Field of oats. Photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures / Pixabay
Living a busy life doesn’t leave a lot of room for planning meals. Planning meals is important, because your body needs fuel to function properly. Food, water and oxygen provide the energy that your cells need to function and grow. The food you eat is broken down into its constituent macronutrients, which are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Each of these macronutrients stimulates certain hormones and metabolic pathways that affect your appetite and energy levels, which is why poor dietary choices can make you feel very tired long before your day is over. Optimal nutrition, fitness, hydration, and rest can help you to avoid energy dips during the day.
How You Become What You Eat
During digestion, carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, proteins are broken down into amino acids, and the multiple dietary fats are also broken down. Your pancreas releases insulin in response to the level of glucose in your blood. Insulin is important because makes it possible for glucose to enter cells, which use it to produce energy. Your brain is an organ that must have glucose and oxygen to function. When insulin levels increase, blood glucose (sugar) falls, which can make you feel tired and less alert. This is one reason why eating a breakfast that contains healthy carbohydrates such as what you get from whole grains can help you stay alert throughout the day.
Amino acids are the building blocks from which new cells are made throughout your body. Your adrenal glands use the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine to make the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and epinephrine, which keep your brain alert. The hormone thyroxine, produced by your thyroid gland, determines your body’s overall metabolic rate (and how quickly you gain or lose weight). Thyroxine is made from the amino acid tyrosine. So, alertness and metabolic rate are directly tied to what you eat.
Foods With a High Glycemic Index Can Cause Low Energy
Glycemic index and glycemic load are two measures that describe how carbohydrates stimulate insulin. Foods that have a high glycemic index and high glycemic loads cause your blood insulin levels to spike quickly. Refined carbohydrates like white rice and white sugar, have a high glycemic index and glycemic load because they break-down and release glucose into your blood stream very quickly. This causes your insulin levels to increase rapidly and then fall off quickly. The initial rise in blood glucose gives you a shot of energy that fades quickly as insulin levels rise and blood sugar levels fall, causing you to feel tired. Fruit, beans, and whole grains have a low glycemic index and glycemic loads, so they do not have this effect.
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
The glycemic index and glycemic load of your breakfast foods can determine whether or not you will have an energy slump later in the day. According to Harvard Medical School, a frozen, white bagel has a glycemic index of 72 and glycemic load of 25. Regular Cornflakes have a glycemic index of 93 and glycemic load of 23. Special K™ (Kellogg’s) has a glycemic index of 69 and glycemic load of 14. Oatmeal on the other hand, has a glycemic index of 55 and glycemic load of 13. So, having oatmeal for breakfast gives a more favorable insulin release pattern than a frozen, white bagel, or even Kellogg’s Special K™. You can use the table at this link to check the glycemic load and index of the foods you eat. Eating a breakfast of whole grains, fruit, and dairy will help you maintain energy through out the day.
-Verneda Lights
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