Why Do You Feel Run Down When Nothing's Wrong?

The hidden fire inside your body, and how to stop feeding it

By Carol Locke, M.D.

You slept eight hours and woke up tired. Your body feels older than it should. You're not sick. You're just... running on empty.

Maybe this sounds familiar:

• Tired after a full night's sleep.
• Stiff and achy in a way that has nothing to do with the gym.
• Slow to bounce back after every busy stretch.
• Foggy and flat, like someone turned your dimmer switch down.
• Running on caffeine just to feel normal.

Here's what most people don't realize: inflammation isn't only something you see, like a swollen ankle. It can also run quietly in the background, a low, invisible burn that can leave you feeling drained. When researchers briefly triggered inflammation in healthy volunteers, their fatigue and sleepiness rose right alongside their inflammatory messengers.

What you really want is simple: to feel like yourself again. Energy in the morning. A body that keeps up with you.

As a physician, I see this all the time. Here's the plan I share.

The Cool-Down Plan: 3 steps

Step 1. Rebalance your fats. (Stop feeding the fire.)

Omega-6 and omega-3 fats compete in your body. Omega-6 fats are the raw material for messengers that turn inflammation up; omega-3s help turn it down. Our ancestors ate about 2 to 3 parts omega-6 for every part omega-3. Today the typical Western diet runs closer to 15 or 17 to 1, largely because of the enormous growth in refined vegetable oils like corn, sunflower and safflower. Use fewer of those oils, and eat more fish.

Step 2. Protect your sleep. (Wake up restored.)

Sleep and inflammation are closely linked. In a review of 72 studies with more than 50,000 people, poor sleep went hand in hand with higher inflammatory markers. Keep a steady bedtime and wake time, and put screens away an hour before bed.

Step 3. Add daily EPA omega-3. (Support a healthy inflammatory response.)

I formulated OmegaBrite 7010MD with a deliberate 7:1 ratio of EPA to DHA, because EPA has the relatively stronger anti-inflammatory effects. In a four-month Ohio State University trial of 138 healthy, sedentary, overweight adults with an average age of 51, people took OmegaBrite or placebo capsules made from oils matched to the fat mix of a typical American diet.

On placebo, the inflammatory messenger IL-6 rose 36%. On OmegaBrite, it fell 10 to 12%. Both doses lowered IL-6 compared with placebo: 10% on about three capsules a day, 12% on six. The researchers called it the first well-powered trial to show this kind of change in healthy middle-aged and older adults. And because these volunteers started with a better omega-6 to omega-3 ratio in their blood than typical, the researchers wrote that the results probably underestimate what omega-3 can do.

Start Step 3: OmegaBrite 7010MD, 90 capsules →

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3 more small habits

4. Eat oily fish twice a week. Salmon, sardines, mackerel.

5. Move every day. A brisk walk counts.

6. Give it time. The Ohio State trial ran four months. Think in seasons, not days.

Imagine four months from now

You wake up and actually feel rested. You have energy left at the end of the day for the people and things you love. Your body feels like it's on your side again.

That's the goal. Not a perfect body. A body that feels like yours again.

Get OmegaBrite 7010MD → Start one for you, and one for your partner.

Who do you know who's been running on empty? Send them this. A quick look at the oil in their kitchen could be the most useful thing they do this week.

3 things you'll want to tell someone

1. Placebo capsules matched to the American fat mix went the wrong way. On placebo capsules of oils matched to the fat mix of a typical American diet, IL-6 rose 36% in four months. On omega-3, it fell 10 to 12%.
2. Your body has an off switch for inflammation. Turning inflammation off isn't passive. Your body makes compounds called resolvins from the omega-3s EPA and DHA that help actively switch it off.
3. Our fat balance has flipped. Our ancestors ate about 2 to 3 parts omega-6 per part omega-3. Today it's 15 or 17 to 1.

For the curious: the science behind the plan

The Ohio State inflammation trial. In this three-arm, randomized, double-blind trial, 138 healthy middle-aged and older adults (average age 51) who were sedentary and overweight took 2.5 or 1.25 grams of omega-3 a day, or a placebo, for four months. The capsules were OmegaBrite, and the placebo was a blend of oils that mirrored the proportions of fats in the typical American diet. Serum IL-6 fell 12% on the higher dose and 10% on the lower dose, compared with a 36% rise on placebo. Serum TNF-α, another inflammatory messenger, changed by −2.3% and 0.2% on omega-3, compared with a 12% rise on placebo. The two doses did not differ significantly from each other; both differed clearly from placebo. Participants started with an average blood omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of about 10.8 to 1, lower than the 15 to 17 to 1 of the typical North American diet, so the authors wrote that their data probably underestimate the potential impact. 96% completed the trial, and side effects did not differ from placebo. The researchers wrote that they chose the 7:1 ratio because EPA has relatively stronger anti-inflammatory effects than DHA. The National Institutes of Health funded the research.

How inflammation feels. When researchers gave healthy volunteers a brief, controlled inflammatory challenge, fatigue and sleepiness rose in step with their inflammatory messengers, and people with bigger inflammatory responses felt more tired.

Under pressure. In a later analysis of the same trial by an Ohio State and UCSF team, participants gave a stressful speech and did mental math in front of judges. The 2.5 g/day group had 33% lower IL-6 and 19% lower cortisol (measured in saliva) throughout the test, and both omega-3 groups were protected from a 26% post-stress drop in IL-10, an anti-inflammatory messenger, seen on placebo. In 106 volunteers from the same trial, oxidative stress (F2-isoprostanes) was 15% lower on omega-3 than on placebo.

The off switch. Omega-3s EPA and DHA are the raw material for specialized pro-resolving mediators, including resolvins, which help the body actively resolve inflammation. Research in humans is still at an early stage.

Sleep and inflammation. A meta-analysis of 72 studies with more than 50,000 participants found that disturbed sleep was associated with higher inflammatory markers. This is an association; it does not show cause and effect.

P.S. Tonight, look at the oil you cook with. Switching from corn or sunflower oil is an easy first step.

About the author: Carol Locke, M.D., is a physician, the founder of OmegaBrite and the formulator of OmegaBrite 7010MD.

Frequently asked questions

Is inflammation always bad?

No. Short-term inflammation helps you heal. The problem is when it stays switched on at a low level.

What is the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, and why does it matter?

It's the balance between two families of fats that compete in your body. Omega-6s are the raw material for messengers that turn inflammation up, and omega-3s help turn it down. Most Western diets now run 15 or 17 parts omega-6 to every part omega-3.

How much omega-3 did the Ohio State trial use?

1.25 or 2.5 grams a day for four months. The higher dose was six OmegaBrite capsules a day.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

References

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2. Madison AA, Belury MA, Andridge R, et al. Omega-3 supplementation and stress reactivity of cellular aging biomarkers: an ancillary substudy of a randomized, controlled trial in midlife adults. Mol Psychiatry. 2021;26(7):3034-3042. doi:10.1038/s41380-021-01077-2
3. Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Epel ES, Belury MA, et al. Omega-3 fatty acids, oxidative stress, and leukocyte telomere length: a randomized controlled trial. Brain Behav Immun. 2013;28:16-24. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2012.09.004
4. Lasselin J, Karshikoff B, Axelsson J, et al. Fatigue and sleepiness responses to experimental inflammation and exploratory analysis of the effect of baseline inflammation in healthy humans. Brain Behav Immun. 2020;83:309-314. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2019.10.020
5. Irwin MR, Olmstead R, Carroll JE. Sleep disturbance, sleep duration, and inflammation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies and experimental sleep deprivation. Biol Psychiatry. 2016;80(1):40-52. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.05.014
6. Serhan CN. Pro-resolving lipid mediators are leads for resolution physiology. Nature. 2014;510(7503):92-101. doi:10.1038/nature13479
7. Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Belury MA, Andridge R, Malarkey WB, Glaser R. Omega-3 supplementation lowers inflammation and anxiety in medical students: a randomized controlled trial. Brain Behav Immun. 2011;25(8):1725-1734. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2011.07.229