Where does lasting energy really comes from? Learn how to improve energy levels naturally using science-backed strategies involving sleep, movement, nutrition, stress, and daily rhythms.
What are your daily energy levels like? Are you brimming with vigour and vim and ready to attack the day? Everyday? Or are you more familiar with the feeling of struggling to drag yourself out of bed and reaching for any solution to get yourself going each day. Usually when people say they need more energy, they’re rarely asking for increased endurance or stamina. They are usually seeking for greater internal drive, motivation, capacity and resilience, the a sense that life feels and it's daily demands seems lighter and more manageable.
Physiologically, that sense or feeling doesn’t typically grow from a single source. It usually emerges when several key systems within the body are working together in harmony.
Therefore, energy is not something you need to discover or add to the body. It’s something that will develop when the right inputs are supported and physiological friction is reduced.
Energy is a systems outcome, not a quick fix
From a basic biological perspective, the degree to which we feel energetic or not will reflect how well the body is able to regulate its own:
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Sleep–wake cycles
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Blood sugar balance
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Stress hormones
Oxygen intake and circulation
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Muscle activity
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Nervous system arousal and inhibition
When these various factors and systems are aligned and in harmony one with another, then energy levels will feel more steady and reliable across the day. When they are out of alignment or dysregulated, then the sense of energy within the body will ebb and flow, making even small demands appear challenging and may even be rapidly draining.
1. Sleep: the foundation of energy restoration
Sleep is the primary time the brain can fully recalibrate and reorganise. During sleep, neural networks effectively reset, metabolic waste is cleared, learnign and meory are consolidated, and hormonal rhythms are stabilised.
When sleep is shortened or fragmented:
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The brain struggles to maintain sufficeint alertness
Cognitive functions and higher level thinking are impaired¹
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Daily stress hormone rhythms (cortisol) are changed in ways that encourage a boom or bust reponse to our daily energy levels
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Inherent motivation and perceived energy levels decrease, even if physical capacity is stable
The highest levels of scientific rigour demonstrate clearly that people with insufficient or poor-quality sleep consistently report lower levels of energy and higher perceived fatigue, regardless of dietary preferences or established fitness levels²³.
Importantly, energy can significantly improve with improved sleep, consistent sleep. I guess the trick is how to go about obtaining that improved sleep...to learn a little more about sleep you may wish to read our blog, titled Sleep, the forgettern elixir of health.
2. Circadian rhythms: daily routines really matter
Energy is governed by internal biological timing, known as cellular 'clocks'. Light exposure, meal timing, physical activity and exercise, and habitual sleep schedules all influence these daily rhythms. The word circadian means 'about a day'. Thus physiological processes that adhere to 24 hour cycles are usually known in the science as circadian rhythms.
Obtaing morning light exposure typically strengthens circadian alignment, improving daytime alertness and facilitating evening sleepiness later in the 24 hour day. Engagin in regular or routine behaviours and habits can also positively infleunce circadian timings by providing clear signals to the body and brain between daytime and night time. Eating at habitual daytime meal timings, engaging in exercise during daytime hours, working in a career that has daytime working patterns all serve as clear signals of daytime, wakeful circadiuan timing. Also having regular behaviours and habits at night can also be important indicators that sleep is imminent, for example, reducing lighting, winding down activity as bedtime approaches, avoiding eating late, and having a simple pre-bedtime routine can all signal to the circadian systems that sleep is approaching.
Disrupted circadian rhythms lead to:
Sluggish mornings with increased fatigue and sleepiness
Noticeable energy slumps when alerting systems naturally dip in the afternoon
Difficulty falling asleep when bedtime arrives¹²
Establishing regular daily routines supports sustainable energy during the day by supporting nervous system predictability that keeps the active alerting systems high during the day. Conversely this also allows for winding down and an appropriate increase in sleep pressure and a settling down of the alerting systems at night.
3. Blood sugar stability: preventing the daily rollercoaster
Glucose is typically referred to as the primary fuel source for the brain. While this is true, it is important to recognise that the brain can also operate on ketones, a form of short fats, but under ideal conditions, glucose, that comes from carbohydrate rich foods, tends to be the major fuel source. Dietary patterns that result in rapid glucose increases subsequently cause rapid insulin release which in turn drives blood glucose levels back down. This often eleads to an over-response that sends blood glucose too low, and causes energy and wellbeing to suffer for a time. These sporadic lows tend to lead to repetitive behaviour that increases convenience food consumption.
Highly refined carbohydrates or sugary foods are commonly targeted as foods that cause rapid glucose spikes followed by the indesirable energy crash. The symptoms for low blood sugar may include any of the following:
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Shakiness/Trembling: Often one of the first signs.
Rapid or Irregular Heartbeat (Palpitations): Fast heart rate.
Sweating/Chills: Intense sweating is common.
Skin/Sensation Changes: Pale skin (pallor) and numbness or tingling of the lips, tongue, or cheeks.
Physical Weakness/Fatigue: Feeling tired or weak.
Mood Changes: Irritability, anxiety, nervousness, or sudden moodiness.
Neurological Effects: Confusion, dizziness, lightheadedness, difficulty concentrating, or blurred vision.
Hunger: Feeling very hungry.
Headache: Sudden, sharp, or dull headache. ⁴
Meals and snacks that contain protein, fibre, and fats will help to slow digestion, allowing glucose and other nutrients to enter the bloodstream gradually. This gradual uptake of nutrients into the blood provides a more sustained and manageable blood glucose response. This supports:
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Steady, balanced physical energy
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Improved mental focus and concentration
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Reduced fatigue and post-meal sleepiness⁵
4. Movement: using energy may help you feel energetic!
Physical activity increases feelings of energy availability, not by conserving physiological fuels, but by improving our cellular efficiency in how we partition and use foods to generate sustainable energy.
Regular movement:
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Enhances mitochondrial function (how cells produce energy)
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Improves circulation and oxygen delivery to the cells
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Increases insulin sensitivity, facilitating the movement of fuel into the cells
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Stimulates an increase in alertness and motivation
Large scale, collective science (meta-analyses) clearly shows that simple, fundamental physical activities, such as brisk walking, cycling or other moderate level activity, clearly reduces feelings of fatigue and improves perceived energy levels⁶⁷.
The key message is that like breeds like! Sedentary lifestyles and inactivity makes energy systems and energy availability feel sluggish. Regular moderate activity and sustained habits that emphasise movement encourages better energy flow through the physiological systems and this facilitates a sense of lower fatigue and higher energy availability.
5. Stress and Energy: Why Chronic Pressure Is So Draining
Short bursts of stress tend to stimulate the nervous system and increase alertness, but over time with chronic stress exposure the siutation changes because stress is physiologically expensive. When the stress response is activated more often with limited recovery, then stress hormones (cortisol & adrenaline) remain present in the bloodstream more than is useful for ongoing wellbeing. Over time, this disrupts natural circadian cortisol rhythms, destabilises blood glucose, and fragments sleep. It tends to lead to alertness and fatigue patterns that are out of alignment with the 24 hour light-dark cycle. Perhaps, it sounds familiar to feel fatigued in mid-late afternoon, but wide awake when it is time to go to bed at night - this is a classic example of dysregulated cortisol rhythms 8. Fatigue, reduced motivation, and “wired but tired” feelings are common outcomes 9. To read more about how stress can impact our physiology and daily life, read our blog on How stress affects modern life.
Purposefully applying stress resilience strategies doesn’t just address psychological stress, they can help to restore physiological and circadian regulation. When the nervous system is supported in quickly shifting from activation and recovery, cortisol rhythms can normalise, gradually improving metabolic stability and restoring sleep-wake rhythms to their rightful place. A feeling of increased energy will restored because less is being invested into chronically derived background stress activation.
Practices that have been shown to support stress-related energy regulation include:
- Slow, controlled breathing (improves vagal tone and autonomic balance)
- Regular low-moderate intensity movement or exercise (reduces stress reactivity)
- Consistent sleep–wake schedule (stabilises cortisol rhythms)
Resilience is not about eliminating all challenging components of life, it refers to actively supporting the body to recover efficiently from stressful processes when they, of necessity, are required in life. And when stress-recovery improves, more sustainable, lasting energy levels often follow.
6. Micronutrients: removing metabolic bottlenecks
Certain nutrients are essential for energy production pathways, iron for oxygen transport, the whole complex of B vitamins, vitamins C and D, magnesium, zinc, and iodine being the most immediately required for energy production pathways.
If there is a nutrient deficiency then energy production can be somewhat compromised. In deficient individuals, these bottlenecks may lead to increased feelings of fatigue or lack of energy reserves. Identifying and rectifying dietary deficiencies will likely contribute to improvements in energy and wellbeing¹⁰.
In people without deficiencies, however, supplementation rarely increases energy¹¹.
This reinforces a key principle, that energy will naturally improve when limitations are removed.
7. Meaning and motivation: the overlooked energy amplifier
Perhaps the most underestimated driver of potential daily energy is psychological.
People who feel their daily behaviours and actions are meaningful and have purpose consistently report feelings of greater vitality, even when physically tired¹³.
Motivation activates neural circuits that increase arousal and resilience. When intentions, expectations and our efforts feel directed and purposeful, then internal energy is perceived as being higher.
Energy often returns quietly
Very rarely does energy arrive all at once in a dramatic transformative process. Usually improved energy is restored to the body drop by drop in a gradually strengthening manner.
You may become aware of improvements in the following ways:
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Fewer energy crashes during the day
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More positive mornings and a brighter outlook on the day ahead
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More willingness and less resistance to movement and being active
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A greater internal drive to complete daily tasks sooner without procrastinating
These are a few of the possible signs that your physiology is realigning and returning to a more balanced and harmonious state of health and wellbeing.
Using energy wisely: a short coaching reflection
When a sense of increased energy begins to return, it can be tempting to immediately fill it with more obligations, goals and tasks. Perhaps, a more sustainable approach might be to ask:
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What activities energise me rather than just use up my energy reserves?
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Where does my energy feel well invested rather than simply drained?
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What daily cycles, rhythms or behaviours help me to protect this new energetic baseline?
Energy grows when it is respected and not abused.
The aim isn’t to always do more and cram more into a day. It may be better to approach life with the intention to build routines, patterns, and habits that help you live with more purpose, clarity, and enjoyment, while resisting the need to fill every moment with work and stress.
References
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Van Dongen HPA et al. The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness: dose-response effects on neurobehavioral functions and sleep physiology from chronic sleep restriction and total sleep deprivation. Sleep. 2003.
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Pilcher JJ, Huffcutt AI. Sleep loss and performance. Sleep. 1996.
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Ohayon MM et al. Fatigue and sleep quality. J Psychosom Res. 2008.
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Benton D, Donohoe RT. Diet and energy regulation. Nutrients. 2011.
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Reynolds AN et al. Dietary fibre and metabolic health. Nutrients. 2020.
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Puetz TW et al. Physical activity and energy. Psychol Bull. 2006.
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Wender Carly L et al. The Effect of Chronic Exercise on Energy and Fatigue States: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials. Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 13. 2022.
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McEwen BS. Stress and allostatic load. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1998.
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Melamed S et al. Burnout and risk of cardiovascular disease: evidence, possible causal paths, and promising research directions. Psychol Bull. 2006.
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Haas JD, Brownlie T. Iron deficiency and fatigue. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001.
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Wikoff D et al. Vitamin supplementation and energy. Nutr Rev. 2018.
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Stothard ER et al. Circadian Entrainment to the Natural Light-Dark Cycle across Seasons and the Weekend. Curr Biol. 2017.
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Ryan RM, Deci EL. Vitality and wellbeing. J Pers. 2008.
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