Fatigue

An everyday complaint; around four people in ten, mostly women, and mainly between 30 and 40, consider themselves to be suffering from fatigue. It can be defined as an abnormal lack of energy that renders the least physical or mental effort difficult.

In fact descriptions of fatigue are often vague and inaccurate, and may include signs of anxiety, difficulty in concentration, personality disorders, as well as problems with sleep. Fatigue accompanies a number of illnesses that need to be ruled out first (hepatitis, infectious mononucleosis...), but it is frequently psychological in origin, particularly in adolescents.

Popular antifatigue remedies contain vitamin C. which is better known for its antifatigue effects than for its antioxidant action.

General advice

Follow these simple but important rules.

- Take a little exercise, but not too much
- Arrange rest periods and take a siesta
- Engage in some distracting activity
- Try to relax
- Take care of your most valuable ally, sleep

Dietary advice

• You should choose cereals and dried fruits for their manganese and vitamin B, seafood for cobalt and vitamin B, brewer's yeast for vitamin B, and green vegetables and fresh fruit (kiwi, lemon, orange. . .) for vitamin
• Use plenty of garlic, cinnamon, mint, ginger, and pollen, all of which have a long tradition as stimulants

Cinnamon

Native to India and Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). cinnamon grows in tropical regions. It is mainly grown as a spice, but nonetheless possesses medicinal properties, particularly as an antiseptic and stimulant. Cinnamon wine was once given out in hospitals to prevent the spread of infection.

Natural foods uaseful in fatigue

Royal jelly

Origin And Composition: The virtues of this precious form of honey, secreted by young worker bees during their second week of life, have been known since the 17th century. It is called 'royal' because it is given to queen bees and greatly prolongs their lives. Royal jelly is one of the foods richest in trace elements (calcium, copper, iron, phosphorus, potassium..), vitamins (A. B, C. D, and E). as well as some essential amino acids.

Properties: Royal jelly stimulates immunity and helps fight infection; it is recommended in extreme fatigue and in convalescence.

Method Of Use : if you are lucky enough to live near a beekeeper you may obtain it fresh. Take only a little at a time because, as you will have gathered, it is very concentrated. Otherwise you can buy sealed vials, airtight because it deteriorates easily. Take one vial at breakfast for a few days, at intervals of a few weeks.

Wheatgerm

Origin And Composition: Wheatgerm is a perfect food, the vegetable equivalent of the egg. It contains all the nutrients necessary for the growth of the plant. It is made up of the kernel. (three-quarters of the total weight) which yields flour when ground, and the husk (15 per cent of the total) which gives bran. Wheatgerm is obtained by soaking the grain in water and allowing it to germinate for two days. It contains all the constituents necessary for the growth of the plant. It contains twice as much calcium, three times the magnesium and phosphorus, and many more vitamins, especially Band E, than wheat itself. It also contains vitamins A and C.

Properties: It helps to take care of nervous problems and is also effective against fatigue and overwork.

Method Of Uses: you will find it in health food shops as flakes that can be sprinkled on salads, yoghurt, or soft cheese. Take one or two teaspoonfuls a day.

Lucerne and oats are rich in minerals and vitamins A, B, D, and E, and in amino acids. They are both nutritive and stimulating.

• You can use Avena (Bioforce) tincture of oats:
  - Available in 50ml bottles of oral drops
  - Twenty drops to be taken in a little water two to three times daily.

Acupuncture

Widely used and very useful in treating fatigue.

Treatment Scheduale: weekly sessions for a few weeks are helpful during periods of overwork.

Oligotherapy

Cobalt, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese

The provision of trace elements normally comes from the diet, which should be varied and of good quality, encouraging the intake of cereals, fresh or dried fruit, liver.

• When there is a deficiency, trace elements can be taken as supplements such as Organic Minerals (Colloidals) which contains 70+ trace minerals:
  - Available in 946ml bottles
  - Take 1-3 caps just before breakfast and/or evening meal
  - Children I teaspoon daily for each 201bs of body weight:
  Or Maximol (Ionized colloidals):
  - Available in 500ml bottles
  - Take Y2 capful once or twice daily on an empty stomach

Or Multi-Guard@ (Lamberts). a mixture of trace elements (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, zinc...)
and vitamins (betacarotene, D, B, C, and E):
- Available in containers of 30 and 90 tablets
- One tablet to be taken each morning.

Vitamin C is indispensable here.

Dietary sources of vitamin C

Vitamin C is mainly found in citrus fruits (lemon, orange, grapefruit!, green vegetables (celery, cabbage++. cress, sorrel. parsley, horseradish!, fruit. especially red fruit (strawberries, raspberries, red currants. ..). and others (blackcurrant++, kiwi++...). potatoes, leeks, tomatoes...

• Vitamin C supplements can be found in pharmacies in various forms and brands: Thorne vitamin C (500mg) with citrus bioflavonoids (75mg): one to two capsules three times daily; Lamberts@ vitamin C one chewable tablet = 100mg: one to three tablets daily.
• You can use Berocca@ a mixture of vitamins B, C. calcium, and magnesium.
  - Available in boxes of ten effervescent tablets
  - One tablet to be taken in the morning for ten days.

You can take natural vitamin C. which can be found in, for example, Weleda@ sea buckthorn juice, or as Cynorrhodon Acerola@ 500 chewable tablets. A tablespoonful of sea buckthorn juice supplies about 30mg of vitamin C. and a tablet of the mixture of two fruits provides 500mg
- One tablespoonful to be taken each morning

Homeopathy

Kalium phosphoricum Phosphoricum acidum

- Four granules of one of these two remedies at 5c to be sucked like sweets twice a day between meals for a few days

Kalium phosphoricum

- Chemical origin: dipotassium phosphate
- Homeopathic remedy for mental fatigue due to overwork
- Specific sign: muscular weakness

Phosphoricum acidum

- Chemical origin: phosphoric acid
- Homeopathic remedy for mental exhaustion
- Specific sign: relative absence of muscular weakness
You can use Phosphoric acid complex, which contains both substances at 3c.
- Available in tubes of 80 granules
- Four granules to be sucked like sweets, twice a day

Herbal treatment

Ginseng, eleutherococcus - and also mint

Possible Prescription : Ask your herbalist to prepare 20 capsules of a mixture of dried extracts of ginseng and eleutherococcus, 150mg of each in a NO.2 capsule (the particular size of the capsule that the herbalist will use). Take two capsules twice a day for about ten days

Ginseng

When China began to open its doors to the world, it ensured the universal spread of ginseng, a mythical plant known and venerated there for four thousand years, and long reserved exclusively for the use of the emperor and the nobility. Above all, ginseng is famous for its fortifying and physical stimulant effects. strengthening natural defence mechanisms, as an aphrodisiac, anti-stress agent, antidepressant, regenerative...

Eleutherococcus

Eleutherococcus or Siberian ginseng is a plant of the ginseng and ivy family, but has its origins on the plains of Siberia. where it grows in abundance. It is widely used by people involved in sport because it increases resistance to physical and mental fatigue.

• You can also take Phytisone@ (Thorne), a remedy based on ginseng, vitamins, herbs and trace elements:
  - Available in containers of 60 capsules
  - One to two capsules twice daily
• You can take one or two mint infusions

Plant essential oils

Nutmeg, rosemary, creeping thyme - Two drops of one of these to be taken in a little honey, twice a day.

In the mornings you could also take one drop of essential oil of creeping thyme in 40 drops of oak macerated in glycerine Ix. Obtain a 30ml bottle of this from your herbalist.

Nutmeg/rosemary/creeping thyme

Nutmeg was brought back to Europe in the 16th century by Portuguese sailors. It had the reputation of increasing sexual vigour, but care is needed because of its toxicity: eating just two nutmegs can result in lethal convulsions. Rosemary was once thought of as a miraculous plant, an ingredient in the waters of youth used by the Queen of Hungary. Creeping thyme, a heath land plant used by some to treat a lump in
the throat, is basically antiseptic and energizing.

Oak

The oak is a common, very tall forest tree, once sacred to the druids and, because of its strength, much exploited for naval shipbuilding as well as for its medicinal properties. It relieves tiredness and possesses tonic, revitalizing, and immunostimulant properties. It is very useful during convalescence, even though its bark has long served as a cure for minor skin problems or sore throat.