By KATRINA TURRILL
PUBLISHED: Jan 10, 2019

BEST supplements for tiredness: Long hours at work, poor sleep habits during winter and eating the wrong foods can all contribute to feeling tired. Making more time for sleep is one solution, but some experts recommend a particular vitamin to help boost your energy levels.

Tiredness during this time of year is not unusual. Following a busy end of a year and the start of a new one, it can be a struggle to fall back into a routine and normal sleep patterns. Exercise, making changes to your sleep environment, cutting out caffeine and drinking more water are some simple lifestyle changes recommended by the NHS to help. But making sure you get enough vitamin B5 could also help reduce tiredness and fatigue.

Vitamin B5 is also known as pantothenic acid and is just one of many B vitamins.

As well as reducing tiredness and fatigue, the vitamin has also been found to help maintain healthy mental performance, the production of steroid hormones, processing vitamin D, and helping produce some neurotransmitters, according to Holland & Barrett.

It explains: “The name ‘pantothenic’ comes from the Greek word ‘pant’ that means ‘everywhere’, as B5 is found in such a wide range of foods.”

Animal based sources include:

  • Chicken
  • Beef
  • Kidney
  • Eggs
  • Dairy products

Plant-based sources include:

  • Mushrooms
  • Avocado
  • Lentils
  • Kale
  • Wholegrain cereals

Vitamin B5 can be destroyed during the cooking process so try to opt for fresh produce and steam or grill meals.