[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #00adef;”] D[/dropcap]o you struggle with your energy levels?
It’s something I hear all the time.
Like one of my readers…
“While I don’t have diabetes, I sure have highs and lows and slumps when I don’t eat right or eat too much sugar or carbs.
How can I overcome my food energy issues?”
– Gayle
It’s a great question.
Here’s my response…
How to Avoid Energy Highs & Lows
1. Replace sugar and carbs with healthy fats.
There are two types of fuel our bodies and brains can burn for energy:
i) Glucose (from sugar and carbs)
ii) Ketones (from fat).
Glucose is stored as glycogen.
We only store a limited amount.
When you’re burning glucose and you use up your stores, your energy levels drop.
And you feel crazy hungry.
Our fat stores, on the other hand are abundant.
Even very lean people have enough body fat to supply ketones to keep them going for days and days.
I did a 48-hour fast recently.
I felt amazing the whole time.
I went for a run each morning and was super productive at work.
Because I was burning fat for fuel.
If I was eating carbs before my fast, I would have been in glucose burning mode.
Which would make fasting incredibly difficult.
Low energy and high hunger.
But.
When you’re eating low carb, you switch to fat burning mode.
Which means you’re literally using your body fat for energy.
It’s a beautiful thing.
Focusing on replacing sugar and carbs with healthy fats is the easiest way to get off the energy roller coaster.
And into fat burning mode.
2. Watch your iron levels
Rather than highs and slumps, low iron manifests as low energy all the time.
Mine iron tends to be low.
If I don’t have red meat for a while, I feel it.
My favourite quick fix is to have some chicken liver pate or a big bowl of mussels – 2 of the best sources of iron.
Or have a nice steak or some lamb.
What about you?
Do you struggle with energy highs and slumps?
Or do you have another problem you’d like some help with?
Then Stonesoup Health Coaching can help!
Click here for more details.
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Discover More
- What does it mean to be fat adapted? (Mark’s Daily Apple)
- A Low Carb Diet for Beginners (Diet Doctor)
- Feeling Tired? Try this…
- 6 Simple Ways to Improve Sleep
- 3 Reasons I LOVE Eating Low Carb
Have fun in the kitchen!
With love,
Jules x
I have energy issues, but not highs and lows. Just some energy followed by lows. Some of the issue could be age (mid 70s), but I don’t think so. I have enough energy to do most of what I need to do, but at the end of the task(s) I’m wiped out. I am eating lower carb, in an effort to get my hemoglobin A1c normalized, and am eating more fats, but I’m not ready to give up carbs completely. I would miss my overnight oats for breakfast, and the pizzas that require a regular crust (we tried your cauliflower crust, but just can’t do it). Lately I’ve been making the Fathead Pizza Crust, which works quite well, but it doesn’t go well with some of my favorite topping combos.
Id’ be interested in seeing how your energy levels changed Susan if you were to experiment with a lower carb breakfast :)
I can’t do the fathead pizza – so processed! But if it works for you.
I’ve been thinking of doing a zucchini version of my cauli pizza which might be a better fit…