Energy: we all want it, few have it (consistently). How do you get it?
Recently I’ve cut out sugar and felt amazing as a result.
My energy has improved, mood improved, focus improved, libido, everything. There are some serious benefits to cutting out this dangerous, unnecessary drug from your diet!
As a result of these improvements, I’ve begun to notice one other thing- changes in energy according to what I eat.
Because the sugar-haze is over, I can more clearly see the correlations between certain foods & my energy levels.
The Gut & Digestion
For those that don’t know, digestion takes a lot of energy. We’ve all over-eaten and felt the sleepy after-effects.
When your gut has work to do, the rest of the body loses power. Your body can only exert so much energy at a time (no matter how large the reserves) without drugs, so by taking energy for digestion, you will reduce your energy.
Growing up I did not understand the impact of the cost of digestion- most people don’t, many never will.
Now that I’ve studied & experimented with fasting, diet, and other unique health “tricks,” I’ve come to realize something huge.
Body Energy Is Simple Mathematics
Some foods are more nutritious than others (ie. bananas). Others are unhealthy but otherwise delicious (ie. cake). There are also foods that aren’t healthy, but not unhealthy (ie. doner).
You obviously want to eat foods low in “bad stuff” such as sugar, and good stuff such as vitamins & minerals.
There is one thing that most haven’t realized yet though: the cost of digestion compared to the value a food provides.
Bananas are very easy to digest, not to mention packed with healthy vitamins & minerals. Eating bananas produces significantly more energy than the cost of digesting it.
Other food items aren’t so easy to digest. Doners aren’t necessarily unhealthy (to my limited understanding), but they do require significantly more energy to digest than a banana!
It’s simple math, really. If a food provides x value, you want to be the cost of digestion to be as small as possible! The more the cost of digestion creeps up on the value of x, the less subsequent energy you will have.
Maintaining High Energy Levels
Cutting out sugar and other toxins is key to beginning this process. Before worrying about energy-sucking foods, clean up your diet from sugar & toxins.
When you eat sugar, you lose the ability to tell when you’re legitimately hungry, or when you’re full. After quitting sugar for a while, I’ve noticed a difference between “mouth appetite” and “legitimate hunger.” Unfortunately many confuse mouth-appetite with hunger (hence the existence of obesity).
Besides cutting out sugar, eating the right types of foods seems to be the next step towards optimizing my diet.
I’m not too sure yet what this specifically entails, but I’ll keep you up-to-date. All I know is that digestion uses energy, and certain foods are more nutritious than others.
It just makes sense to focus on nutritious foods (ie. fruits, nuts, etc.) and throw in other foods later. For example, a nice pizza could be a nice snack once in a while.
A pizza isn’t inherently unhealthy (depends on source), but it’s not nutritious. It would use more energy to digest than value provided than fruits. Still, it’s delicious, so I reckon a pizza once in a while wouldn’t hurt.
I’m excited to continue this adventure and optimize diet & nutrition. The benefits are truly amazing!
-Michael
