Is it possible to have too much sleep each night?

It is still largely unknown how many exact hours of sleep per day are needed in adults, according to their age, their environmental and socio-cultural characteristics. It is generally cited that 7-8 hours of sleep is sufficient for adults and there is ongoing research to identify what is the optimal sleep need. However, there is…

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When will fatigue occur?

The time of day affects fatigue, due mainly to the body’s circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are natural body rhythms that are driven by the cycle of day and night. The start of the cycle is typically linked to the rising of the sun, and the person getting out of bed after a night’s sleep. During……

Meal type and fatigue

It is often promoted that foods high in carbohydrate make you drowsy because they increase the uptake of the amino acid tryptophan by the brain. Tryptophan is a chemical that can work together with another important brain chemical called serotonin, to help promote a calming effect and sleepiness. Foods rich in protein, however, increase production……

Types of mood disorders

Mental health can generally can be seperated into three categories: stress, anxiety, and depression and can all directly or indirectly increase the risk of fatigue. They are all common and treatable illnesses. Approximately 1 in 4 people will suffer from a mental illness throughout their lifetime. So it is likely that you or someone you……

What are the signs and symptoms of fatigue?

Some of the key signs to look out for are listed below. Drowsiness is an impaired awareness associated with a desire to sleep and signs include:errors in familiar tasksrepeated yawningdifficulty keeping eyes open, head nods, microsleepsirritability or impatiencememory loss or forgetfulness (e.g. not being able to remember the last 5min driving)difficulty concentrating/Dream-like thoughtsblurred visions, heavy……

Building fatigue resilient workplaces

Imagine being able to do everything in your working and personal life without thinking: “I don’t have the energy to do this”? The good news is that you can take steps to be more fatigue resistant…most of the time.Building fatigue resistance is like completing a puzzle each day. Think for a minute what makes completing……

Food quality and quantity

The quality and quantity of food you choose can make a huge difference to body weight. The difference between the two diets on the right is 5700kJ. Someone that eats 5700kJ more than another person will weigh 56 kilograms heavier or would have to walk 5 hours each day to burn this amount of energy……

Sleep & physical activity

Do I exercise or just have a sleep? It is not uncommon for people experiencing fatigue to put this down to lack of sleep, when in actual fact there are underlying physical and/or functional fitness problems. Physical or functional problems may be related to poor physical fitness, poor strength, inflexibility, injury, illness or inappropriate functional……

Is shift work detrimental to health?

There is a body of evidence that supports the statement that shift work can detrimentally impact on health, as well as, other factors that impact on human wellbeing and safety (i.e. alertness, fatigue, cognitive performance). It concludes, “that we have sufficient knowledge to conclude that shift work may indeed have detrimental consequences for health, despite……

Fitness levels

REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY leads to improved physical and functional (i.e. real-life, every day activities) fitness which has a major impact on reducing fatigue. This is because increasing fitness enables our bodies to operate more efficiently right throughout the day, which means our perceived effort to carry out daily activities is much less. If you do……

10 nutrition tips to beat fatigue

Eat breakfast based on breads, cereals low fat dairy and fruit. Pack a lunchbox with snack including at least 2 pieces of fruit. Portion dinner plate correctly with half the plate coloured vegetables, ¼ the plate potato, rice, pasta or bread; and palm size portion of meat. Eat to be comfortably satisfied not full to……