Supplements to help with energy and focus

[Andrew]

Hi Everyone 

I recently got into healthy eating I'm on the Bulletproof diet and drinking the coffee and I really enjoy the energy I get from it. I'm getting up at 6.30 am and have good energy until about 2-2:30 pm but I tend to crash and feel tired and brain fogged until the end of the work day. I like to run home so energy not a problem in the evenings and sleep is generally quite good. Can anyone recommend some good supplements (natural if possible) to help with energy and focus ? 

I really recommend Bulletproof coffee if your a coffee drinker 

thanks 

Andrew 

[Leo Gura]

I've struggled a lot with chronic fatigue, for years.

After doing much research, what I discovered is that chronic fatigue can have like over 100 causes! And it could be the sign of something much deeper that's wrong with your body.

I've tried MANY different supplements and none of them increased my energy, although many people do have success with them.

Common causes of chronic fatigue and brain fog include:

• Standard American Diet (SAD)
• Eating high carb foods like wheat, potatoes, corn, sugar
• Heavy metal toxicity, especially mercury and lead
• Pesticides
• Leaky gut syndrome, candida bacteria in your gut, gut parasites
• Auto-immune diseases
• Dysfunctional thyroid gland
• Dysfunctional adrenal glands
• Food allergies and food sensitivities
• Vitamin deficiencies, especially: vitamin D, vitamin B
• Low levels of blood iron and ferritin
• Hormone imbalances
• Chronic high stress
• Psychosomatic: basically you are subconsciously resisting something in your life

So if you have a chronic problem, I highly recommend getting blood work done, urine testing done, and definitely get your thyroid hormones checked! Low thyroid free T3 and free T4 are VERY common causes of chronic fatigue.

Just today I go my urine test results back and they show high levels of mercury! Now I have to do a detox protocol and cut out all fish

FYI about Bulletproof Coffee: I did it for about 6 months. I got comprehensive blood lipid testing before and after. My bad cholesterol shot through the roof! My brother did the same sort of test on Bulletproof and also got similar results.

I think Bulletproof Coffee can work for some people, but for other people (because we have different genes) it's not that healthy and may cause long-term issues. You hear people complaining about the same problem my brother and I experienced on the Bulletproof Forum.

If you're gonna do Bulletproof, get a comprehensive lipid profile done and track your numbers over the next 6 months to make sure you're not doing more harm than good.

Also I highly recommend trying a 30 day all-raw, all-veggie & fruit diet. You will notice a HUGE energy boost and unprecedented levels of mental clarity.

As far as energy-boosting supplements go, here are the common ones people report work well:

• Rhodiola (500 mg)
• Vitamin D3 (5,000 IU)
• Vitamin B12 Methyl (5000 mcg)
• Ashwagandha (800 mg)
• Vitamin B6 P-5-P (50 mg)
• Fish Oil (500 EPA + 250 DHA)

As for brain-boosting supplements:

• Vinpocetine (10 mg)
• L-Theanine (200 mg)
• Huperzine A (200 mcg)
• Ginkgo Biloba (120 mg)

If the supplements don't help you, then you should look into blood work.

[nbolt]

Cut out all the fish? Didn't you do a video on how to become a vegetarian? Should listen to your own advice heheh . I would also second Leo's recommendation on a veggie-heavy vegan diet.

Also- in my opinion, most supplements, coffee, quick energy fixes, etc. are bullshit, and most people just need a more balanced, healthy diet. The only nutritional "supplement" I'd recommend is probably soylent.com. Works great for me  : )

Leo also mentioned urine results.. I'd also recommend checking out wellnessfx.com if you're into that. They'll do a complete blood workup and give you really nice, in-depth results.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Neill Bolton

[Leo Gura]

I never said I was a vegetarian. I've dabbled with it, but never fully committed.

[nbolt]

Well time to get rid of that fish at least!

[Leo Gura]

And I just bought an expensive package of smoked salmon yesterday! Dammit! My favorite food!

[nbolt]

As a vegan I can do nothing but bask in your misery  : )

[Sarah Marie]

I just got my blood work don because I couldn't figure out why I was so tired. I ended up getting diagnosed with low vitamin D and hypothyroidism. I've been on the pills almost a month and just started feeling better. I highly recommend getting your levels checked.

[Leo Gura]

Make sure you look into the root cause of your hypothyroidism. Pills do not address the root cause, they only mollify symptoms.

I've found that most modern doctors and endocrinologists are TERRIBLE at treating hypothyroidism. All they do is give you a pill to take for the rest of your life and shrug their shoulders when you ask them about actually curing it.

But curing it is VERY doable. Many people have done it. I'm in the process of curing myself over the next year.

Make sure you get tests for thyroid antibodies to see if you have Hashimoto's or Graves disease. Those diagnoses are very important for figuring out the cure.

The top root causes of hypothyroidism are:

• Poor diet
• Gluten intolerance
• Dairy intolerance
• Leaky gut syndrome
• Candida or parasites in your gut
• Heavy metal toxicity
• Hormone imbalances: like xeno-estrogens from plastics
• Overstressed adrenal glands

[Sarah Marie]

Thanks Leo,

Did not know that, that is exactly what my doctor said. There was nothing I could do for it and I would have to take synthirod for the rest of my life. I will be doing more research now. Thanks again.

[Leo Gura]

Pffffft.... ignorant doctors....

I recently added a book to my book list about how to naturally cure auto-immune diseases, especially hypothyroidism. It's written by an MD who's cured thousands of patients in her practice.

Here are two additional great books:

• Stop The Thyroid Madness
• Root Cause: Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

[Natura Sonoris]

Kinda offtopic, but this thing is bugging me for really long time.

I want develop my daily routine where i wake up early in morning (lets say 8-9am) and go to sleep around 12pm-1am and during the day, i am doing my music project stuff and keeping the healthy life.

My problems are (and first ones are most important)

- Irregular sleeping patterns. I am trying to develop good sleeping habit that will give me enough time and energy to work during the day.I cant stand anymore to go to sleep at 4 am just because i cant fall asleep properly. I have to take melatonin supplement in order to fall asleep that me makes wake up really late. So any good advices on that ? 

- Heathy diet. I am currently suffering from brain tumor/cancer (small percentage might be cancerous)  that came back 3rd time now. I am not stressed about it as many people are when it comes to this stuff even tho i might suffer from some form of disability. Anyway, i want to keep up improving my diet  so i minimize risk of all kinds of diseases in the future. I am currently in vegeterian phase (Leo made me do it hah) and i can proudly say i am eating healthy for 7,8 months now. But i think i could improve my diet even more. 

- Are there some productive techniques that i should know about ? I am doing the creative work so i need my mind to be focused. I am doing meditation but i am not getting as much clarity and focus as i should.

This all combined is one part of it. To sum things up, i want to create some order from semi-chaos i am currently in, but i can't create order from chaotic state without some step by step process or guide.

I am 23 years old and i am in financial situation where i do not have to spend time doing 9-5 job so i want to use this free gap to develop my project to the point it can sustain me. For this, i need stuff from above. So advices would be great.

[Leo Gura]

I would suggest doing a lot more testing to discover the root of your health issues. Health issues are usually NOT an accident, especially at age 23. They are often the direct outgrowth of diet and lifestyle choices. So you gotta discover which of your lifestyle choices are screwing up your sleep and your brain and your energy levels.

Things like supplements can be like band-aids on a broken leg. Your body might actually be sending you valuable signals that something is wrong and needs to be fixed rather than masked over.

I'm a night owl myself and find it hard to go to bed early consistently. I actually saw a study that came out the other week which found a link between your genes and whether you are an early bird or a night owl. Now, I'm sure that doesn't mean you can't change. But there might also be some value in being honest with yourself about who you naturally are and go with the flow. Maybe. Even though I'm a night owl, I do find I'm much more productive if I wake up early.

[Dhana Choko]

It would be best to stay out of all stimulants. It would be very wise to ask yourself before you are having a cup of coffee to really ponder WHY you want that cup of coffee. What I have noticed that most people use coffee to escape the NOW moment on some level. They want to make it more sparkly, energizing, fun etc. All these moments when you want to escape the present moment, can be used to confront the present moment and the emotions that are boiling inside of you and can be used to FUEL your awareness. If you take coffee instead and get lost in the buzz...well, it is just not that effective. It is not wrong, but just saying that on one level this can actually slow your movement forward. Just something to think about  

Most people will do amazingly well in their body if they do following things:
- Meditate everyday minimum of 20 minutes in the morning and if you have more time, in the evening as well
- Eat a plant-based diet with delicate amount of good fats (no fast food, no milk products, minimal amount of sugar, no meat, no sweets, no junk)
- Exercise 3-4 times a week
- Sleep well - go to bed every day the same time and wake up at the same time

Simple but it seems that accomplishing even these things take years to develop in many people, my self included. Supplements are good but if you don't have these basic things down, you are just wasting your money and time No supplement pill will do miracles in a body that is clogged up by horrible diet and other bad habits...Supplements are like fine-tuning. You need to start with the big things to really make a difference.

[nbolt]

Dhana has it down  : )  our basic environment is much more important than most people think- start the day off properly, eat healthy (i.e. plant-based), stay active, and get enough sleep; the rest will follow.

[Alena K.]

As for the sleeping: I used to be very irregular on the sleeping times. Impulze to change it lead to decision and i literally dragged my body to bed not later than 11pm. For 2 months. Got much better sleep, higher energy and efficiency and that made me to stay with it. I am doing that for good 3 years now. These days my body asks me to go to bed early 10 or 10.30 pm and I wake up early on my own. Even at the same time! Most of the times. Our boddies are very smart Make your choice, decide, stick to it and see if that actually suits you. I know people who are night's owls and simply love that life-style more. Of course it is more natural for body to sleep overnight but from what I know, the regular rhytm is even more important, regardless the sleeping times. 

[Wouter]

I once found a -in my opinion- very helpful website with information concerning food supplements. The website is called ergogenics.org and reports scientific studies about the effect of food supplements and some habits (like mediation). It is rather focussed on the fitness communiry, but in my opionion also helpful for people who "just" want to improve their health and energy levels. 

[Andrew]

Hey Everyone 

Who would of thought a request for some diet tips would spark such a healthy discussion ! 

Leo thanks for your reply above. I'm going to look into the tests you mentioned and I think the last point you mentioned about subconsciously resisting something is very relevant to me. at the moment I'm working on releasing anger and resentment towards my parents and I think my afternoon brainfog/procrastination could have something to do with getting back at them 

 

 

[Arman]

Check out and find information on Yerba Mate, Cordyceps, He Shou Wu and Reishi. 

Yerba Mate is a non-caffeine based stimulant and the rest are adaptogenic mushrooms that are revered for all around health and energy benefits. There are lots of adaptogens out there but these are some with the most studies, if that's something that is important to you.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Arman

[Analyst]

I would recommend a balanced diet, but I hope you're not cutting all carbohydrates out of your diet. 

The brain runs on glucose and consumes up to 60% of your glucose intake. Exercise also improves cognitive function dramatically, therefore I recommend daily exercise with consumption of fatty fish and plenty of fruits and vegetables.