Nutritious foods to increase energy

The kids are home and rambunctious. Work has not slowed down one bit — whatever happened to the dog days of summer? Frankly, you might be flagging a little.

If you're looking for a quick pick-me-up, don't reach for a bowl of ice cream or a caffeinated energy drink. Instead, go for foods that are packed with nutrients, says author Ellie Krieger , a registered dietitian and host of The Food Network's Healthy Appetite.

"Research shows that when we feel sluggish and sort of foggy-headed, the foods that can pull us out of that are high in protein and low in concentrated carbohydrates" such as sugar or white bread, she says.

Sugary foods can cause blood sugar to spike briefly, then plunge, leaving you tired and hungry. The goal, Krieger says, is to keep blood sugar levels even. Eating for energy is "eating consistent meals, and not huge meals. A lot of people don't eat all day, then have a big meal at night. That's the opposite of eating for energy."

Ellie Krieger, a registered dietitian and cookbook author, doesn’t obsess over numbers, whether calories or carbs. “I don’t count anything,’’ she says. Instead, she advises focusing on “four or five high-energy snacks’’ with the emphasis on “healthy proteins, fruits and vegetables and whole grains — but it can’t be a bowl of pasta with a teensy bit of cheese.’’ She highlights these five foods to pack extra energy into your day:

Jim White , a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association , recommends eating five mini-meals a day. "Two snacks, mid-morning and mid-afternoon, are vital," he says, and be sure to include protein, good fats and complex carbohydrates, such as whole-grain foods, which break down slowly and provide steady energy. His snack suggestions include whole-grain crackers and low-fat cheese, celery and natural peanut butter, hummus and baby carrots, or fruit with Greek yogurt, which White says is more protein-packed than conventional yogurt and "is really a power food."

Energy drinks, he says, "give you that spike, but it doesn't work to keep you going during the week. I see a lot of people spike up and crash hard." Other tips: Get enough sleep and drink lots of fluids, White says. "The biggest thing is being hydrated — 2% to 3% dehydration can significantly affect energy." Water, low-calorie drinks and summer fruits such as watermelon can help "hydrate you to be at ultimate peak," he says.

Eating versus Eating Well | Health for the Whole Self

Eating. You’d think it would be, should be, such a simple thing. But oh, how difficult it can be. The analyzing, over-analyzing, the under-analyzing followed up by guilt. One simple meal can turn into a stressful affair in no time. I’ve had my share of moments (or rather days and weeks on end) when eating was too complicated and too stressful. Until finally, I’d had enough. I wanted to eat “normally,” I wanted food to be a simple and enjoyable part of life that I could take part in without any more anxiety.

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And that is the beginning of my transition from just “eating” to “eating well.” When I say eating well I mean eating to sustain and promote health in both body and mind. I want to emphasize that I’m not saying that food is not to be enjoyed. Obviously, food can certainly be enjoyable and should be enjoyable, but the conclusion that I’ve come to is that the problems begin to arise when the enjoyable aspect of eating becomes the central point. My new goal and motivation in eating is to eat well, meaning to eat with the purpose to fuel my body with the energy it needs to survive. And, when I combine that purpose with the goal of improving my mindset and attitude towards food as a whole, the outcome is life-changing.

Food has the capacity to make us feel amazing. It also has the capacity to mess with us physically and emotionally. Whether we feel tired, sluggish and lethargic, or depressed, guilty and frustrated, there’s almost no impact food can’t have. On the other hand, eating well can lift your mood, brighten your spirit, give you energy in abundance to power you through tasks and motivate you try new things and be more adventurous than you typically are. Reasons enough to eat well? I thought so! If you’re tired of being consumed by food, here are a few words of “wisdom” that I keep in mind in my attempts to eat well every day.

If you look at food with your number one goal simply being to fuel your body with the nutrition it needs, then everything else becomes much simpler. Rather than trying to determine what has the lowest calorie count or the lowest fat and carb count and instead vowing to choose which food will provide you with lasting energy, the best choices for your body suddenly become much more obvious. Why do you always hear that eating whole grains is important? Because they burn slowly over time and provide you with extended energy in lieu of the short burst of energy and subsequent crash of something like a donut. You’ll have to experiment with what foods do give you the energy you’re seeking. For me it may be whole grains, for you it may be vegetables and protein. We’re all different. Your job is only to take care of your body.

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