Vitamins, Minerals, and Herbs for Fighting Fatigue

June 20, 2003

Digestive Enzymes for Fighting Fatigue

Many women with fatigue have poor digestive

function. Taking digestive enzymes with each meal helps you digest

protein and can improve your energy levels. Recommended enzymes

include: Pancreatin, one or two 300-500 mg tablets four times daily,

apart from meals. Bromelain, 500 mg with meals (Note that if you’re

taking bromelain to fight inflammation, you should take it apart

from meals. Don’t exceed 4,000 mg daily.) Papain, 100 mg with meals

Amino Acids for

Fighting Fatigue

Tyrosine

This versatile amino acid supports

the health of female hormones, the thyroid, and the brain. In the

thyroid, it combines with iodine to form the hormone thyroxine,

which control the rate at which your body converts and burns fuel.

When combined with B vitamins, L-tyrosine helps fuel the conversion

of energizing neurotransmitters (norepinephrine and dopamine) in

the brain. An abundant supply of these key neurotransmitters helps

you cope with stress, keeps you mentally alert, restores your libido,

and gives you physical stamina. Tyrosine deficiency has been associated

with digestive problems in using or absorbing protein.

Recommended daily intake: 500-1,500

mg in the form of L-tyrosine, taken with a B-complex and either

on an empty stomach or with a small carbohydrate snack.

Phenylalanine

Tyrosine is actually manufactured from

another amino acid called phenylalanine.

Recommended daily intake: 500-2,000

mg. Start at the low end and increase gradually.

L-carnitine

This amino acid helps transport the fatty acids your body uses as

fuel into the mitochondria of your cells, where they are burned

to generate energy. Your body does not produce adequate levels of

L-carnitine—you have to get it from your diet. If you’re like

many women, you probably don’t have enough of this key nutrient

because your dietary intake is insufficient (it’s found in the muscle

tissue of animals), or you’re producing fewer digestive enzymes

and aren’t absorbing and assimilating it from your food fully.

Recommended daily intake: 1,500-2,000

mg

Coenzyme Q10

This bioflavonoid is produced in your body, providing the biochemical

“spark” that converts fatty acids into energy inside the mitochondria.

Your ability to produce coenzyme Q10 diminishes over time. In fact,

by the time you reach age 50, your blood level of coenzyme Q10 is

about half what it was when you were 21

Recommended daily

intake: 50-150 mg

Essential

Fatty Acids

Adequate levels of essential fatty acids

in your diet are very important in preventing such energy-sapping

conditions as PMS, menopause, emotional upsets, allergies, and lowered

resistance.

Herbs

Many herbs can help relieve the

symptoms and treat the causes of fatigue. Some provide an additional

source of essential nutrients that help relax tension and ease anxiety.

Others have mild anti-infective and hormonal properties in addition

to their nutritional content, helping combat fatigue-causing viruses

and fungi.

Fatigue and depression. Try St. John’s

wort, oat straw, ginger, ginkgo, licorice root, dandelion root,

and Siberian ginseng.

Anxiety, irritability and insomnia.

Women suffering from anxiety, irritability, and insomnia often find

their fatigue getting worse because of emotional stress and sleep

deprivation. The following herbs can help: kava, passion flower,

valerian root, chamomile, peppermint

Fatigue syndrome, Candida infections,

and allergies. Women with fatigue symptoms caused by severe

immune dysfunction may initially have difficulty using any herbs

at all because their bodies are too weak. In this event, start with

aloe vera and peppermint. Once you’re stronger, you may use other

herbs that help boost energy, vitality and strengthen your immune

system. These include: garlic, echinacea, and goldenseal.

Menopause, PMS, hypothyroidism. Many

plants are good sources of estrogen, the hormone that helps control

hot flashes in menopausal women. They include: dong quai,

black cohosh, blue cohosh, unicorn root, false unicorn root, fennel,

anise, sarsaparilla, and wild yam root. Women with PMS may benefit

from herbs that relieve mood swings and anxiety, such as valerian

root or passionflower, and those that directly reduce fatigue and

depression, such as ginger root, ginkgo, and dandelion. Read more

about menopause and PMS.

Anemia and heavy, irregular menstrual

bleeding. Plants that contain bioflavonoids help strengthen

capillaries and prevent heavy, irregular menstrual bleeding. These

include: red clover and hawthorn. Read more about anemia,

and irregular menstrual bleeding.

Banishing Fatigue

Through Nutrition

Vitamins for

Fighting Fatigue