FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Exhaustion can’t be instantly vanquished by over-achieving health foods. But if fatigue is following you around like an unwelcome shadow, tweaking your daily eats can help

Can you manage tiredness with nutrition?

Go about your days feeling like a zombie in activewear? You’re not alone. The average Brit spends nearly three hours a day feeling this way, according to a 2018 survey – and that was before the sleep disruption, existential threat and dismal WFH step count of the past year or so. But as well as practising better sleep hygiene, improving your nutrition can help mitigate long-term lethargy, too.

The first thing you need to ensure is that you’re getting enough of the key fatiguefighting nutrients: iron (in which a quarter of UK women are deficient – you’ll find it in red meat, pulses, nuts and fortified cereals), plus B vitamins, notably B9 – found in green veg like broccoli, cabbage and spinach, plus chickpeas and kidney beans.

But it’s not just specific micronutrients that matter. The balance of foods on your plate is key and, given that the afternoon is when most start flagging, it’s important to master the mix.

The place to start? Check that your meal doesn’t contain a high proportion of simple, processed carbs – such as, say, a white baguette. A randomised, month-long crossover feeding trial (where the same participants moved between the test and control groups), published in the journal Appetite, indicated an association between eating a high glycaemic load diet, rich in processed carbs, and increased instances of fatigue, depression and mood disturbances, compared with a diet with a lower glycaemic load.

It may be thanks, in part, to the rapid rise in blood glucose that follows eating processed carbs, which can lead to inflammation and oxidative stress as the body works to metabolise blood sugar. What’s more, some molecules involved in the oxidative stress response are thought to reduce cognitive function. A study* comparing the oxidative stress response of three different meals showed that a high-glycaemic index (GI) meal increased the oxidative stress response even in young, healthy volunteers – and separate research by the University of Toronto suggested that lower-gi foods improved working memory and flexible thinking skills when compared with alternatives higher up the glycaemic index. However, it’s worth noting that other studies haven’t shown the same effects – and, like many areas of dietary science, the relationship between food and fatigue isn’t clear-cut.

But what we do know, with more certainty, is how to build an optimally balanced plate. The largest proportion of it should be made up of a variety of vegetables, no more than a quarter should be filled with whole grains – like brown rice, buckwheat or quinoa – and elements high in protein (chicken or baked tofu chunks) and healthy fats (avocado, olive oil or oily fish, such as salmon or mackerel) should make up the rest. This mix of foods can help sustain energy levels during the afternoon because it leads to slower gastric emptying. That’s the time it takes for food to leave the stomach and enter the small intestine, which – in turn – slows the rise in blood sugar and reduces the inflammatory markers associated with fatigue.

Finally, keep your caffeine intake in check. With up to 400mcg a day (that’s roughly three cups of filtered coffee or four cups of instant), there should be no downsides. But hold off drinking it after midday if you’re struggling to fall asleep at night. Still no joy after making these changes? Contact your GP, who can test for deficiencies and gauge what else might be at play.