How to have more energy: an evidence-based plan for women

Reviewed by Emma Carter, Senior Health & Nutrition Editor

Most women who feel low on energy are not lazy or imagining it. Tiredness usually has real, findable causes, and it splits into two groups: everyday habits that quietly drain you, and physical causes worth ruling out. Work through both in order and you cover almost everything that matters. This guide is the action plan: the order to work through, from the daily habits that matter most to the tests worth asking for. For the diagnostic detail behind those tests, see our guide to fatigue in women.

Start with the foundations

Before hunting for a hidden cause, get the basics working, because they explain the majority of everyday tiredness.

• Sleep comes first. Nothing else compensates for too little of it. If sleep itself is the problem, our guide to poor sleep covers what helps.
• Eat to keep blood sugar steady. Regular meals built on protein and fiber avoid the spikes and crashes that leave you flat by mid-afternoon. Skipping meals then grabbing something sugary is a classic energy trap.
• Move, even a little. It sounds backwards, but activity builds energy. A single 15-minute walk lifts it, and regular movement does more over time.
• Drink enough water. Mild dehydration reads as fatigue. Our water intake calculator gives a rough daily target.
• Mind caffeine timing. Coffee helps in the morning but disrupts sleep late in the day, which feeds the next day's tiredness.

Give these two weeks of honest effort. For a lot of women, that is the whole answer.

Rule out the common physical causes

If the foundations are solid and you are still running empty, the next step is a blood test rather than another habit. Four causes account for most of it in women: low iron stores, low vitamin B12, low vitamin D and an underactive thyroid. Each is common and each is treatable once confirmed.

Two points make the checking worthwhile. Iron stores fall before anemia appears, so a normal blood count does not clear you (Clinical Medicine, 2021). And B12 deficiency climbs with age, from roughly 6% under 60 to about 20% over 60 (Fujita Medical Journal, 2022).

Rather than repeat the detail here, our guide to the causes of fatigue in women sets out how to tell these four apart by your other symptoms, and exactly which tests to ask for. Work through that if the foundations below are already in place.

The message either way is the same: test before you supplement, because correcting a gap you do not have adds nothing and can backfire.

Hormones and life stage

Energy also shifts with your cycle and your stage of life. Many women notice a dip in the days before a period, and tiredness is one of the most common complaints of perimenopause, when fluctuating hormones disturb sleep and mood together. If your low energy tracks your cycle or arrives alongside other changes like mood swings or night sweats, that context helps you and your doctor make sense of it.

A simple order to work through

If you do nothing else, follow this sequence:

1. Protect your sleep for two weeks.
2. Eat regular meals with protein and fiber, and drink enough water.
3. Add a short daily walk.
4. If you are still tired, ask your doctor for blood tests: ferritin, B12, vitamin D and thyroid.
5. Treat any confirmed gap, and review anything hormonal with your doctor.

When to see a doctor

See your doctor if tiredness is severe, has lasted more than a few weeks despite good habits, or comes with other symptoms such as unexplained weight change, breathlessness, low mood, or heavy periods. Ongoing, unexplained fatigue is worth investigating properly rather than pushing through. Most causes are common and fixable once you know what you are dealing with.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest way to get more energy?

There is no instant fix, but the quickest wins are steady sleep, regular balanced meals with protein and fiber, a short daily walk, and enough water. These lift energy within days. Anything deeper, like low iron or thyroid problems, needs a blood test to find and fix.

Which deficiencies cause low energy in women?

The common ones are low iron or ferritin, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and an underactive thyroid. Each is easy to check with a blood test and treatable once confirmed, which is why testing beats guessing when tiredness lingers.

Do energy supplements work?

Supplements only help if you are actually low in that nutrient. Taking iron or B12 when your levels are normal does not add energy and, with iron, can cause harm. Test first, then correct a genuine gap. For most women, food and sleep do more than any pill.

When is tiredness a sign of something serious?

See a doctor if tiredness is severe, lasts more than a few weeks despite good habits, or comes with weight change, breathlessness, low mood, heavy periods or other new symptoms. Persistent, unexplained fatigue deserves proper investigation.

References

1. Iron deficiency without anaemia: a diagnosis that matters · Al-Naseem A, Clinical Medicine (London), 2021;21(2):107-113
2. Involvement of folate and vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with normocytic anemia · Fujita Medical Journal, 2022
3. Self-help tips to fight tiredness · NHS
4. Iron: fact sheet for health professionals · NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
5. Vitamin B12: fact sheet for health professionals · NIH Office of Dietary Supplements