Chronic Fatique

Chronic Fatigue - can you do something about it?

Feeling tired all the time is a common complaint.

Feeling chronically tired might not necessarily be the result of a specific condition such as chronic fatigue syndrome but could be the result of your body being “out of balance”.

Some possible causes of feeling chronically tired:

• Lack of sleep or poor quality sleep
• Feeling down, worried or depressed
• High stress levels / burnout i.e. difficulties at work or school, problems and worries around a family member, or financial problems
• Lack of adequate relaxation i.e. no time to do anything...
• Longstanding pain or illness
• Diabetes
• Heart disease with blood pressure problems
• Hormonal imbalances e.g. menopause
• Medication
• Poor diet
• Allergies
• Anaemia
• Thyroid problems
• Overweight
• Underweight
• Chronic diarrhoea

From this incomplete list alone, it should be clear that chronic fatigue may be a sign of something serious, and should not be ignored.

However, a reason for chronic fatigue that is often neglected is a poor diet.

Food is your most important and only source of nourishment.
Unlike plants, you cannot produce your own nutrients.

When increased demands are made on you, attention to what you eat will help your body cope.

Dietary Factors that may contribute
to feeling chronically tired

Generally, an unbalanced diet will make symptoms of chronic fatigue worse no matter what the underlying reason. That said, certain dietary habits could actually result in chronic tiredness.

Food factors that could make you chronically tired:

• Irregular meals
• Low intake of fresh fruit and vegetables
• High intake of refined foods like white bread, white rice and sweets
• Lack of food rich in protein
• High fat intake
• Nutrient deficiencies or low nutrient intake as a result of wrong food choices
• Loss of nutrients (i.e. inadequate absorption, vomiting, diarrhoea or excessive sweating.)

What to do?

If you are chronically tired - a good place to start is to look at your diet. What you eat, when you eat and even your cooking methods can make a difference.

What you eat

You need to eat many different foods to ensure you get all the nutrients you need, especially when you are not feeling well. Food can make you feel much better or much worse. It's important to eat more foods from plant origin (fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds and starch foods) and smaller servings of fat and foods from animal origin like meat and dairy.

When you eat

Regular meals and small snacks between meals will help your body cope with stress and will help improve your energy levels. The best way to learn how to eat more regularly is to eat at set times for a few days. After a little while, your body will become used to this eating “schedule” and your stomach will probably remind you that it's time to eat.

How you eat food

Food naturally comes packed in the way that is of most benefit to you. A good example is wheat and grain cereals.

These cereals (wheat, maize and rice) that are unrefined contain a lot of energy - but also a lot of fibre. The fibre content ensures that the energy is not released into the body too fast once you've eaten it. Fibre rich foods also force us to chew our food properly.

Modern processing methods could remove a lot of the goodness from food. Milling of wheat to make fine white flour results in a reduction of nutrients. Indeed, white flour contains only about half the nutrients that whole wheat flour does.

Eating the same foods over and over again could result in nutrient deficiencies that could make you feel tired and listless. This is especially true if the foods you habitually eat consist of mainly starch and meat - fast food.

Want more energy? Eat the right food at the right time.

Eat first thing in the morning - as soon as possible after getting up in the morning.

• Cereals and porridge that are unrefined: oats, Mealie meal, swiss style muesli
• A piece of fruit or unsweetened fruit juice
  Milk, yoghurt or maas to eat with cereal

Have a small snack between meals rather than just cups of coffee or tea.

• Sweetened yoghurt or maas
• Fresh fruit, unsweetened
  juice or dried fruit
• Raisins and nuts
• Whole wheat biscuits i.e.
  Provita, Ryvita

Light Meal of the day

Always try to include a raw vegetable serving with your midday meal: tomato, carrot and coleslaw travels well.

• Sandwiches made with whole wheat bread with:
  - Peanut butter and a teaspoon of jam, syrup or h honey.
  - Tuna or pilchards
  - Cheese and tomato
  - Ham and tomato
  - Boiled egg
  - Leftover mince/chicken/meat
• Pasta or brown rice and lentil salad
• Baked beans
• Maize porridge with maas

Main Meal

Include two different vegetables with this meal and one starch or starch vegetable. Use fat sparingly when you cook food. Use no more than one teaspoon per person. Preferably use canola oil or olive oil.
 

Protein Rich Food
(Choose lean animal meat, cheese or milk.)

• Chicken
• Mince
• Lentils
• Beans
• Mutton
• Beef
• Egg
• Milk
• Cheese
• Tinned fish in tomato sauce or brine.
• Fish

Note: These guidelines are general and broad. People with specific condition i.e. heart disease, diabetes or blood pressure should consult with a registered dietician or other knowledgeable health profession or consult the Medscheme Nutritional Library for specific guidelines regarding their condition.

For more information visit our website at www.medbenefit.co.za

Contact us: medbenefit@medscheme.co.za

For nutritional advice consult our e-Dietician on our website.

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