I have 2 kids, 1 is teething, it’s quite hard work. I only work 4 days a week now but the 3 days off are the hardest!

Anyway, moaning over, here’s some solutions that I’ve found

CONSULT A DOCTOR BEFORE TAKING ANY SUPPLEMENTS

Foundation of Healthy Foods

Eat lots of vegetables – ensure you have a good foundation of nutrition before taking supplements. Avoid inflammatory foods such as sugar and vegetable oils. If you don’t have time to prepare lots of healthy foods, then consider organic “greens” powders such as Athletic Greens or a kale and spirulina powder.

Gut Health

Gut health and the microbiome should also be optimised before taking supplements. Glutamine and collagen are great for protecting the gut lining and reducing inflammation. Fermented foods are great for optimising the microbiome, as is pomegranate juice (study here)

Supplements to Boost Energy Levels

Improve Your Sleep

Magnesium Glycinate – I use Doctor’s Best brand. Tablets are massive but seems to be the only one that helps me sleep

Glycine – I use Bulkpowders version. Great for sleep and relaxation

5 HTP – great for sleep and weird dreams. Go easy though, can give you an upset stomach

Phenibut – if I wake up in the night, I’ll sometimes take 500mg of phenibut. It helps promote deep sleep. Stick to once per week though, it’s addictive.

Dark chocolate and cacao nibs are great sources of magnesium.

Vitality

Adaptogens can help boost resistance to stress, increase energy levels and help the immune system to function

Rhodiola

Cordyceps Mushrooms

Holy Basil

Ginseng

Adaptogens are a good place to start, after blood tests to rule out iron deficiency etc

Adaptogens have a range of benefits and are herbs and plants rather than supplements.

Get some organic adaptogens from a reputable brand, the quality varies greatly between different suppliers. Reddit is generally a good place to get further info. Just Google the name of a herb and stick “reddit” at the end of your search.

Nootropics

Nootropics are anything that boost cognitive functioning

These include:

Choline

Acetyl-L-Carnitine (allows improves fertility)

PQQ

Racetams (usually stacked with a choline source like citicholine or alpha GPC)

L-Theanine

Noopept

You can buy most nootropics from Amazon or ebay. Intellmeds.net is also good and has a wide range of supplements.

DO YOUR RESEARCH before taking any supplements

Check out Examine.com, Selfhacked.com and https://www.reddit.com/r/adaptogens/

also – https://www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/

You’ll generally want to stack racetams with a source of choline, but do your own research

The ketogenic diet is also great for sleep deprivation, in my experience. It’s a right pain to stick to though and can be expensive.

Natural Anti inflammatories

Anything that lowers inflammation should also help with energy and feelings of wellbeing.

Pine bark extract

curcumin – black pepper and coconut oil increase absorption

rosehip

MSM

Tart cherry 🍒

cold showers – will also increase noradrenaline and dopamine. Ice baths are next level and make me feel amazing but they’re vile whilst your doing them.

Niacin is also a strong anti-inflammatory that can aid sleep. Niacin is also used to treat depression. For more information on niacin please see my blog post.

Holistic Energy Boosts

Looking upwards!

Looking up is also said to increase energy levels, whereas looking down decreases them. So don’t look down at your computer monitor all day, make sure it’s level or above your eye line.

Rapid breathing will increase energy levels, as will exercise

Cold water immersion is great and pretty much free. It can increase noradrenaline and dopamine levels by over 250% for up to 3 hours. It can also reduce inflammation dramatically.

Consult your doctor before taking any supplements

Don’t take all of them in one go! Take a look at your diet first, then consider adding one or perhaps two supplements, and evaluate their effectiveness.

Finally – if you are suffering from burnout consider getting your hormone levels checked.

DHEA and pregnenolone are great for low testosterone – but start with 5 or 10mg – they come in 50mg capsules typically which can be way too much.

Adaptogens can be great for managing stress and cortisol.

Green Exercise and Ice baths are may favourite ways to increase energy levels – but I don’t always get chance to do my morning walk in the woods at the moment…

Psychedelics

microdosing LSD or drinking blue lotus flower tea can also be a great way to reduce inflammation and increase energy levels. Apparently. I honestly haven’t done either, but I’ve just read Ben greenfield book “Boundless” which talks about microdosing quite a bit.

my current regime for energy is:

PQQ Energy – contains pqq and acetyl l carnitine

coq10 and citicholine

I’ll sometimes take noopept if I’m feeling really tired.

I find these supplements very effective for both energy and treating mild anxiety and depression.

there’s some good evidence behind acetyl l carnitine for treating depression.

I’m just about to try methylated blue, mainly because I keep getting chest infections but also because it’s supposed to be excellent for brain function and energy…I’ll let you know…