Professors Tim Roberts and Hugh Dunstan, scientists at the University of Newcastle have been researching the causes of fatigue for over 17 years and discovered a healthier, proven alternative to the much revered caffeine hit!
Fatigue affects everyone, not just the sick and elderly. Healthy adults, even supremely fit athletes, suffer from fatigue, and the Newcastle professors never get tired of pursuing the subject! They have spent many years researching individuals with sub-optimal health and analysing urine amino acid levels in these people. Amino acids are building blocks of proteins, and proteins are the structural polymers of your body – the messengers, enzymes and transporters – if there is a shortage, supplementation becomes important as if a shortage continues ill health will ensue.
The professors concluded that in individuals of sub-optimal health there was a chronic catabolic (breakdown) state present as compared to the healthy controls who were in an anabolic state. Your body actual swings into the catabolic state to fight infection, however if the cause of the catabolism is not cleared up, the body eventually runs out of essential nutrients in particular amino acids. So supplementation with amino acids in fact allows the defensive proteins to be produced and health, especially energy levels, to be improved. Their research also lead to a new understanding that fatigue, mental fogginess, muscle pain, gut disturbance, sleep disturbance, food intolerance, headaches and night sweats are symptoms of so many conditions because they are all related to this catabolic state.