If you're sick and tired of being tired, then you need to figure out the reason for your fatigue. Too many late nights at the office? A crying baby? Poor diet? Check in with your doctor to make sure there's not a medical condition causing your fatigue. Once you get a clean bill of health, try these remedies to help you perk up.

Natural home remedies
Drink some tea boiled with 1/4 teaspoon powdered cardamom. Sprinkle fresh ground cinnamon on your porridge, cereal, toast or whatever you have for breakfast. It triples the ability of insulin to metabolize glucose. Drink a glass of juice that is one part grapefruit and one part lemon. We've read case histories in which, within a few weeks, the intake of bee pollen not only increased a person's physical energy, but restored mental alertness and eliminated lapses of memory and confusion.  Suggested dosage: Take 1 teaspoon of granular bee pollen after breakfast, or two 500 mg bee pollen pills after breakfast.

Start by taking just a few granules of bee pollen each day to make sure you have no allergic reaction to it. If all is well after three days, increase the amount to ? teaspoon every day. Gradually, over the next month or two, work your way up to 3 teaspoons of bee pollen taken throughout the day.

If you're tired the second you wake up in the morning, try this Vermont tonic-in a blender, put 1 cup of warm water, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and 1 teaspoon of honey. Blend thoroughly, then sip it slowly until it's all gone. Have this tonic every morning before breakfast and, within days, you may feel a difference in your energy level.

A quick picker-upper is 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper in a cup of water. Drink it down and get a second wind. If you're suffering from mental fatigue, try this Austrian recipe-thoroughly wash an apple, cut it into small pieces, leaving the peel on and place the pieces in a bowl. Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the apple and let it steep for an hour. Then add 1 tablespoon of honey. Drink the apple/honey water and eat the pieces of apple.

Take Off Your Shoes
If possible, walk barefoot in dewy grass. The next best thing is to carefully walk up and back in six inches of cold bath water. Do it for five to 10 minutes twice a day-in the morning and late afternoon. If you have a bad case of the drowsies, puncture a garlic pearle (soft gel) or cut a garlic clove in half, and take a few deep whiffs. That ought to wake you up.

Energy Boosters
A Chinese theory is that "tiredness" collects on the insides of one's elbows and the backs of one's knees. Wake up your body by slap-slap-slapping both those areas. You don't have to depend on caffeine to stay awake. Mix 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to 1 quart of juice-any kind of juice with no sugar or preservatives added. Throughout a long drive, or a night of cramming, as soon as you feel sleep overcoming you, take a cup of the cayenne-laced juice to keep awake and alert. Tough day at the office? Need to get that second wind? Ready for a drink? Tired of all these questions? Add 1 tablespoon of blackstrap molasses to a glass of milk (regular, skim, soy or rice milk) and bottoms up.