Causes of physical fatigue and ways to reduce the feeling of fatigue

One of our most important vital needs is our energy need, which gives us the impetus to carry out the metabolic activities in our body, to complete the work we need to do, and to fulfill our responsibilities during the day. When we are not feeling energetic and tired, the work of our bodily functions goes into balance. The irregularity of bodily functions, which we can count among the causes of fatigue, negatively affects our mental, physical and mental well-being, causing us to be more inefficient in our daily work, lowering our motivation and reducing our life satisfaction.

Many factors such as the responsibilities of modern life, irregular eating habits, unhealthy sleep habits, and sedentary life can cause us to feel tired, to have low energy and mood, and to decrease our performance. The feeling of fatigue, which can manifest itself with symptoms such as pain, weakness, exhaustion, and reluctance, is closely related to our mental burden as well as unhealthy living habits. In this article, we will examine in detail what physical factors cause us to feel tired and lack of energy, and ways to prevent the feeling of fatigue.

What is physical fatigue?

Physical fatigue, which is also called muscle fatigue, can be defined as a temporary physical disability that prevents the person from doing physical activities, in which the muscles that enable the body to move cannot perform at an optimum level. A feeling of physical fatigue may occur in cases such as lactic acid accumulating in the muscles during strenuous physical activities, insufficient oxygen to the muscle cells and inability to provide the nutrients necessary for energy production.

Causes of fatigue: Why do we feel tired?

Some habits and environmental factors such as the problems we experience with our health, some diseases, irregular and insufficient sleep, breathing problems that prevent oxygen delivery to the muscles, inability to take the nutrients necessary for cellular activity, not consuming enough water that helps to remove harmful substances from the body as a result of metabolic activities. can cause fatigue. Let's take a closer look at the reasons why we feel physically tired.

1. Sleep habits that are not suitable for the circadian rhythm

The circadian rhythm can be defined in its simplest form as our biological clock programmed according to daylight, which determines our sleep-wake cycle. Living habits that are not suitable for the circadian rhythm, which is a natural and internal cycle that repeats every day, are one of the most important causes of physical fatigue.

To rest, relax and slow down at night; when we expose our bodies, which are programmed to work, produce and spend energy actively during the day, to activities that will cause this cycle to be inconsistent, our energy level can be adversely affected by this situation.

One of the most important requirements of the circadian rhythm is to be asleep during the dark hours. Experts say that the hours between 22:30 and 23:00 are the hours when melatonin secretion, which allows our body to go into relaxation and resting mode; stresses that our body should stay away from all kinds of stimuli, especially light, during these hours. When we do activities such as eating, working in front of the computer, watching something during these hours, which is the time to go to sleep, we send signals to our body to stay awake and prevent it from going into resting mode. Not getting the 8 hours of sleep that an adult needs daily, especially at night when melatonin release is high, can cause the body to not be able to renew its energy and rest, thus feeling both physically and mentally tired.

2. Not consuming enough water

About 60% of an adult's body is made up of water. Water, which has a vital function in realizing vital functions, fulfilling the functions of the nervous system and performing metabolic activities in a healthy way, can cause physical fatigue when not consumed in sufficient quantities.

Water consists of 75% of the brain and heart, 85% of the lungs, 80% of the muscles and kidneys, 65% of our skin and 30% of our bones. Not consuming enough water, which makes up such a large part of our body, is one of the first factors that come to mind when it comes to physical fatigue and weakness. In addition to how much water is consumed, the quality of the water you drink, how suitable the pH balance is for your body, and what minerals it contains are extremely important for the proper functioning of the metabolism functions and reducing the feeling of fatigue.

3. Sedentary lifestyle

We have talked about the positive effects of sports and exercise on our physical health and holistic well-being in detail in many of our articles. One of the most important causes of chronic fatigue is to adopt a sedentary lifestyle.

Many activities such as sitting in front of the computer during the day, watching something while sitting down, driving, surfing social media are done while sitting and do not allow the body to move. However, since our circadian rhythm is programmed to consume energy during the day and to store energy at night, staying still during the daytime causes the stored energy to not be discharged from the body and prevents the body from going into rest and regeneration mode in the evening.

Movement also plays a vital role in burning the nutrients in the cells into energy and regulating metabolic activities. Bodily movements that accelerate blood flow, provide oxygen to the cells and renew the fluid in the joints play an extremely important role in eliminating the feeling of physical fatigue.

4. Inadequate and unbalanced nutrition

One of the most important reasons for the feeling of tiredness is that the body does not get the vitamins, minerals and nutrients it needs to produce energy. Fast-food, ready-made and packaged foods, junk foods containing chemical preservatives, processed carbohydrates and sugar sources that cause an imbalance in blood sugar are the most important reasons for our energy level to become unbalanced during the day. A diet that does not contain the vitamins, minerals and nutrients that we need to take daily can slow down the energy production in the cells and cause us to feel more tired, exhausted and sluggish. Similarly, it is quite normal to feel tired during the day if you frequently consume ingredients such as white flour, sugar, and starch, which increase blood sugar rapidly and cause a sudden decrease in energy as soon as it is depleted in the blood.

5. Not breathing properly

Not being able to breathe properly and properly means that our cells cannot get the oxygen they need for energy production, and carbon dioxide gas, which is a waste of metabolism, cannot be removed from the body. The decrease in oxygen in the body and the increase in carbon dioxide can cause hypoxia, which is called the inability of the cells to receive the oxygen they need. In addition to the lack of oxygen in the cells, the inability to remove carbon dioxide gas from the body can cause hypercapnia, which manifests itself with symptoms such as dizziness, shortness of breath, headache, and excessively rapid breathing.

Environmental factors such as air pollution, bad habits such as smoking, posture and posture disorders, not exercising, sedentary lifestyle, stress and anxiety can cause our body to not get the oxygen it needs and create a feeling of fatigue.

6. Seasonal changes and diseases

Inconsistency of our internal balance with the physical environment during seasonal transitions, temperature changes in the air, seasonal allergies, health problems and diseases can also cause us to feel tired. Sometimes, you may experience a serious feeling of tiredness even though there are no signs of illness, and you may encounter situations that you cannot understand why your tiredness is. In such a case, it may be a milder disease that does not show any symptoms in your body. Winter / seasonal transition diseases such as colds, flu, colds; seasonal allergies, celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, sleep apnea, depression, anxiety, diabetes and diabetes, thyroid problems and anemia are among the diseases that cause physical fatigue. If you think that there is a fatigue in your body for a while, but you cannot find the reason, it is a good idea to see a doctor for a possible illness.