Always tired? Overcome burnout with the right micronutrients

Your physical health can affect your mental health, and vice versa. When things at work are tough, you may experience burnout, which can cause other physical symptoms like extreme exhaustion or serious conditions like an irregular heartbeat.

This highlights the importance of taking care of your health, especially since burnout can be debilitating. If you’re worried about burnout and low energy levels, follow a healthy diet and eat lots of whole foods that are rich in micronutrients.

The perils of burnout

Kellyann Petrucci, a naturopathic doctor and New York Times bestselling author, once experienced burnout so bad she fainted while on an airplane.

When she regained consciousness, she was at the back of the plane on the floor with airline personnel putting ice around her neck. Petrucci said her condition was so bad she kept going in and out of consciousness.

The health scare made Petrucci realize that she had to relieve and assess her burnout. After taking the time to check in on herself, she found out that she was depleting her energy in several ways.

Petrucci was overworking herself with too many projects and spending time with people who sapped her energy.

However, one interesting component stood out to her. Her diet wasn’t ideal and she didn’t have the proper intake of micronutrients.

If you’re struggling with burnout, read on to learn how adding micronutrients to her diet cleansed Petrucci’s body and helped replenish her energy.

How antioxidants can help “unclog” your body

According to Petrucci, the human body flows like a river and you have to maintain healthy habits so it doesn’t get clogged up like a swamp. And when your body is “clogged,” Petrucci warned that you might experience symptoms like bloating, brain fog and burnout.

If you feel like you’re starting to experience burnout, make changes to your diet and boost your intake of micronutrients. These vitamins and minerals provide your body with antioxidants that might be missing in your diet.

While Petrucci wasn’t eating an unhealthy amount of fast food and processed sweets, she still wasn’t getting enough of those necessary antioxidants.

But when she started increasing her intake of micronutrients, she shared that she felt more energized.

This significant improvement in her condition and energy levels can be attributed to the gut-brain connection, which is key to relieving burnout since micronutrients create the foundation for gut health.

Just like how aloe vera helps naturally soothe pain caused by a sunburn, getting enough micronutrients helps “soothe, heal and seal the gut.” Petrucci added that micronutrients also reduce head-to-toe inflammation and “help you become a natural fat burner.”

Micronutrient-rich foods that help replenish your energy levels

Bone broth tops Petrucci’s list of her favorite micronutrients because it can give you a quick hit. This means that if you’re feeling especially depleted, bone broth can give you a quick energy boost.

Bone broth is made by simmering the bones and connective tissue of animals. It’s a highly nutritious stock often used in soups, sauces and gravies.

It’s also commonly consumed as a health drink. On weekends, make your own broth with bones from your preferred animal, like beef, bison, buffalo, chicken, fish, lamb, pork, turkey, veal, or venison.

You can also add marrow and connective tissues like beaks, feet, fins, gizzards, or hooves.

Bone broth basic recipe

While there are many bone broth recipes online, you don’t really need a specific one. You just need a large pot, water, vinegar and animal bones.

Ingredients:

• 2-4 pounds (about 1-2 kg) of animal bones
• 1 gallon (4 liters) of water
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) apple cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation: 

1. Place the bones, apple cider vinegar, animal bones and salt and pepper in a large pot or slow cooker and bring the mixture to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer and cook for 12 to 24 hours. The longer the broth cooks, the better it will taste and the more nutritious it will be.
3. Once you’re done, set the broth aside and let it cool.
4. Strain the mixture into a large container and discard the solids.

To make the most nutritious broth, use a variety of bones like oxtail, marrow bones, knuckles and feet. You can also mix and match bones in one batch of broth.

You need the apple cider vinegar because it helps pull all of the valuable nutrients out of the bones and into the water, which is what you will be consuming the next time you need an energy boost.

To enhance the flavor of the broth, add your favorite vegetables, herbs, or spices like carrot, celery, garlic, onion, parsley and thyme. Add these ingredients in step one.

If you’re not in the mood to make bone broth at home, you can also cook with flavorful superfoods like onions. According to Petrucci, prebiotic foods like onions give your body good “soil” for your microbes to land on.

Every 21 days, your intestinal cells regenerate. During this process, you need to make sure beneficial microbes have a good base to “land” on. This is where prebiotic foods come in.

If you’re looking for something tart and sweet, try eating more berries when you’re feeling burned out.

Blueberries, strawberries and other berries contain micronutrients that specifically prevent oxidative stress, which can “annihilate free radicals.” Additionally, berries are good for your skin health since they can naturally protect against sunburn.

Pay attention to your body and what it’s telling you. Burnout can affect both your mental and physical health, and micronutrients can help nourish both systems.

Petrucci explained that every channel in your body communicates simultaneously. There are biofeedback mechanisms and energetic pathways running through your body, and they all have to communicate well for your overall health.

When your energy levels are low and you’re struggling with burnout, take a break, prepare some bone broth or snack on a handful of berries to boost your micronutrient intake and foster the communication between these biofeedback mechanisms and energetic pathways.