In a perfect world, we’d get all the nutrients we need from our daily meals. But the reality is that life is a hustle and we can’t always make sure we’re eating a completely balanced diet.
Stress at work, early mornings, exercise, and even seasonal changes can lead to times when you feel more tired. How can we recover our energy levels and combat fatigue to enjoy the day-to-day?
How food impacts your quality of life and performance
When you skip a meal you make your body work twice as hard, as it pulls out your nutrients and stored energy to help you keep going. The body demands fuel when feeling hungry or thirsty; your body somehow speaks to you. Same way when you feel sick. And that’s where vitamins come in.
When you eat less, or you eat poorly, you’re depriving your body of many vital nutrients that it needs to function. You could, for example, develop iron deficiency, which leads to weakness, laziness, and lack of coordination — plus a deterioration in your physical capacity and work performance. These are in short some of the effects of not having a balanced diet. It is important to maintain a healthy routine, since the demands of day-to-day work often make people “forget” some fundamental habits to maintain adequate blood values.
The foods we eat affect us more than we realize
The way we eat can cause or prevent diseases, it affects the correct functioning of our metabolism, and it can help us stay youthful for longer. Yet, the influence of food is even greater than we think, as it also affects our mental health and not only our physical one. Not only can feeling hangry make us feel mentally drained and irritable, turns out that eating an unhealthy diet can lead to negative emotions too.
Vitamins are vital
If you feel fatigued day-to-day, it might be due to a lack of vitamins — it is important to keep them at optimal levels in our body. If we find ourselves tired frequently, it’s crucial that we maintain a balanced diet, and, as unlikely as it seems, exercise. It might be difficult to set up a routine that leads you to have healthy habits and exercise, but in our article Understanding Productivity as a Freelancer we talked a little bit more about how to start.
The best advice is the one that a nutritionist gives you
Many people can choose to take vitamin supplements in an attempt to feel better. This way they can have more energy and successfully face the day-to-day when trying to stick to a routine. However, not all cases end up achieving the beneficial effects, because not everyone should consume supplements, if they are healthy.
One of the reasons why it could be necessary to take vitamin supplements may be muscle fatigue or weakness, caused by metabolic and muscular diseases, anemia, myasthenia, and poor diet. You never fully know what’s going on in your body, but medical professionals can help you get a better understanding of things, so seek them out before coming to any conclusions by yourself!
Wellness comes served on a plate
Try to include a variety of foods to get different vitamins and minerals in your daily meals. There are a lot of them you can look for that will boost your work performance. When you choose the healthy option instead of the easiest, cheapest, and with high calories, you can see yourself gaining more energy and having better performance at work as well. Here are some of the nutrients you need, how they improve your health, and where you can find them:
Iron
Iron is a mineral, and the major component of hemoglobin. This mineral is responsible for transporting oxygen from the lungs to the different parts of the body. Iron is needed for the production of red blood cells and many enzymes.
The main consequence of iron deficiency is anemia which can cause tiredness, intestinal disorders, forgetfulness, or an easier time contracting infections.
You don’t have to put much effort to find iron because you can find it in cereals, beans, lentils, beef, turkey (dark meat), soybeans, and spinach.
Folic acid (Folate)
Folate plays a determining role in preserving brain functions and mental acuity. Among folic acid’s benefits, we find that it helps liver activity, it is important for heart health, and for cell development. This vitamin as well as iron, helps prevent anemia by collaborating with the formation of red blood cells. As if that wasn’t enough, it helps regulate serotonin, which normalizes our appetite, body temperature, sleep, and mood.
Specialists have determined that folic acid deficiency causes anemia and sometimes diarrhea, depression, and confusion. But don’t worry, it is a piece of cake to find high quantities of folate in dark, leafy vegetables, as well as enriched and whole-grain breads.
Magnesium
This is a mineral that provides necessary nutrients to maintain good health. By acting directly on the nervous system, magnesium relieves your nervous and muscular tension. Several studies note that this mineral also regulates blood pressure which is good if you are under excessive work and worries. It is important to indicate that the lack of this mineral is sometimes imperceptible. This means that deficiency symptoms can be very slight. Could be a lack of magnesium if you often have headaches, mood swings, anxiety, and constipation.
So it would be better to get foods that have it which often are green leafy vegetables, nuts, dairy, whole wheat, and quinoa.
Calcium
This is a necessary mineral for muscle function and for muscle contractions as well as heartbeat. Calcium deficiency is associated with pathologies such as anxiety, deafness, insomnia, loss of teeth, and in worst cases, osteoporosis. The good news is you can find calcium in milk, soy milk, yogurt, hard cheeses, fortified cereals, and unfortified almond milk.
Plus: The body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium. Vitamin D is produced naturally in the body after exposure to sunlight.
Vitamin B12
B12 is essential to optimize our mood and mental performance, because it’s the key for the production of serotonin. As important as it looks, B12 is the neurotransmitter that promotes the feeling of well-being in our brain. The most awesome work that Vitamin B12 does is support healthy red blood cells and DNA production which is essential to feeling energized.
Sadly, many symptoms caused by low B12 levels are not specific to B12 deficiency, which can cause the condition to go undetected.
In the end, it does not require much effort to have a meal with this vitamin because it is present in fish, poultry, meat, dairy products, and fortified cereals.
Vitamin C
This vitamin is essential because it can improve memory and cognitive functions, and it’s one of the most powerful antioxidants. In this way, Vitamin C also helps protect against cell damage, supports the immune system, and helps your body produce collagen.
Sad to say that a lack of vitamin C can lead to a loss of bone density, which can contribute to osteoporosis and broken bones. However, you can find vitamin C in red and green peppers, kiwis, oranges, and other citrus fruits as well as strawberries, broccoli, and tomatoes, so you can add these to your diet, and prevent the consequences of vitamin C deficiency!
Rest and stay hydrated
Once again, we must remind you that rest is essential for your body to carry out all its vital processes.
A body that has all the necessary vitamins on a daily basis can keep itself in good working order even while you are sleeping. Since it is at that time that the brain, organs, and other body tissues regenerate.
Like rest, staying hydrated is a gesture that the body will thank you for. Drinking water helps regulate body temperature, keeping the skin hydrated and elastic. Additionally, drinking water helps to lubricate joints and organs, and maintain normal digestion.
Once we know this information, we can say that it’s a good way to start taking care about how food it’s related to productivity at work. In the absence of certain vitamins that our own body does not produce and that it looks for in the food we provide, then it will start to fail. That’s why a balanced diet is important to feel right and do a good job.
Remember even if you think the symptoms went away, your body is always talking to you. If you ever feel sick, call your doctor or schedule a telemedicine visit, that can help your doctor determine the care you will need. Stay well!
