Researchers say a common food additive found in a majority of popular items at your grocery store can leave you feeling wiped out when eaten in large quantities.

Is it hard to motivate yourself to get off the couch and go exercise? 

Well, a common food additive you’re unknowingly consuming in large quantities might be to blame.

New research sheds light on inorganic phosphate — an additive and preservative found in up to 70 percent of the foods in the common diet in the United States — and the impact it could be having on your health. 

The study, published in the journal Circulation, aimed to look at the adverse impacts of consuming too much phosphate in one’s diet by examining lab mice that were given a high-phosphate diet.

The researchers measured the rodents’ oxygen uptake during exercise, showing not just less capacity for movement but also the inability to produce enough fatty acids needed to feed their muscles.