Sleep Deprivation, Energy Levels and Motherhood

Back in January I discussed my own decisions around giving my kids multi-vitamins, and shared my decision to become a Swiss Natural Ambassador. Today I’m going to be talking about energy, something many moms could use more of. I’ll also be talking about Solutions® Energy from…wait for it…Swiss Natural.

I’ve written on this blog before about the fact that I don’t enjoy coffee. Also, while I have an enormous (and still growing!) tea collection, I actually don’t drink it much. I like the idea of tea, I enjoy a cup of tea, but I rarely get around to making it. What this means is that when my energy level starts to flag in the afternoon, I actually tend to just suffer through it. While my mom friends get their caffeine fix, I grit my teeth and bear it.

To be perfectly fair, when I’m sleep-deprived these days it’s largely my own fault. My kids are four and seven. They don’t keep me up at night. I keep myself up, because that time after they go to bed is often the only break I get all day. I stay up long past my “bedtime” (I’m using quotes here because I don’t think I’ve actually gone to bed at that time in living memory). I work or watch TV or knit. But when the next morning comes far too early I kick myself, because yet again I haven’t gotten enough sleep.

In fairness to myself, I have taken steps to get to sleep earlier. While I was clocking in at under seven hours each night for a while, I’m now at over seven and a half. Thirty minutes makes a big difference. But it’s not always big enough, so what do I do then?

When I got my sample bottle of Solutions® Energy from Swiss Natural I was both intrigued and a little bit wary. I was intrigued because, let’s face it, there are a whole lot of days when I could use an energy boost. I was wary because I didn’t know what was in it, and I didn’t know the effect it would have on me. I was a little bit concerned about what I would write if I hated it. I don’t consume a lot of caffeine – would it make me wingy? Was it safe? I decided to research the ingredients, which are green tea, guarana, vitamin B12, folic acid and fructose.

I know what green tea, B12, folic acid and fructose are. None of those alarmed me. But what the heck is guarana? According to Wikipedia, it’s a climbing plant from the Amazon basin that is especially common in Brazil. Indigenous peoples have harvested it for centuries, and it’s high in caffeine. It is generally recognized as safe by the FDA. According to WebMD, it’s used for weight loss, to enhance athletic performance, as a stimulant, and to reduce mental and physical fatigue. It works by stimulating the central nervous system, because it contains caffeine. While certain groups of people should use it in moderation, such as pregnant or breastfeeding women, you would handle it the same way you would handle coffee.

This information convinced me that Solutions® Energy is safe. Each capsule contains 50mg of caffeine. By contrast, a cup of coffee contains 80-200mg of caffeine, and a cup of tea contains about 35-75mg. Coke clocks in at 34mg, and Pepsi clocks in at 37.5mg. So while the caffeine level is not insignificant, it’s also not astoundingly high. I have a relatively low caffeine threshold, and I found that I definitely noticed an increase in my energy level, but not to the point where I was nervous or agitated.

The truth is that in order to keep my energy level high, I should probably do those things that we all know we should do – get plenty of sleep, eat properly, exercise, and so on. However, it’s also true that I sometimes (or maybe more than sometimes) don’t do those things. If I find myself in that position, I would be comfortable taking Solutions® Energy as a quick pick-me-up.

Swiss Natural offers a whole lot of other products in its Solutions® line, as well as a variety of supplements for all ages. To find out more about those like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

How do you cope when your energy level is flagging? Are you a coffee or a tea drinker, do you go for a run, or do you grit your teeth and plow through?

Disclosure: As a Swiss Natural Ambassador, I was paid to write this post.

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