According to the latest surveys, it is concluded that about tens of millions of young adults feel tired after sleep, alone in the USA. The number is huge if we include other countries as well. Victims may be questioning themselves why they are struggling to get the energy boost even after sleeping for 8 hours or more. This article goes through the causes of why one gets a feeling tired after sleep, and how to cure this problem.
Feeling tired after sleep
There are multiple reasons why one feels tired after sleep. Medically, people with low amnia (means low blood count) are likely to feel tired all the time. Bad quality of sleep(not quantity) is the second reason, which happens due to interruption during sleep by different sources and sometimes also the result of depression and chronic pain.
The other reasons could be because you sit more, you do less physical activity, or you might have any sleep disorder like sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome, which also makes you feel tired after sleep.
Whether you don’t get quality sleep or you sit for a long period of time, every situation requires a good routine and habits to counter laziness.
According to recent studies, reported in journal scientific, bad sleep raises the heart disease chances in middle-aged adults.
The research was done by the University of South Florida, where the researchers collected the data of 6,820 adults who falls over 50 years category.
After analyzing the reports, researchers concluded that people with multiple sleep issues are likely to have a 54 percent more chance of getting heart disease.
Besides that, long sleep deprivation can cause many health problems like obesity, hypertension, depression, stroke, a decline in cognitive function, etc.
To know why you feel tired after sleep, first one should know how sleep works.
Sleep cycle
During sleep, our body and mind go through multiple cycles, which are also known as sleep cycles. The cycle lasts between 70 to 120 minutes (1 to 2 hours).
To better understand these cycles look at the table below.
| NREM | Stage 1 | N1 | 1-5 minutes |
| NREM | Stage 2 | N2 | 10-60 minutes |
| NREM | Stage 3 | N3, Slow-Wave Sleep (SWS), Delta Sleep, Deep Sleep | 20-40 minutes |
| REM | Stage 4 | REM Sleep | 10-60 minutes |
- After one falls asleep, small changes start to affect the body and brain. Some changes are – decline in brain activity, heart rate drops, body temperature drops as well.
- The first stage of the sleeping cycle is less intense and has less impact on the body and mind, that is why it is easier to wake up at this stage. So, if you have difficulty getting a good start to your sleep, then there are more chances that you will feel tired after sleep.
- Stage 2 is also the early stage of sleep like stage 1, and it is much easier to wake up during these stages. However, muscles and the brain start to relax during this stage which increases even more during stage 3.
- stage 3 is the deepest stage of the sleep cycle where muscles relax, brain shows the pattern of slow activity in contrast to the wake-up brain. This is the important part of the sleep cycle that can affect the mind and body in many ways, though there is 100 percent proof, however, it is believed that it contributes to effective thinking and memory.
- Rem is the last stage when the body goes through temporary paralysis, except the eyes. On top of that, this is the stage where the chances of getting dreams are higher, however, dreaming can happen during any stage.
How to not feel tired after sleep?
Medical conditions
Check blood count and vitamin levels
If you feel tired the whole day even you have a great sleep last night, then you should check your blood counts.
There are many reasons for low blood counts in the body, like lack of iron in the diet, or a loss of blood. Females with a heavy period are likely to lose a lot of blood, which brings down their blood count and makes them feel tired the whole day.
So, add proper food and nutrients to your diet to increase your blood counts if you have less.
Check B12 and Vitamin D deficiency
Another reason that could lead to low blood count is a deficiency of B12. B12 is very important for a body, and lack of it makes you feel tired even after 8 hours of proper sleep.
A low level of vitamin D is another reason that can also make you feel tired the whole day. This will also make it difficult for you to get into the third stage of the sleep cycle.
Vitamin D deficiency is very common in adults because of the weather or less sun exposure. It means you have to take 20,000 IU’s of vitamin D, take it in the morning or afternoon. However, the best way is to take sun exposure if you can.
Another reason that can make you feel tired after sleep is less production of hormones in the body. If the Thyroid gland is not producing enough hormone called thyroxine then it slows down the body’s functioning and thus makes you feel tired.
Eat protein and omega 3 rich diet
If you feel tired after sleep and throughout the whole day, then you should look at what are you having in your diet. Your diet must be rich in protein and less in carbs.
Though carbs are known as the source of energy, taking carbs in an excessive amount has the opposite impact on the body. Taking too many carbs makes your body crave for sugar, to feel energetic. And if the body doesn’t get it then, it will make you feel tired.
You also need to eat more omega 3 than omega 6. people consume omega in excessive amounts in form of soy oil, cottonseed, etc, And lack the intake of omega 3 fatty acids. The best source of omega 3 fatty acids is fish.
Improve the quality of sleep
The first and foremost thing to make sure you don’t feel tired after sleep is to get quality sleep. How you can do this? well, this can be done by developing a sleeping pattern and adopting good habits.
- switch off all electronic devices
First, one should train their mind to not maintain constant levels of excitement, worry, And anxiety during the night, as our brain is wired to be active and respond to situations like these. One should train their mind and themselves to turn on rest mode.
So, make sure you do not work on your laptop before bed as that might give you a worry if there is a problem.
Moreover, avoid using mobile phones during the night, as sharing texts or chatting releases dopamine in your mind and makes you feel excited or make you feel bad, which overall affects your sleep.
The brain needs to be trained that everything is quiet and safe. So, make sure you switch off the lights, sounds before you sleep.
- Try white noise
White noise (fan sound) lulls the brain to fall asleep faster, and most people find this an effective method.
- Avoid eating sugar before bed
Avoid eating any type of sugar product before bed as this leads to a blood rush, gives an energy boost, ultimately makes it hard for you to sleep faster.
Take naps properly
Most people take naps to overcome the exhaustion from work during the day. However, taking naps not always means an energy boost, especially if you have developed the wrong pattern on napping.
Taking nap for too long ( 2 hours or more) in the afternoon after an 8-hour sleep at night can ruin your sleep pattern, which means you will take more time to fall asleep, which makes you feel tired the next morning. A 30 minutes nap is enough to give your body and mind relief from exhaustion.
However, the same is not true if you sleep fewer hours at night. If you take less than 7 hours of sleep at night, then your body and mind need more time to feel active and focused. If you fall into this, then a 90-minute nap is good for you.
If you have a sitting job
If you do a sitting job or sit more than half the time you awake and feel tired then, these are some ways to give yourself an energy boost.
Siting has some major effects on our body and mind. Long hours of sitting bring down the energy level, and the body slows down, which ultimately leads to the feeling lazy.
Do physical activity
If you work in an office, which includes sitting in front of a screen for hours, then make sure you stand up after 1 hour. Do some stretching or anything, If you feel ashamed in front of colleagues, then go in the washroom and do some stretching. You can also take walk or take rounds on stairs.
According to a study in 2013, a short type of activity can boost the energy level in the body. Doing any type of physical activity for 10 to 20 minutes can stimulate your body and brain.
Avoid intense workouts in the morning
There are many studies that suggest the benefits of workout in the morning, and at the same time, there are many studies that suggest the benefit of doing exercise in the evening. But this is not the discussion of gains, it is about how to not feel tired after sleep.
Doing an exercise or intense workout in the morning can bring your energy level down as your body needs rest and a diet to repair the torn tissues and muscles.
If you work in the office and you do your workout early in the morning, then you need more energy in your body to go through the whole day.
Doing a heavy workout in the morning and feeling tired at work or during the day is correlated, which simply means your body needs rest and without that, you will feel lazy, tired, less focused, and less motivated.
If you use an alarm to wake up early in the morning because you have to work out, which sometimes means you have to sacrifice your sleep then, it leads to sleep deprivation and has many bad effects on the body and brain in long run. Not only you will feel tired throughout the day, but your performance in the gym will also decrease.
Consume less caffeine
Most people depend on caffeine for productivity, work, and motivation and there is no surprise why Caffeine is consumed by most people in the US, about 90 percent of people consume caffeine every day.
The caffeine consumed by people is in the form of coffee, drinks, tea, etc, which gives a sudden boost to the body. The sudden burst of energy increases the heart rate, increases the blood flow to muscles and the brain, and makes the nervous system work faster. However, that energy boost only lasts for a few hours.
Consuming caffeine for a short period of time may help people to get over with their work, but in long run, this has bad effects on the body and brain. Consuming caffeine daily to give a burst to your body and brain, brings down the natural energy levels of your body.
On top of that, caffeine also brings down the quality of your sleep, makes it hard for you to sleep early. One study states that consuming caffeine impact your sleep pattern, and you need more time to get into a deep sleep.
If you consume too much caffeine, then decrease its quantity day by day. One should not cut it down completely as it will make you feel more tired, instead, take small steps day by day.
Source: sleep foundation
