How to Boost Your Energy Levels

What you eat fuels your body, so good nutrition is key to feeling well. So, what should you eat to feel healthy and energetic?

 

Breakfast is a good place to start, it boosts your metabolism and gives you the nutrients you need to get you up and going for the day. Your ideal breakfast should be a mixture of protein and wholegrain carbohydrate, and perhaps a touch of fruit for added goodness. Protein will help keep you full, wholegrain carbohydrates will give you fibre, energy and B vitamins and fruit will give you an antioxidant and vitamin boost. 

 

 

Healthy Snacks
These can be very important to help keep your energy levels up, especially if you are having a busy day. So between breakfast and lunch, and between lunch and dinner snack on a piece of fruit, a pot of yoghurt or a healthy muesli bar to keep you full until dinnertime.

Lunch
This is needed to keep your energy levels up until dinnertime. It should be a mixture of vegetables, protein and carbohydrate.

 

 
Dinner

At dinner time, make sure your plate is half vegetables – then the other quarters are made up of lean protein and carbohydrates. Vegetables are a vital source of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, including antioxidants and are key for keeping healthy and protecting against disease.

 

Aim to have lean red meat twice a week for adequate iron intake. Iron is an important mineral used in the process of transporting oxygen around the body. A common cause of tiredness in women is iron deficiency.

 If you are a vegetarian, be sure to eat an iron rich diet and consume vitamin C with iron rich foods to enhance iron absorption. Vegetarian sources of iron include leafy green vegetables, chickpeas, baked beans and egg.

 

Energy drinks are a high sugar, temporary solution that doesn’t solve the problem. Don’t rely on these to make you feel better; as in the long run they are not good for you. 

 

If you are constantly feeling tired and run down, a check up at the doctor is important. It might just be that you are doing too much, but a check up could reveal glandular fever, iron deficiency, B12 deficiency or a thyroid disorder. A doctor can give you the advice and support you need to get healthy again.

 

Another key cause of tiredness and lethargy is depression, or even just feeling stressed and a little unhappy. No matter how busy your life is, be sure to take time out for yourself to laugh, have fun and relax. After all, when you are feeling run down and unwell, you can’t work to your best ability anyway. So schedule time out for yourself – you are just as important as anything else that is going on!