Ginsengs are well known as energy boosters and while they can deliver a big energy hit, they also need to be used with care. Korean Ginseng for example is very stimulating so if you take a tablet of this fabulous herb to help pep you up, make sure you take it in the morning. If you take it after lunch, you’ll be buzzing at night when you actually need to be sleeping! Other herbs to try include Ginkgo biloba and Withania. Ginkgo (one of my favourites) improves blood circulation and this has massive benefits for energy. Because your blood vessels are stronger, they can deliver more oxygen and nutrients to the cells which makes them work more efficiently. Voila, increased energy! But Ginkgo has another benefit and that is that because the blood vessels in the brain are now healthier, they can deliver more glucose and oxygen to the grey matter. This makes you think more clearly, have greater concentration and your memory improves too. Always a bonus! Withania is a fabulous herb for feeding the poor little burnt out adrenals and kick starting them back into business for you. It’s such a nurturing herb and it’s fabulous for helping speed up the recovery from lethargic to energised. Ginkgo and Withania are wonderful but they can take a week or two to start having an effect. For really fast pick me ups that you might need to combat that after lunch energy slump, vitamin B12 and the enzyme CoQ10, both taken sublingually, can really give you a quick, on the spot, energy boost. B12 is one of the vitamins which delivers energy straight to the cells and the enzyme CoQ10 encourages extra absorption and therefore bioavailability of nutrient energy. By taking these vitamins as a spray under the tongue, they get absorbed straight into the blood system and can be as effective as an intravenous injection. So where do you get all these goodies from? Your local naturopath will have access to professional quality herbs and nutrients and they can prescribe these to you in the dose and format that suits your needs. So if you’re feeling a little flat, a little tired and lethargic, why not contact your naturopath and get some help to make your body vital and energised once more. An energised body means those shiny dreams really can light up your life! Smiles and abundant health, Ziggy Ziggy is the principal naturopath at the naturopath clinic “Natural Medicine and Health” in Flagstaff Hill, South Australia. She’s also a published author, an ambulance officer and lecturer. You can download her free eBook and find out more about her on her website www.nmah.com.au or find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NaturalMedicineAndHealth Let us know if you try these tips - I will be paying a visit to my local health food store soon! Thanks Ziggy for a great article. Love Donna.x