Are you feeling tired all the time? This is a really common reason for a person to see their GP.
I recently answered a question regarding this issue for my local paper but didn’t have a lot of words to go into much detail. So this week I’m going to let you know one reason why you might be feeling tired all the time.
Do You Drink Tea or Coffee?
If you answered yes, this might be contributing to you feeling tired all the time.
But surely you drink caffeine to give your energy! This doesn’t make sense!
Unfortunately it’s a common mistake to think caffeine gives you energy. It doesn’t, it borrows energy from your reserves.
It does this by stimulating your adrenal glands (small glands sitting on top of your kidneys). It causes them to release hormones, one being adrenalin. This causes your system to release glucose into your blood stream, giving you a lift.
So what’s the problem with this?
Before modern day life, your adrenals would get stimulated by ’emergency’ situations, e.g. getting chased by an animal wanting to eat you. This would trigger your flight or fight response – pumping glucose into your system for explosive muscular activity.
The same thing happens in response to caffeine.
Your adrenals aren’t supposed to have this kind of stimulation on a regular basis, several times/day. They get tired. And when this happens, so do you.
Unfortunately a lot of people respond to this tiredness but drinking more caffeine, this makes the problem worse.
Reduce Caffeine and Have More Energy
Many of the people doing Uber Slim, my online weight loss program, either reduce or stop caffeine. After several weeks they are rewarded with increased energy. There are two reasons for this
- Their adrenals are recovering from over-use
- They have better quality sleep.
If you drink a lot of caffeine, over 3 cups/day, this could be affecting you. I wouldn’t recommend stopping all at once as this can trigger a withdrawal reaction. This can be very unpleasant. Cutting down gradually over several weeks is a better way of doing it. Drinking more water helps with this.
For more info about caffeine check these previous blogs out:
Caffeine Addiction – Are You Addicted Without Realising?
What Causes Iron Deficiency? Caffeine Can!
What do you think of this? What are your views on caffeine and why do you drink it?
Have a Uber Healthy week!
Dr Julie
I know when I’ve had enough coffee because I get palpitations! Could you tell me why that is? I know can’t be a good thing
Caffeine stimulates your adrenals and the result is an unnecessary stress reaction in your body. This is getting you ready for ‘flight or fight’. Part of this involves pumping blood around your body, particularly the muscles, to get you ready for action. That is why you get palpitations.
And you’re right, this isn’t a good thing!
Thanks for replying to me! I have at least 6 strong cups a day! I’m definitely going to cut back. Thanks for the advice!
Good plan to cut back as you’re having more than enough to have a negative impact on your health and energy levels.
Let me know how you get on.
I was discussing caffeine with friends recently. One of them said that some people are responders to caffeine and some aren’t. She said that she can drink coffee at night and sleep ok because she doesn’t respond. I can’t drink coffee at night because it will keep me a awake, apparently because I am a responder. What are your views on this?
Interesting!
Everyone responds to caffeine, but some people notice it more.
I would take a guess that your friend who thinks they don’t respond drinks a lot of caffeine. In which case they will have built up some tolerance to the effects – not a good thing.
Even if someone can sleep all night after drinking caffeine their quality of sleep is reduced, so they don’t feel as refreshed in the morning as they should.