If you find yourself feeling tired and sluggish throughout the day, you’re not alone. According to a survey by the National Safety Council, 76% of American workers say they feel tired at work.
If you find yourself feeling tired frequently, it could be a sign of underlying gut health issues. The microorganisms in your gut are called the "microbiome", and the good microorganisms, A.K.A. probiotics, have a lot to do with the processes that provide energy in our bodies, such as digestion and metabolism.
So will taking probiotics give you higher energy levels?
The Connection Between Gut Health and Energy
The gut is responsible for several processes in the body that are related to how much energy we have.
Some ways in which the gut and energy levels are related include:
Getting Restful Sleep
Getting enough restful sleep is very important for your energy levels. We all know that feeling of being exhausted throughout the workday after only getting a couple of hours of sleep.
Some probiotic strains have been shown to have a positive effect on quality of sleep. For example, one study found that a lactobacillus casei strain (a probiotic found in our product BlueBiotics Ultimate Care), helped study participants maintain better sleep quality and higher perceived sleep satisfaction. (1)
A 2019 study titled "Effects of Probiotics on Cognitive Reactivity, Mood, and Sleep Quality" found that study participants saw an improvement in sleep quality after taking a probiotic containing a variety of lactobacillus and bifidobacterium probiotic strains. Not only that but the study also found reductions in "depressive mood state, anger, and fatigue". (2)
Proper Nutrient Absorption
Another way in which probiotics may provide us with more energy is by improving nutrient absorption from the foods we eat. You may be technically consuming enough nutrients, but if your body isn’t absorbing them properly it can be a problem because nutrients are what provide us energy.
Studies suggest that probiotics improve nutrient absorption in the body and that microorganisms "play an important role in nutrient and energy extraction and energy regulation". (3)
Gut Diversity and Energy Levels
Studies have shown that people with chronic fatigue syndrome have different compositions of microorganisms in their gut than people who don’t have it. People with chronic fatigue syndrome tend to have less diverse populations of gut microbiota.
Taking a probiotic supplement could help alleviate the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome by diversifying the microbiome, although more research is needed to know this for sure.
Keeping Your Gut Healthy for Higher Energy Levels
Maintaining good habits for your gut is important because it can improve not just your energy levels but also your overall health.
Here are some recommendations for good gut health:
1) Eat a healthy diet full of probiotics and prebiotic fiber
Probiotics play an important role in absorbing nutrients from our food, digestion, metabolism, and promoting better sleep, all of which are related to energy levels. Prebiotics provide a food source for probiotics and are good for proper digestion.
2) Manage Your Stress Levels
Being stressed can have negative effects on your gut health and vice versa. Managing your stress levels helps to keep your gut healthy, which in turn can make you feel healthier and more energetic.
3) Exercise
Recent studies suggest that probiotics can "enhance the number of beneficial microbial species, enrich the microflora diversity, and improve the development of commensal bacteria", which improves health. They also suggest that people who exercise have healthier microbiomes than people who don’t exercise(4).
4) Get Enough Sleep
Getting enough restful sleep will obviously help you feel more energetic throughout the day but it’s also good for gut health, which in turn is even better for energy levels.
5) Take a Probiotic Supplement
As mentioned previously, probiotics can potentially help increase your energy levels in a number of ways, whether you get them from a probiotic supplement or from food.
6) Take a Prebiotic Supplement
Prebiotic fiber improves digestion and slows down the release of glucose into the bloodstream so you don’t crash after eating. Prebiotic fiber also provides a food source for probiotics.
You can get prebiotic fiber in your regular diet by eating fruits and vegetables. You can also get it through a supplement, such as BlueBiology Prebiotic.
Conclusion
Managing stress, eating a healthy diet, exercising and taking a high-quality probiotic and prebiotic are just some of the ways you can increase your energy throughout the day.
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