Both physical and mental tiredness and fatigue are an alarm bell, calling on the body to stop and recover energy.
The best thing to do would be to allow the body and mind to rest, without excessive stress and commitments.
Unfortunately, this is not always possible in the short term: so we would like to offer some useful advice for fighting physical and mental fatigue, or indeed, even better, on how to prevent it.
Physical and mental fatigue: what are the symptoms
Physical and mental fatigue, also known as asthenia, is a feeling of excessive tiredness and a lack of energy, accompanied by drowsiness and muscle weakness. It can occur both as short-term episodes and on a constant basis, all day long. In both cases, all normal everyday activities require much greater physical and cognitive effort than usual.
When the body and mind are suffering from excessive fatigue, various physical and behavioural symptoms may appear. For example:
- Migraine
- Speeding up of the heartbeat
- Dizziness
- Muscle pain
- Poor lucidity
- Memory and reasoning problems
- Tiredness even in the morning
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Emotional sensitivity
- Lack of appetite or, on the contrary, nervous eating
- Nausea
- Stomach cramps
- Insomnia
What are the causes of physical and mental fatigue
Stress accumulated during intense working periods, an unhealthy lifestyle, post-flu convalescence: are just some of the causes of physical and mental fatigue.
Although there is no actual rule, nor any age group that is particularly at risk, there are certainly a number of factors that together may lead to the symptoms described above. A few examples:
- Insufficient sleep: it is well known that not enough sleep slows down both physical and cognitive functions.
- Putting off commitments: it may seem absurd, but whenever an unpleasant commitment is postponed, it increases anxiety, which affects physical and mental health.
- A sedentary lifestyle: sport helps to maintain an active, healthy lifestyle, aiding concentration and keeping the mood high.
- Accumulated untidiness: this may also seem absurd, but in fact untidiness triggers the production of cortisol, increasing stress levels and tiring the brain.
- An unbalanced diet: a poor intake of mineral salts and vitamins can negatively affect the energy available to the mind and body.
Remedies for fighting physical and mental fatigue
Though easier said than done, the first recommendation is to avoid an overload of commitments, managing your routine with as much calm and lucidity as you can muster.
Secondly, a few precautions can be taken to improve the general quality of life. For example, spending time doing sports or physical activity outdoors helps to improve physical and mental well-being. The same goes for hobbies enjoyed in your free time, as they help to distract the mind from stress, and can also soothe tensions.
Finally, an evergreen piece of advice is to limit the consumption of alcohol and junk food, smoke less and adopt a balanced diet. Eating healthily, including all types of essential nutrients and respecting the seasonality of fruit and vegetables is a basic assumption for fighting physical and mental fatigue. Furthermore, never forget to drink more water and limit sugared fizzy drinks as much as possible.
In more intensive periods of tiredness, however, a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle may not be enough to fill the gap of vitamins needed to provide energy to the whole body. In these cases, nutritional supplements formulated with tonic energising functions can be taken.
The ApportAL® range contains 19 nutrients to support physical and cognitive functions, including in particular:
- Magnesium: magnesium is an excellent remedy against fatigue, and is also involved in a number of fundamental processes such as muscular contractions, heart beat, coagulation and blood pressure.
- Vitamin B: vitamins of group B play a key role in guaranteeing the energy the body needs to perform its everyday functions, and also prevent neurological diseases.
- Taurine and Ginseng (only in ApportAL®): taurine helps to reduce tiredness and make more energy available, while Ginseng helps the neurological system to improve concentration levels.
- Royal Jelly (only in ApportAL® Vital): Royal jelly is a natural nutrient offering many benefits for the body, including an energising function during periods of physical and mental fatigue.