How to Fight Fatigue – Natural Energy Boosters
We’re all prone to energy slumps, especially at the time of year when evenings are getting darker and a chill is in the air. We tend to move away from summer’s salads and light meals towards more carbohydrate-rich fare in the autumn and winter, and this can cause us to put on weight and experience a spike-and-crash cycle in our blood sugar, leaving us feeling sluggish, grumpy and depleted. When combined with the increase in melatonin, the ‘sleepy hormone’ which is released in response to darkness, it’s no wonder our energy levels can dip severely!
Don’t fear – we’re turning the energy levels up to 11 with eleven natural energy boosters so you can feel alert, active, sunny and bright even when it’s dark and stormy outside!
Here’s a no-brainer to start with! Caffeine, the main energy-boosting constituent of coffee, is the most widely-used psychoactive compound in the world. Billions of humans drink coffee every day, and one of the main reasons for this is that when we consume our morning cup, the caffeine makes its way to our bloodstream and then travels directly to our brain. Here it increases feelings of alertness, energy and concentration, leaving us feeling more ready to face the day. It can also improve memory and reaction times. Caffeine binds to adenosine receptors in the brain, which means it stops the neurotransmitter adenosine from taking effect – and as adenosine is a compound which makes us feel sleepy – chiefly by slowing the heart rate – our morning coffee ‘perks us up’ by banishing sleepiness. Coffee also contains an excellent selection of B vitamins as well as manganese and phosphorus, and works as a potent fat burner in the body by increasing our rate of metabolism.[1]
When you eat oats, the energy they give you is released gradually rather than in one quick burst. This is mainly due to their content of soluble fibre, which comes in the form of beta-glucan. When combined with moisture, this forms a thick gel, which travels slowly through our digestive system, meaning the energy-providing sugars locked into oats’ carbohydrates takes a while to come out. This is why porridge is the breakfast of champions – slow and steady wins the day! Oats contain excellent levels of protein too, which is essential for repairing the body’s tissues, and beta-glucans have also been shown to be effective at killing cancer tumour cells.[2] Why not take advantage of the energy in this wonderful whole grain with these delicious pecan & chia overnight oats?
Bananas are a superb source of vitamin B6, which enables our body to convert fat and carbohydrates into energy. A couple of bananas will give you almost half of your recommended daily intake of this wonder-vitamin. Bananas also contain three types of natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose. All of these increase our energy levels, but the fibre found in bananas means the energy from these sugars is released slowly into the bloodstream. This makes bananas an excellent breakfast or mid-morning snack – and one without any cholesterol, and amazingly low in fat too. In a clinical study in 2012, bananas were found to be as effective at maintaining energy and stamina levels for long-distance cyclists as a leading sports drink.[3] The average banana has about 100 calories and is perfect chopped onto a bowl of porridge, or even baked into a banana & chia muffin!
Maca powder comes from a root which grows high in the Peruvian Andes. It packs a punch when it comes to beneficial vitamins and minerals, and has high levels of iodine and iron, which aid metabolism and help your red blood cells carry oxygen around the body to where it’s needed. Peruvian folk medicine has been using maca to raise energy levels for hundreds of years, but is there any science backing this? Well, a clinical trial conducted in 2009 found that supplementing with maca powder significantly improved the time in which cyclists covered a distance of 40 kilometres.[4] Randomised clinical trials have also shown that maca has favourable effects on energy and mood.[5]
Flax seeds (also known as linseed) are full of copper, an essential mineral which is pivotal in the creation of red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body to our muscles and major organs. It’s also packed with vitamin B1, also known as thiamin – this helps your body’s cells convert carbohydrates into energy, giving you a boost whenever you consume these delightful little nutty seeds. They’re also packed with alpha-linolenic acid, a common Omega-3 fatty acid which the body uses for energy. Flax seeds are especially effective when ground, as the nutrients are released and made bioavailable instead of passing through our digestive system still locked into the seeds – so why not whizz them up and make this lovely chia, flax & lucuma smoothie?
Pulses - beans, peas and lentils
Pulses is the word for legumes that have been dried. They’re low in fat but high in protein and fibre, and they’re massively beneficial to add to your diet. They’re a brilliant source of complex carbohydrates, which take longer for the body to break down. This means the bountiful energy you’ll receive after eating pulses will come to you over the course of several hours instead of in one big jolt. There are hundreds of types of types of pulses, but nutritionally-speaking, they’re remarkably similar. For an excellently healthy breakfast that will fill your day with plenty of energy, why not try our brilliant bean & fruit smoothie bowl?
Blueberries are awesomely tasty little dark fruits absolutely bursting with all kinds of excellent nutrition, including many vitamins and minerals as well as flavonoids, beneficial plant compounds which have a superb effect on energy metabolism.[6] They’re also brimming with an exceptionally high level of antioxidants, which reduce inflammation and combat fatigue. The anthocyanins they contain, the pigment responsible for their colour, have been shown to increase our maximal oxygen consumption and increase athletic performance, as well as reducing muscle damage.[7] A low-fat, ultra-tasty pick-me-up, they’re the perfect mid-morning snack!
Spirulina has been called ‘the food of the future’.[8] This incredibly nutritious algae is extremely high in protein – up to 70% by weight – and is full of gamma-linolenic acid, which is excellent at enabling the heart and circulatory system to get enough oxygen around our body to ensure we have the energy to face the day’s challenges. It’s packed with polysaccharides, carbohydrates consisting of sugar molecules bonded together, which help us store impressive reserves of energy. It also boosts our rate of metabolism, making us feel more energetic. Its high iron content also helps the heart pump oxygen around the body, and can boost athletic performance. It’s great taken in a smoothie, like this wonderful Greensleeves smoothie.
Ashwagandha powder is made from an evergreen plant that grows in Africa and Asia. It’s long been used as one of the main herbs in Ayurvedic medicine and has been shown to increase the capacity of our muscles to exert energy.[9] It has been shown to reduce cortisol levels substantially.[10] This is a stress hormone which significantly lowers our energy and libido. Ashwagandha is therefore an excellent choice for maintaining and promoting energy levels. It also increases heart and lung capacity, making it useful for energy levels of athletes and anyone doing regular exercise.
Beetroot is packed to the brim with nitric oxide, an extremely important compound which has a markedly beneficial effect on the mitochondria, the energy-producing powerhouses found in our cells. Increasing our intake of nitric oxide gives a massive boost to our ability to metabolise energy from the food we eat.[11] This increases our stamina and helps us to perform physical tasks for longer. Beetroot is also full of betaine, a nutrient made from the B-complex vitamin choline, and in a 2009 clinical trial whose results were published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, taking betaine supplements for two weeks enabled college students to significantly increase the number of squat exercises they were able to perform.[12]
Guarana, a popular ingredient in many energy drinks, is well-known for its ability to reduce fatigue and increase stamina. It’s packed with the active ingredient guaranine, which creates natural slow-release energy as the powder is digested. Guarana was shown in a 2011 clinical trial on breast cancer patients to be an effective, non-toxic tool for the short-term treatment of fatigue.[13] It also contains caffeine, which increases our rate of metabolism, leading to increased energy.
[1]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7486839/
[2]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17895634/
[3]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3355124/
[4]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19781622/
[5]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20090350/
[6]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164844/
[7]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4336991/
[8]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338159923_Spirulina-Food_of_the_Future
[9]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3487234/
[10]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3573577/
[11]https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Junjun-Wang-7/publication/236104615_Nitric_oxide_and_energy_metabolism_in_mammals/links/5d22826692851cf4406f3f8d/Nitric-oxide-and-energy-metabolism-in-mammals.pdf
[12]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2651845/
[13]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21612429/