Your body operates on what you feed it. Filling your body with healthy, nutrient-dense foods provides long-lasting energy. But when you eat can also impact your energy levels throughout the day.
Here are the do’s and don’ts of eating for increased energy.
Don’t: Skip meals
Skipping meals or fasting for diet can lead to decreased energy and other adverse effects such as anxiety, nutrient deficiencies and junk food cravings, reports Eating Well. Eating regularly helps your body maintain healthy energy levels, without extreme spikes or dips.
“While proponents of fasting love to tout the science that supposedly supports skipping meals, that science is very preliminary and is in no way sound enough to support recommending fasting, given all of the risks,” Christy Harrison, a registered dietitian who is the author of “Anti-Diet” and host of the “Food Psych” podcast, told Eating Well.
“In my view, there are no potential benefits to fasting or skipping meals, and there are very real dangers.”
Do: Start the day with breakfast
Starting the day with a balanced meal can positively impact your mood and help you feel energized throughout the day, explains Maya Feller, a registered dietitian, per CNBC.
“Would you start a long road trip in your car with the tank on empty?” registered dietitian Beth Czerwony told Cleveland Health Clinic. “Think of eating breakfast the same way. You’re asking a lot of your body to get moving using only your reserves.”
According to Medical News Today, some healthy breakfast foods include: eggs, greek yogurt, oatmeal, avocado and berries.
Don’t: Eat ultra-processed foods
Ultra-processed foods such as sugary cereals, chips, fast food, packaged cookies and soda are cheap and convenient but offer few nutritional benefits, reports the American Medical Association. Eating these foods won’t provide the body with sustainable energy and may lead to fatigue.
“Consuming unhealthy processed foods like baked goods and soda, which are loaded with refined and added sugars — often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup — floods the brain with too much glucose. This ‘sugar flood’ can lead to inflammation in the brain and may ultimately result in depression and fatigue,” explains Dr. Uma Naidoo, a Harvard nutritionist, per CNBC.
Do: Eat throughout the day
Between meals, listen to your hunger cues and fill up on healthy snacks, suggests Johns Hopkins. When you ignore hunger cues, you could experience fatigue, irritability and reduced concentration.
“Where energy is the issue, it’s better to eat small meals and snacks every few hours than three large meals a day,” reports Harvard Health.
“This approach can reduce your perception of fatigue because your brain, which has very few energy reserves of its own, needs a steady supply of nutrients. Some people begin feeling sluggish after just a few hours without food.”
Do: Stay hydrated
Staying hydrated positively impacts physical and mental performance, according to Healthline. Getting even mildly dehydrated can have adverse effects on memory, mood and brain performance, research shows.
“Water is the main component of blood and is essential for carrying nutrients to the cells and taking away waste products,” reports Harvard Health. “If your body is short on fluids, one of the first signs is a feeling of fatigue.”
The Mayo Clinic recommends men drink about 15.5 cups of fluids per day and women drink about 11.5 cups of fluids per day.
Do: Get protein in your meals
Protein provides the body with long-lasting energy and assists in increasing muscle mass and strength, research shows. Meat, eggs, nuts, greek yogurt, lentils and beans are all excellent sources of protein.
“Not consuming enough protein during the day can be a primary reason for fatigue. Protein-based foods provide the body with fuel to repair and build tissues,” writes Tiffany Barrett, a registered dietician at Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute, per CNN. “Protein takes longer than carbohydrates to break down in the body, providing a longer-lasting energy source.”