How do specific foods affect your energy?

Does food carry a particular energy that affects how you feel?

Think about how you feel after a big Thanksgiving meal- after all that turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie you typically feel lazy and lethargic.

What about the way sugar or caffeine can make you feel? It gives you a temporary boost or sugar high but many people experience a crash a few hours later, leaving you looking for more sugar, carbs or caffeine to boost your energy again.

Each of those examples are at the extremes of energy in food- meat, salt and acidic meals are what eastern medicine considers one end of the specturm (yang) that leaves us feeling heavy and slow.

On the other end are the lighter, energizing foods with the extreme being processed sugar.

In the middle are the foods that we should be focusing on most of the time- the foods that have more health benefits but also help us to feel better and more balanced.

Have you ever stuffed yourself on kale or broccoli? It's a lot harder to do!

Our bodies are always looking to balance themselves out. If we consistently eat at one end of the spectrum (too much salt and heavy animal products) our body will look to the opposite extreme to balance itself. Fast food companies know this- heavy burgers and salty fries are served with super sweet sodas.

However, by focusing most of your intake on the most balancing foods (veggies, whole grains, lean meats and fresh fruit) you will be able to avoid the extreme fatigue, sluggishness, sugar crashes, and cravings that come from bouncing from one extreme to the other.

Animal protein and salt are healthful in small doses- these are important to balance with lots of alkaline veggies. Likewise, we can enjoy small sweet treats and ideally should tack these onto a meal to prevent the sugar rush and crash from eating sweets solo mid afternoon (or for breakfast).

How balanced is your eating?

Pay attention to how you feel after eating from one of the more extremes vs eating foods from the middle and aim to eat in a way that makes you feel energized and balanced.