Do you find it difficult to wake up in the morning, experience low morning energy or often hit snooze on your alarm? Some clients come to us with over 8 hours sleep still don’t feel well rested in the morning. Here are the 4 most common reasons for low morning energy and ways to overcome it.
Most common reasons for low morning energy:
- Skipping breakfast: After fasting for 8 hours in the morning, the body requires nutrients to get you through the day.
- Reverse cortisol curve: Your body produces the hormone cortisol at the wrong time, which means that you’re negatively adapting to stress and stressing your adrenal glands. Overtraining and stress are the most common cause for reverse cortisol curve.
- Prescription drugs: Many prescription drugs deplete your body of micronutrients. For instance, female hormones (estrogen/hormone-replacement, oral contraceptives) deplete your body of vitamin B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, vitamin C, folic acid, magnesium, selenium and zinc.
- Blue light exposure: Blue light peak wavelengths, around 460 nm, suppress melatonin secretion via the non-image-forming system.
Four ways to support low morning energy:
- Breakfast: What you eat for breakfast determines the neurotransmitters you release for the rest of the day. Meat and nuts both raises both dopamine and acetylcholine, the two most important neurotransmitters for focus and drive. The meat allows for a slow and steady rise in blood sugar. The nuts provide a great source of healthy smart fats that allows the blood sugar to remain stable for an extended period of time. The vegetables will help move things along and remain satiated longer. High protein and fat breakfasts compared to high carbohydrates will slow down the absorption of food, therefore blunting the glucose and insulin response. Learn more about the meat, vegetable and nut breakfast here.
- Limit blue light exposure in the evening: Evening light exposure debilitates the circadian rhythm and elicits sleep disturbance. Turn off all electronics and close the blinds before you go to sleep (we like to use candles). Choose alarm clocks with red light over blue light.
- Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALCAR): ALCAR is often used as a brain booster, due to its ability to increase alertness and mitochondrial capacity while providing support for the neurons. ALCAR has been shown to be very effective at alleviating the side effects of aging, like neurological decline and chronic fatigue. ALCAR supplementation is also a very safe method of improving insulin sensitivity and blood vessel health, particularly for people with delicate or weakened cardiac health. ALCAR can also protect neurons and repair certain damage, such as that caused by diabetes and diabetic neuropathy.
- L-Tyrosine: L-tyrosine can improve cognitive performance during sleep deprivation without significantly affecting sleep function L-Tyrosine is an amino acid that is used to produce noradrenaline and dopamine; supplemental appears to be anti-stress for acute stressors (which tend to deplete noradrenaline) and may preserve stress-induced memory deficits.
Try these changes and see how much difference breakfast, blue lights and a few nutrients can make. Getting restful sleep is crucial for fat loss. If you’re having trouble losing stubborn fat, we can help. Book an appointment to learn more about how we can get you to your goal.
For the best gains, sleep for high reps.