Keeping Energized in the New Year

By Sarah Holvik, B.Sc. Nutritional Sciences  

Now that the holiday season with all of those fun but energy-consuming holiday activities has passed, it’s time to replenish your energy reserves. Shopping, decorating, cooking and getting organized for visitors can take a toll on our bodies, not to mention the abundance of delicious but rich festive foods that emerge during the holiday season: Christmas bakeoffs with family, eggnog, stuffing, turkey… the list continues. Here are some great foods to give you an energy boost and battle the post-holiday bulge!

A balanced breakfast containing whole grains and lean protein is a great, high-energy way to start the day. Try eating half a whole grain bagel with cream cheese or cereal with yogurt and fruit. Moderate amounts of simple sugars such as fructose in fruits provide an instant energy boost that the fibre in whole grains helps to sustain. High fibre foods also help you to stay fuller, longer and help you avoid the 3 p.m. sugar fix. Check the label on your cereal or bread to make sure each serving has at least 2 to 3 g of fibre.

Although fats have a bad rap due to their link to heart disease, choosing the right fats will supply you with loads of energy and promote good health. Monounsaturated fats such as olive oil, and polyunsaturated fats such as vegetable or fish oil, actually help reduce bad (LDL) cholesterol and increase good (HDL) cholesterol levels in the body, lowering your risk of heart disease. Try using these fats in cooking instead of butter or other saturated fats.

While eating energy-packed foods is a great way to keep energized, dehydration is one of the major causes of fatigue. This is because during dehydration, energy is redirected to restoring water balance in the body instead of providing the body with energy. It is important to remember to always keep sufficiently hydrated so that you never feel thirsty. By the time thirst sets in, your body is already in a dehydrated state and feeling sluggish as a result. Although everyone’s daily water requirement is different, it is recommended to drink at least 8 (250 ml) glasses of water per day.

You may be working hard and keeping a hectic schedule, so it’s also very important to make sure your immune system is healthy. To keep from coming down with a cold or flu, make sure you’re also taking high-quality vitamin and mineral supplements. This ensures that your body obtains the proper balance of nutrients to maintain optimal health. Stress and lack of sleep also have profound effects on the immune system so try to take moments in your day to relax and enjoy.