Eating for energy
Eating for energy
The link between your diet and how energetic you feel is easy to see -- after all, we know that if we drank a strong coffee and ate a bar of chocolate, we would be buzzing, for a while at least. On a cellular level, we are, with our diets, literally fueling all our cells to produce energy through a carefully controlled chemical reaction. The type of fuel we use correlates to our performance, much like that of a car. In fact, many people are probably more careful about fueling and servicing their car than they are their own body.
To produce energy, each cell needs a supply of fuel in the form of glucose, derived from the carbohydrates and sugars that we eat. There's little danger of any of us not getting enough carbohydrates, but the process of converting the fuel into energy requires a range of micro-nutrients. The best way to provide your body with all these nutrients is to eat a varied diet of fresh, unprocessed foods. *Click here for a chart that lists foods that provide energy-boosting nutrients. It can also help to take vitamin and mineral supplements, but it is important to remember that they are just that -- supplements to, not substitutes for, a good diet.
Avoiding foods that sap your energy is just as important as eating energy-rich foods. The energy drainers are generally foods and drinks -- and especially stimulants, such as coffee, alcohol, and candy -- that play havoc with our blood-sugar levels.
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