Your Tired Body

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as many as one to four million Americans suffer from "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". For many, the symptoms are so debilitating they cannot even work, yet less than half of these people report their illness to a physician.

In fact, almost everyone can identify some point in their life where lack of energy and feeling tired have been a persistent problem. It is not so surprising that so many are affected when one stops to consider the many things that impact our lives on a daily basis. When you add stress into the equation - which is something everyone has to deal with - the number of problems rises dramatically. Autoimmune disease has been reported as a third major cause of illness in the US, affecting over 50 million Americans. It is further estimated that as many as 70 million Americans have some form of heart disease.

All these are linked in some way to persistent feelings of fatigue and tiredness. Why? The answer is pretty simple - when you feel tired, your body is trying to tell you something. And if you continue to ignore these signs, serious problems can result. Most people recognize the importance of maintaining their cars, because they wish to avoid the hassle and expense of major repairs and breakdowns that could be prevented. Yet, when it comes to caring for our bodies, we tend to keep pushing ourselves in countless little ways that add up. Not getting enough sleep for instance. When the body does not get proper rest, your immune system is severely compromised. Cut yourself short on sleep for a few nights in a row and you will almost guarantee yourself that you WILL catch that cold or flu going around and it will take longer to shake it off too.

Then, just because we are too busy, most people cut corners on nutrition. Skipping lunch or breakfast on a frequent basis, and then trying to compensate and satisfy your hungry with unhealthy snacks through the day, or an extra large dinner is not going to help. We are always in too much of a hurry, and so easy to prepare processed and packaged foods become the norm. Then, if we do feel the urge to try and eat healthier foods, and go to the store to buy fruits and vegetables, we find so many of them seem to be boring and tasteless. No wonder - most of them are grown in depleted soils that have been used over and over, and they simply don't have the nutrients they are supposed to. Not to mention all the harmful chemicals and pesticides they have been treated with or exposed to. Even so called "organic" foods are often not much of an improvement. Try eating fresh tomatoes from someone's garden at the same sitting with a store bought tomato, and this difference is readily apparent.

What to do? When your body is feeling tired, pay attention. Try to get some extra rest and don't push yourself so hard. Try to eat healthy foods, but realize that as hard as you try, you are not going to get enough of what you need in your diet from foods that are readily available in the store. Just because the label on a package reads off with and impressive list of vitamin and mineral content does not mean your body will be able to process and use those vitamins and minerals in the quantities listed on the label... So its important to find some good quality, natural health & nutrition supplements to help your body get the elements it needs.

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