What to Eat for More Energy
Oct 01, 2021
{Written by Jason}
We have a serious energy crisis on our hands. And I’m not talking about peak oil or the fact that Tesla can’t produce enough electric cars to meet demand. I’m referring to those all-too-familiar late-afternoon energy crashes that can have you pounding down a couple of cans of Red Bull. People are obsessed with gaining more energy throughout their day—and for good reason.
The daily workload and stress levels of most people are through the roof, and social pressure to keep up the pace can be intense. With family life, work responsibilities, hobbies, exercise, social media, and (if you’re lucky) a fun social life—where the heck do you find the energy to show up and be fully present for all of your commitments?
As I’ve said before, I believe the key to a healthy life starts with adopting a mindset of treating your food as fuel for that glorious machine, your body. On the most fundamental level of being, food is fuel for your body, mind, and spirit. And experiencing consistently low energy levels is often a direct result of the quality, quantity, and intention of your daily food choices.
And yet, people are scrambling to squeeze every last drop of energy from their bodies and, in doing so, make less than beneficial choices. The number of hours they work per week has become a badge of honor for many people to boast about. I’m not saying I’m against hard work. I understand and value how much energy it takes to hustle and be a success in this world, especially coming as I do from a low-income, blue-collar family in Detroit. But if all of your success, prosperity, and fame from the hard work, long hours, and determination comes at the expense of your long-term health, happiness, and contentment, then what the hell is the point? We need to stop the glorification of being busy and start taking better care of ourselves.
As a result of pushing ourselves too long and too hard without cultivating enough balance in our lives, the scope of our human energy crisis is almost out of control. A few key points about our self-appointed “fight against fatigue”:
- 15 to 27 percent of Americans complain about long-term fatigue
- The Centers for Disease Control estimates that between 1 and 4 million people in the U.S. have chronic fatigue
- Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) occurs four times more frequently in women than in men, although people of either sex can develop it
- CFS occurs most often in people in their 40s and 50s, but people of all ages can get chronic fatigue
For consistent energy, it’s important to pay attention to when you eat your meals throughout the day. And, believe it or not, it all starts in the morning.
Break(fast) the Cycle
In the 1960s, influential nutritionist Adelle Davis popularized the mantra, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” Why? Because fueling up appears to be more beneficial earlier in the day, when your body needs the most caloric intake for sustained energy throughout. What’s more, skipping your morning meal may have more serious long-term effects on your health. Reporting in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, Harvard School of Public Health researchers studied the health outcomes of 26,902 male health professionals ages 45 to 82 over a 16-year period. They discovered that the men who skipped breakfast had a 27 percent higher risk of heart attack or death from heart disease than those who didn’t. According to scientists, skipping breakfast may make you hungrier and more likely to eat larger, more calorie-dense meals later in the day, leading to surges in blood sugar. Such spikes can pave the way for diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol levels, all primary risk factors that can potentially lead to a heart attack later in life.
Now, this doesn’t mean you should go overboard with the mimosas and French toast at brunch! Eating a wholesome, balanced morning meal is important for setting your blood sugar pattern for the rest of the day. If you eat something with a good balance of fat and protein, your blood sugar will rise slowly and go down slowly. Choosing a breakfast made with refined sugar, like pastries or artificial coffee drinks, is the worst possible thing to do. You get a major insulin spike, and your blood sugar drops too low, so you inevitably get hungry again—and quickly. It’s one of the reasons that so many people get into a vicious cycle of overeating junk food throughout the rest of their day.
Late-Night Snack Attack
Calories get used no matter when you eat them, so it’s technically okay to eat them late in the day if you absolutely have to. However, if you eat a really heavy dinner, you’re not as likely to get rid of its calories before you go to sleep. What you don’t burn off is more likely to be stored as fat, since you become less active toward the end of the day. Eating too close to bedtime also increases your blood sugar and insulin levels, causing you to have a hard time falling asleep. Therefore, as Davis recommended, your last meal should absolutely be the calorically lightest of the day, easy to digest, and ideally consumed at least three hours before you plan to fall asleep.
There’s another reason that late-night eating isn’t the best idea ever. As those midnight snacks send your blood sugar soaring, your levels of the hormone melatonin fall. Melatonin is supposed to help you feel tired and relaxed. A big boost of energy coming from your dinner can act as a short-lived stimulant, causing you to feel more awake immediately after a meal. Also, it’s not a good practice to lie down and fall asleep immediately after a big meal (like those post-Thanksgiving naps on the couch), as it increases your chance for acid reflux and digestive distress.
There’s no absolute, perfect formula for eating that can maximize your energy levels all the time, but paying attention to both what and when you eat is a fantastic place to start. Depending on your daily schedule, eating your meals at the exact same time every day may not be feasible. But I think it’s a pretty safe bet that binge-eating a big-ass bowl of nacho chili cheese fries at midnight is probably not going to do wonders for your digestion, waistline, or energy levels.
How Cells Convert Nutrients into Energy
Complex organic food molecules such as sugars, fats, and proteins are rich sources of energy for cells because much of the energy used to form these molecules is literally stored within the chemical bonds that hold them together. Scientists can measure the amount of energy stored in foods using a device called a bomb calorimeter (which, coincidentally, is a kick-ass name for a punk band!) In this technique, food is placed inside the calorimeter and heated until it burns. The excess heat released by the reaction is directly proportional to the amount of energy contained in that food.
Cells need the energy to accomplish the tasks of life. Beginning with energy sources obtained from their environment in the form of sunlight and organic food molecules, eukaryotic cells make energy-rich molecules via energy pathways including photosynthesis, glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation. Any excess energy is then stored in larger, energy-rich molecules such as polysaccharides (starch and glycogen) and lipids.
Polysaccharide is a broad term for any sugar molecule that has a glycogen bond. Carbohydrates provide energy in the body and are the first thing burned when you exercise. Carbohydrates are often called the number-one energy source for your body. Also, fatigue seems to melt away when polysaccharides are eaten. Without carbohydrates, you would likely feel weak, dizzy, and have low blood sugar. Polysaccharides are praised for their long-lasting energy and low glycemic index. Many diets touting a low-carb approach are actually blaming the wrong nutrient. You need carbohydrates to live and for your body to perform its essential functions.
Polysaccharides also provide many other key benefits. First, they enhance your mood by increasing the number of feel-good chemicals in your brain. They also support healthy blood sugar levels, which is very important for diabetics. Diabetics should supplement polysaccharides in their diet instead of simple carbohydrates that enter the bloodstream too quickly and cause an unsafe spike in blood sugar levels. Polysaccharides also have a positive effect on your intestines when they are digested, improving intestinal health, helping to reduce certain cancers, and slowing things down so that energy is released slowly, stabilizing your blood sugar. Another benefit is that they promote cardiovascular health and immunity health and prevent many degenerative diseases (like heart disease). Liver function also improves when polysaccharides are ingested. In medicine, polysaccharides are used to heal common ailments, heal wounds, treat diarrhea, and even relieve heartburn symptoms.
The Carbo-Loading Myth Debunked
For years, endurance athletes in a multitude of sports have advocated the practice of “carbohydrate loading” right before a major race or competition. There is a degree of pretty solid science supporting this practice. By eating complex carbohydrates from natural, whole-food sources, your body can theoretically build up its glycogen reserves to use as sustained energy for competition day. However, the big question is whether or not these are quality carbohydrate sources and how efficiently your body can actually digest, assimilate, and utilize them as energy.
Complex, quality carbohydrates from whole plant foods should be at the center of these “high-performance” meals. During periods of intense training, at least 50 percent of your calories should come from carbs, as they are the main energy source for muscles. If you engage in high-intensity endurance training for more than 90 minutes a day, you absolutely need to load up on carbs and choose quality sources of them. Contrary to many dietary regimens, it’s not about scarfing down gargantuan portions of pasta, but rather about consuming a healthy variety of natural, unprocessed foods that contain a great balance of essential carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, proteins, and antioxidants.
Many people don’t realize it, but fruit is an excellent source of high-quality, assimilable carbs and contains key nutrients that your body needs to thrive as you push it hard. If you do happen to put off proper, balanced nutrition until the last minute prior to a competition, don’t freak out and carbo-load the night before the race. Instead, eat a carbohydrate-rich breakfast or lunch the day before, which will give your body time to efficiently digest it, followed by a normal dinner and perhaps a healthy snack right before bedtime. Many people who do a massive carbo-load the night before a competition end up in major gastrointestinal distress the next morning, which just makes competing at a high level of performance all the more difficult. You need to give your body time to digest, assimilate, and eliminate the food properly.
Hydration Celebration
It’s not all about the carbs or glycogen stores, though. The other key to giving your body energy for exercise is proper hydration. For each long workout, you need to make sure you’re drinking back the weight you’ve lost in fluids. But be sure you’re sipping over time, not guzzling a massive amount all at once. And don’t wait until you exercise to properly hydrate. Drink a copious amount of water before and after your workout. Your muscles will need steady hydration to recover from the strain and depletion.
Although I continue to refine my workout nutrition, I’ve definitely found a solid regimen when it comes to eating for sustained energy. I start my day by drinking at least 24 ounces of clean, filtered water (sometimes with fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar) first thing in the morning. (That’s roughly two regular-size glasses of water.) When you wake up, your body is dehydrated and in a highly acidic state. The combination of filtered water and lemon juice or ACV both hydrates and alkalizes your body. After that, I eat a light breakfast, usually a bowl of chia seed pudding, quinoa with fresh fruit, or, most often, a superfood green smoothie loaded with a ton of antioxidants, protein, and complex carbohydrates.
No matter what I have for breakfast, I like to supplement it with easily digestible superfood ingredients and probiotics. If I need a super-high-octane energy boost, I’ll reach for the matcha green tea, yerba mate tea, acai smoothie with guarana, cordyceps mushrooms, herbal energy drink mix, a handful of cacao nibs and goji berries, or colloidal PQQ (we’ll learn more about the superpowers of PQQ later). Or, I’ll just take all that stuff, throw it in my blender, and whip up some wonderful wizard workout fuel!
Whatever You Do . . . Don’t Let Yourself Get Hangry
It’s all too easy to skip meals, especially in the middle of a busy workday. I’m intimately acquainted with this bad habit, as I’m the first person to be underprepared at lunchtime. However, this habit of skipping meals can severely compromise your metabolism and lead to blood sugar crashes that may destabilize your mood (any of this sound familiar?). With my desire to create more sustainable solutions to my lunchtime snafus, I’ve come up with a reliable system to make sure I’ve got some nutritious and sustaining food on hand at all times.
I’ve found that keeping healthy snack foods in the glove compartment of my car is the best way to save myself from getting hangry in the middle of the day. Hangry (hungry + angry) is what happens when your blood sugar drops like a broken elevator and you become ravenously hungry to the point where your mood can become rather . . . shall we say . . . nasty. Being in a state of hanger can lead to a full-on rage in some cases, where you are bashing around, yelling at people, and frantically looking for something to shove in your gullet like a frothing wildebeest. Not a good look, honey.
Through a bit of trial and error, mixed with my own share of hanger attacks, I’ve found some great snacks: sprouted nuts, seeds, superfood trail mix, or vegan protein bars (without the chocolate coating. Trust me on this one!). These are foods that can be preserved in a range of temperatures and won’t go rancid or stale too quickly. If you don’t drive a car, you can stash these foods in your office desk drawer or a tote bag. You’ll also want to set a reminder or alert in your calendar for when the foods expire.
The next time you feel a food rage coming on and you remember there’s a secret stash of good food waiting for you—it’ll be like discovering an awesome Christmas present. Next thing you know, you’re happy dancing instead of Hulking out.
Under Pressure
Our culture instills so many deep-seated beliefs about competition and performance that we often turn to pharmaceuticals to “keep up” with the workload and pace of life. Adderall, Ritalin, and other “smart drugs” have become insanely popular among college students and young professionals looking to consistently outperform their peers. These drugs are normally prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but healthy people who want to get a leg up in school and work use them to improve focus, concentration, and memory.
Amphetamines, uppers, speed, cocaine, and any other energizing drug presents an inherent danger of overuse: as users develop tolerance to the drug, their dosage inevitably has to increase to maintain the same high as when they started using. Moreover, as users become more dependent on the release of energy brought about by the drug, their bodies become more uncomfortable and less able to produce natural energy on their own.
Energy pills and pharmaceutical drugs have never provided long-term solutions to any major physical crisis, much less a chronic energy deficit. We need to move beyond the “Band-Aid” mentality of just taking a pill and toward a conscious choice to relandscape our lifestyles and dietary choices as a society.
Woo Hoo for PQQ!
Recently, a newly discovered nutrient with significant implications for mitochondrial vitality has come into vogue. First discovered by researchers in 1979, pyrroloquinoline quinone, or PQQ, was originally thought to be a B vitamin. Additional studies debunked the theory of PQQ being a legitimate vitamin, but its effect on mitochondrial function was wholly undeniable. In laboratory tests, dietary PQQ was observed to influence mitochondrial production in a profound way.
As the researchers in 2010 stated, “Bioactive compounds reported to stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis are linked to many health benefits such as increased longevity, improved energy utilization, and protection from reactive oxygen species. The ability of PQQ to stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis suggests that PQQ may be beneficial in diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction.”
I regularly ingest a vial or two of PQQ prior to intense cardio or strength-training workouts and can attest to its energy-boosting powers and ability to increase my overall stamina.
Food Is Your Fuel for Life
Remember—food is your primary fuel source. Make sure it’s high-quality, usable fuel that’s appropriate for your fantastic, fleshy body machine. Feed it right, and it will provide you with trouble-free performance for decades to come!
My top energy-boosting nutrients
B Vitamins: Play an important role in cell metabolism by converting food into energy.
Coenzyme Q10: Important component in the oxygenation of blood cells that helps to relieve inflammation and promote energy conversion.
Medium-chain Triglycerides: MCTs are fats with an unusual chemical structure that allows the body to digest them easily. Most fats are broken down in the intestine and remade into a special form that can be transported in the blood. But MCTs are absorbed intact and taken to the liver, where they are used directly for energy.
Selenium: Hormones actually play a big role in our energy levels. As it turns out, many of us are low in selenium, a nutrient responsible for regulating our thyroid hormones.
Tyrosine: An important amino acid that aids in the conversion of dopamine, the hormone that regulates our pleasure response, keeping us sharp and alert.
My top energy-boosting foods
- acai berry
- asparagus
- astragalus root
- blue or purple potatoes
- blueberries
- cacao
- chai tea
- cherries
- chia seeds
- chiles
- cinnamon
- citrus fruits
- eleuthero root
- flaxseed
- garbanzo beans
- guarana
- licorice root
- maca powder
- masa flour
- matcha green tea
- quinoa
- raspberries
- rehmannia
- spinach
- sweet potatoes
- Swiss chard
- yerba mate
▽▽▽▽▽▽▽▽
Want to take a deeper dive into your personal wellness practice on a mind, body, and soul level? Check out these free resources and our 10-week Wellness Warrior Training course.
We have a ton of actionable tips like the ones in this post to share with you, like how to:
- take charge of your life,
- feel good enough,
- improve your mental well-being, and
- elevate your wellness brand.
Enjoy and thank you for reading!