From reduced sunlight to changes in your body clock: Winter can leave you feeling more tired

Sleeping longer but waking up tired? The doctor explains how winter can affect your sleep quality and energy levels.

Sleeping an extra hour through winter and still feeling wrecked by mid-morning is common enough, and the reasons are mostly ordinary. Your body clock shifts, daylight shrinks, and the way most of us live once it turns cold does the rest. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Niranjan Singh, additional director, internal medicine, CK Birla Hospitals, Jaipur, explained the reason behind this winter fatigue.

Sleep cycle

According to Dr Singh, the circadian rhythm runs the body's 24-hour sleep and wake cycle, and light is what sets it. Shorter days and more time spent indoors can leave melatonin, the hormone that makes you drowsy, elevated for longer than it should be. You end up sleepy well into the day and running on low power. Less sunlight tends to pull mood and alertness down with it, which adds to that flat, heavy feeling.

The circadian rhythm runs the body's 24-hour sleep and wake cycle, and light is what sets it. (Pexel)

Cold weather impact

“Cold weather also makes movement harder. Nobody wants a walk when it's freezing, and the treadmill starts to feel like a punishment,” said Dr Singh. Activity drops, and the less you move, the more sluggish you get. Winter eating doesn't help either, since we reach for heavier food and often forget to drink enough water.

Underlying diseases

Plenty of tiredness has nothing to do with the season, though. Anaemia, a thyroid problem, low vitamin B12 or vitamin D, diabetes and untreated sleep issues all turn up as persistent fatigue. For some people, low energy and mood changes that arrive with the darker months point to seasonal affective disorder.

To keep your energy up, go to bed and wake at roughly the same time, get outdoors into daylight whenever you can, and keep exercising. (Pexel)

How to ensure your energy levels?

According to Dr Singh, to keep your energy up, go to bed and wake at roughly the same time, get outdoors into daylight whenever you can, keep exercising, eat properly and drink enough water. See a doctor if you're sleeping enough and still exhausted, or if you notice weight loss or gain, breathlessness, dizziness, or a loss of interest and will to live. The difficult part is telling normal winter sluggishness apart from a tiredness that doesn't lift, because that second kind can point to something worth getting checked.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.