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The best foods to boost your energy levels

The best foods to boost your energy levels
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Which foods should you include in your everyday diet to keep your energy levels up, and maintain a healthy weight? Nutritionist Caroline Compte provides some easy solutions.

If being constrained to spending so much time indoors has affected your mood and physical wellbeing, making you feel tired or weak, one way to truly supercharge your body with an energy boost is to focus on your nutritional intake.

1. Green vegetables

Great sources of iron, nutrients and vitamin B, green vegetables can be easily incorporated into your meals every day in the form of soups. Green vegetable juices can also be a great snack alternative and will offer an immediate energy boost.

2. Red fruit and berries

Red fruits and berries are loaded with effective antioxidants that provide great health benefits. Particularly good for you are blueberries and goji berries, which contain protein and vitamins B and C. Simply add some to your muesli or mix them into a smoothie.

For best results, opt for organic products, which are free of the pesticides that would build up in your body over time.

3. Magnesium

Oilseeds – such as linseeds, sesame, poppy and squash seeds – are fantastic energy boosters. That’s because they’re full of magnesium, which is essential in the production of energy at a cellular level.

Consumed in moderation, these will not cause any weight gain – in fact, they contain healthy fats which are essential to the proper functioning of our bodies. However, you should always choose raw oilseeds, as roasted or salted seeds will not increase your energy and may also have a detrimental effect on your weight.

Other great sources of magnesium include bananas, crustaceans, cabbages and avocados.

Sample 1-Day Food Plan

Here is an example of how you can include these energy-boosting foods in your meals across one day:

• Breakfast – Home-made muesli, containing goji berries, varied seeds, oily nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts etc.) and red fruits;

• Lunch – A green vegetable soup, served warm with a mixture of aromatic herbs and seeds (linseeds, sesame, poppy, squash, etc.);

• An afternoon snack – Caroline Compte’s special cleansing juice: ½ cucumber, ½ bunch of parsley, a little salt, a little pepper, 75 cl water, a clove of garlic, ½ lime;

• Dinner – A portion of steamed oily fish (tuna, salmon, sardines, etc.) with sweet potato and a healthy sauce made of sesame oil, soy sauce, herbs, garlic, ginger and lime.

When we eat certain types of food, and how we combine them also plays a crucial part in maintaining or boosting your energy levels.

Food types must be intelligently combined: protein and vegetables in one meal, vegetables and starches in another. If you combine protein and starch, your body will have trouble digesting and you will experience a drop in energy after your meal. Additionally, if you enjoy eating meat, it is best to consume it in the middle of the day rather than the evening.

As a final tip, it is essential that you drink plenty of water: it helps to flush the toxins out of the body and ensures that you stay hydrated, which has a big impact on your overall energy levels.