Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand April / May 2017: Health & Wellness Issue | Page 30

Health & Wellness
MORE
CAUSES OF
SLEEPINESS
Here are some other
common causes of
fatigue:
¬ ¬ Dehydration
¬ ¬ Working out
excessively
¬ ¬ Artificial blue light
from screens
¬ ¬ Certain medications
¬ ¬ Heart disease
¬ ¬ Sleep apnea
¬ ¬ Pregnancy
¬ ¬ Depression
understand why many people there
become deficient. But low vitamin
D is also a common problem for res-
idents of sun-drenched places such
as Thailand, where abundant sun-
shine and heat encourage people
to stay indoors, cover up and wear
sunscreen.
So be sure to get your “sunshine
vitamin” by soaking up just enough
of those rays. If you think you might
be deficient, a blood test can indicate
whether you need to increase your
vitamin D levels or not.
#3 IRON DEFICIENCY
Iron deficiency, also known as ane-
mia, is a common problem among
women, especially in physically-ac-
tive women. Our bodies use iron to
make healthy red blood cells. When
your iron is low, you don’t have
enough oxygen in your red blood
30 WANDERLUST
cells, leading to a host of symptoms
such as fatigue, pale skin, difficultly
focusing, sore muscles, breathless-
ness, and frequent infections.
Ideally, women should consume
18 mg of iron per day through food.
Some iron-rich foods are: beef, pork,
lamb, lentils, peas, dark leafy greens,
morel mushrooms, olives, and dried
apricots. To help absorb iron, con-
sume foods high in vitamin C (like
broccoli, oranges, peppers — to
name a few) along with your iron-rich
food items.
A simple blood test can easily
detect whether you have iron defi-
ciency. If you do, it can be corrected
through eating iron-rich foods or by
taking iron supplements.
#4 THYROID PROBLEMS
If you’re eating healthfully and get-
ting enough sun and slumber, your
fatigue might be from hypothyroid-
ism, particularly if your tiredness is
accompanied by unexplained weight
gain. Also called under-active thyroid,
hypothyroidism means your body
doesn’t make enough thyroid hor-
mone, which slows down your me-
tabolism. It is a common condition,
believed to affect, to some degree, as
many as 10 percent of women.
One of the first signs of under-ac-
tive thyroid is feeling sluggish. Other
symptoms include: feeling cold
(when others do not), constipation,
pale skin, thinning hair, puffy face,
weight gain, increased menstrual
bleeding, and muscle weakness.
Hypothyroidism is determined via
blood tests and treatment involves
taking a hormone pill. You will proba-
bly need to take your thyroid medi-
cation for the rest of your life, but the
good news is that medicine for hypo-
thyroidism is safe and effective.
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