Keys to support healthy energy

• Support healthy digestion. Healthy energy production begins with healthy digestion. Support healthy digestion by eating lightly and stopping as soon as you begin to feel satisfied. If you eat this way, you will need to eat more frequently. This places less burden on your digestion; you will feel lighter and more energetic. Eat slowly and deliberately. Include foods high in fiber in your meals. Enjoy herbs and spices that support digestion as well, such as ginger, pepper, cinnamon, fennel, rosemary, garlic, curry spices, chili spices. There is truly a world of variety!
• Eat low-glycemic index foods as much as possible. Low glycemic index foods provide your body with sources of longer lasting energy, and help you avoid the feeling of energy peaks and valleys. Good examples of low-glycemic index foods include root vegetables (e.g., yams, sweet potatoes, turnips, Jerusalem artichokes, celery), and whole-grain products. Limit foods or drinks that have a high glycemic index.
• Eat whole grains whenever possible. Whole grains are one of the best sources for the full spectrum of the key vitamins for energy generation, especially the B-vitamins.
• Include a good source of protein with each meal, especially during the first half of the day. Good dietary sources of protein include fish, and eggs. Researchers have found that eating a varied diet featuring whole grains, legumes, and vegetables provides all of the important amino acid building blocks to provide healthy proteins in the cells as well. In addition, some plant-based foods, such as soy, feature an essential amino acid protein profile similar to animal-based foods and can directly substitute for animal protein.
• Provide a source of essential fatty acids or monounsaturated fats with each meal. These fats support healthy cell membranes. Good sources for healthy fats include whole raw almonds, walnuts, pecans, flaxseed, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds or their oils; salmon, sardines, cod, halibut, sole, perch, turbot, or orange roughy or cold-water fish oils; and olive oil. In addition to these fats, inositol is a component of membrane phospholipids that are involved in various functions including cellular signaling. Increases in dietary inositol and choline have been found to significantly influence the concentration of membrane phospholipids and support healthy membranes. Good dietary sources of inositol include whole grains; choline is also present in high amounts in egg yolks.
• Provide your body with foods rich in protective phytonutrients like the antioxidants. The vitamin E family, the tocopherols, contains powerful antioxidants that are able to protect both the lipid and protein components in your cell membranes from damage caused by free radicals and other oxidative compounds. Research has suggested that through their powerful antioxidant activity, the tocopherols may be able to protect DNA from the damage caused by oxidative stress. The antioxidant vitamin E can also protect the mitochondria from the effects of the free radicals produced during ATP manufacture. In addition, supplemental vitamin E seems to support tissue retention of supplemental coenzyme Q10, a critical nutrient for energy production. Good dietary sources of the vitamin E family include wheat germ and wheat germ oil, as well as oils from other grains and legumes, like soy oil.
• Eat foods rich in antioxidants. The body's premier water-soluble antioxidant, vitamin C is critical to cellular membrane health since it plays an integral role in recycling vitamin E back to its active form. By regenerating vitamin E back to its active form, vitamin C also plays a role in protecting the mitochondria from potential damage by reactive oxygen species, like free radicals. Excellent dietary sources of vitamin C include papaya, bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, strawberries, pineapple, oranges, and kiwifruit.
• Limit your alcohol intake, avoid foods or drinks to which you are sensitive or intolerant, and avoid the temptations of stimulants and sweet snacks, especially soft drinks, coffee, and candy.
• Select organic food whenever possible and avoid food cultivated with pesticides. Several of the agricultural chemicals used in the conventional growing of foods have also been shown to have a negative effect upon mitochondrial function. These chemicals include paraquat, parathion, dinoseb and 2,4-D, all of which have been found to affect the mitochondria and cellular energy production in a variety of ways, including increasing membrane permeability (which exposes the mitochondria to damaging free radicals), and inhibiting the protein that creates ATP, the energy currency of the body. Avoid foods containing preservatives, additives and colorants when possible as well, since many of these compounds have been associated with membrane damage, DNA mutations, or altered energy production.

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