Naturally Improve Energy
I often get asked how someone can increase their energy levels, looking for a pill to take or a supplement. A quick fix is not going to give you sustainable energy on a daily basis. Being a busy mom we can not afford to not feel energized throughout the day with all we have on our plate. The answer really is simple: give your body the tools it needs to work properly and avoid what slows it down.
Here are three simple ways to easily boost energy levels. Chances are most of us could improve on one or more of these areas to better support our body’s energy systems:
1. Drink your water. Water is an essential nutrient that makes up roughly 60% of our body weight and plays an important part in the way our body works.
How can your water intake impact your energy?
It carries important nutrients, hormones and other elements throughout the body to help organ systems to work properly. Without this, they would not work well or at all!
Detoxification. It carries out toxins and waste our body does not need out of the body. If we do not support this system well, unnecessary junk can clog up our system and slow us down.
Activates your metabolism. Water can enhance metabolism, which impacts our energy levels. Water plays an important part in turning protein and carbohydrates into usable energy.
If these systems are not working well, energy levels can suffer.
How much do you need? The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences suggests around 11 cups to 16 cups per day of fluid, but about 20% of that comes from water in foods that we eat. The best gauge is your urine. If things are looking clear to pale yellow you are doing pretty good.
Keep in mind you may need more water if you are active, sweating, pregnant or nursing.
2. Fill half your plate with vegetables. Eating more REAL food like vegetables will help your body to work better and enhance energy levels. Foods that grow in the ground come with a host of vitamins and minerals our bodies need to work. The ingredients for a healthy system.
Another way that vegetables help us is their “aliveness” they transfer to us when we eat them. Think of a tomato plant that grows outside. It gets rained on, crawled on by bugs, blown by the wind, and more, yet survives the elements. This resiliency they maintain is what we gain when we consume plants. This defense against the elements that keeps them alive will keep us vibrant and energized as well.
3.Limit refined carbohydrates, sugars, and alcohols. These all limit our body to work at its best, leaving us feeling sluggish and low energy.
Refined carbs and sugars are missing important nutrients and do not give us lasting energy. In fact they cause insulin spikes that may later result in low energy crashes later on. Because they give only short energy bursts, a person may go for them frequently seeking another energy boost later, resulting in an excessive intake and contribute to weight gain.
Added sugars can actually deplete energy from the body by depleting tissue nutrient stores or nutrients that we get from other foods we eat. It can influence a depletion of calcium, magnesium, chromium, and copper. And most of us at one time or another have felt that sluggish feeling after eating too much sugar.
Alcohol is another nutrient poor food that contributes empty calories.The process of metabolizing alcohol requires nutrients and so it takes it away from other parts of the body. It depletes the body of thiamin, vitamin B12, folic acid and zinc. Robbing your body of what could support its metabolism, oxygen delivery, and endurance. It can also disrupt the water balance in muscle cells, affecting its ability to create energy in your muscles, limiting you overall performance.
Good energy levels can help us be more productive, have confidence in our actions, foster a more positive outlook, and overall improve our days. These are just three simple steps that can help make that happen.
No quick fix is going to give you sustainable energy like a healthy lifestyle.