‘Fit Sick’ – The New Term For People Who Look Healthy, But Feel Terrible
We normally assume that when people are a healthy weight and seem to live an active lifestyle, they are getting all of the health benefits that are promised from doing this. It is generally assumed that athletes feel full of energy all the time, and don’t suffer from a lot of the mood and sleep issues that exercise is generally thought to help with, too. However, some doctors are concerned that there is a new phenomenon called being ‘fit sick’, where people appear to be doing all of the right things and look healthy on the outside, but actually feel far less healthy in general.
What Are Some of The Causes of Being Fit Sick?
In most cases, it is the healthy diet and the exercise a person is doing that actually cause them to feel unwell. This is not to say that people do not generally feel better when they are doing these things, or that it is better not to do them, but that people who are embarking on these kinds of lifestyle changes need to do them carefully rather than over-stressing their bodies. Many people with high activity levels are actually deficient in important nutrients or have hormone imbalances due to the way their bodies have an increased demand for things their diet doesn’t provide. Equally, people who stick to very rigid diets, either for weight loss in general or because they need to support things like bodybuilding, can be lacking in vital vitamins and minerals, as well as having issues with their gut bacteria.
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Stress From Exercise
Additionally, intense exercise puts the body under stress, and this is something a lot of people don’t consider. Levels of cortisol in athletes can be high in people with very stressful jobs, so while exercise can be a good mental stress buster, the response your body has to the physical stress is still important to consider – in short, don’t overdo it.
What Can People Do About Being Fit Sick?
Many of the symptoms of being fit sick, such as tiredness, sleep issues, depression, irritability and chronic inflammation, are down to nutritional deficiencies, and so a good way to address this can be to take supplements if you don’t want to change your diet. This can often make a big difference. Male athletes should also be tested for low testosterone, as their intense physical activities can burn through testosterone and cause this in some cases. This will lead to symptoms that can be addressed by treating the low T.
People also need to look at how they support their own health and well-being while living a very active lifestyle, for instance, whether it is really a good idea to follow a strict weight loss diet while also doing more than the recommended one hour of moderate cardio a day. Getting the right information and not trying to overachieve at the cost of stressing your body is the key to ongoing health.
