If you are constantly exhausted and feel worn out, no matter how much you sleep or what you eat to feel recharged, it might be time to take a closer look at your daily habits. Feeling low physically may be your body telling you something is off, and your lifestyle habits, like diet and bedtime, need fine-tuning. To understand what really happens over time with chronic fatigue, HT Lifestyle reached out to Dr Rohan Goyal, founder and regenerative medicine specialist at Nuvan revealed that the fatigue is your body getting overloaded at a metabolic level.
“Chronic fatigue is more about metabolic overload rather than ‘feeling low’; your cells don’t produce enough energy, your mitochondria slow down, and your immune system goes into an inactive mode,” he said. “When you combine this with poor gut health and frequent glucose spikes, fatigue becomes a daily baseline, leading to dull skin, inflammation, and slower healing.”
This means your cells are getting affected, which is why you feel inactive. It also shows up in other ways, like dull skin, inflammation and internally as well, with slower recovery and constant tiredness.
Here are the 3 daily habits the doctor outlined:
1. Avoid screentime and heavy food before sleep
The doctor insisted on a digital and food cut-off at least 90 minutes before sleeping in order to avoid the 10-11 pm cortisol, which is a stress hormone, spike. Calling out this common mistake, Dr Goyal added, “Most people interfere with overnight repair, which pauses collagen regeneration, and leaves you waking up tired despite a full night’s sleep. This is often because of a rise in cortisol, which is caused by staying on screens or eating late.” This means you have to let your body wind down. Late-night eating or scrolling on the phone will disrupt this winding-down process.
2. Diaphragmatic breathing
Dr Goyal recommended adding diaphragmatic breathing. Because of ongoing fatigue, respiratory issues, like shallow breathing, tend to increase. To prevent this, you need to practice more deep breathing.
Sharing the benefits of deep breathing, Dr Gopal explained, “Deep breathing increases vagal tone, supports immunity, reduces inflammation, and improves oxygen delivery to the brain and skin.”
This also inculcates the habit of deep breathing, even when you are feeling low, since deep breathing naturally calms the nervous system, stabilises your energy, and prevents fatigue from building up further.
3. ‘Mitochondrial food’
Dr Goyal shared, “Add one mitochondrial food in every meal. You should start including foods rich in omega-3s and polyphenols, like walnuts, olives, spinach, or beetroot. These directly lead to cellular energy production, which results in faster repair in the skin’s barrier.”
You may have heard that mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell, often mentioned in biology books, and because fatigue can be at a cellular level so you need to eat more foods that give energy to mitochondria.But still, if fatigue continues even after fixing unhealthy lifestyle habits, consider visiting a doctor.
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.