Almost everyone experiences fatigue at some point, often caused by poor sleep, stress, long work hours or illness. In many cases, your diet can be a factor in feeling tired, especially if you make poor dietary choices that are low in nutritional value and filled with toxic substances that overwhelm your body's ability to repair the damage they can cause. Eating a healthy diet is one of the best ways to boost your energy levels.
Identification
Fatigue is a general feeling of a lack of energy, but you may also find you are sleeping more, not wanting to pursue normal activities or can't perform them, or are having trouble thinking or concentrating. One way to know that diet is at the root of your fatigue is to observe your reactions after eating. Food should give you energy, not make you tired, so if you find you feel sleepy after a meal, your food choices may be the cause.
Foods to Avoid
The glycemic index is a scale ranking foods, low to high, on how fast they are likely to raise your blood sugar. Foods high on the glycemic index may give you a quick burst of energy for the first hour or so, but this energy burst decreases just as quickly and results in a slump or low-energy feeling within a couple of hours after the meal. Such foods include soft drinks, sweetened fruit juices, candy, pasta and pastries made from refined flour. Stimulants such as coffee, espresso and other caffeine-containing drinks may also give you a quick boost, but since they can't support those energy levels long-term, your body uses energy reserves instead, causing a slump. Alcohol places a further burden of detoxification on the liver, and both alcohol and caffeine lead to dehydration, a known cause of fatigue.
Foods to Eat
Foods that are high in fiber and protein and low on the glycemic scale are your best choices for fighting fatigue, providing a steadier, longer lasting feeling of energy. Such foods include nuts and seeds; fresh fruits and vegetables; fish with omega-3 fatty acids like salmon, cod, herring, sardines, sole, pike, perch, flounder, halibut, mackerel and pollock; legumes and high-fiber whole-grain products. You may need to supplement with a multivitamin or vitamin D; drink plenty of filtered water and decaffeinated non-sugar beverages.
Expert Insight
Research on individual nutrients has shown promise in fighting fatigue. Dr. Birgitta Evengard of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm discovered that supplements containing good bacteria, called probiotics, can improve symptoms in some patients with a disease called chronic fatigue syndrome. The National Institutes of Health report that unbalanced levels of iron in your body, either too high or too low, can lead to an increased in fatigue. A deficiency in magnesium has been implicated in low energy levels, as shown in a 2002 study by Henry C. Lukaski and Forrest H. Nielsen at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center in North Dakota. When the volunteers were low in magnesium, they needed more energy and oxygen to perform low-level activities than when they had normal magnesium intake.
Considerations
Breastcancer.org recommends eating several nutritious snacks throughout the day to boost your protein intake and keep energy levels stable. The Multiple Sclerosis Society adds that protein snacks such as mozzarella cheese, beef jerky, cottage cheese or peanut butter may help you feel more alert. It also recommends avoiding big helpings at meals that can add to fatigue levels.
