SAMANTHA HELLER: I have a little story about this.
When I was in graduate school and I was doing an internship, I was the
only student in my class who was working and doing this internship.
I was exhausted. I kept eating, thinking it would give me more energy.
Even though I was eating healthy foods like yogurt and bananas, I started
putting on weight. What I really needed to be doing was to be getting
more sleep. That would have made more of a difference. And
to be less stressed. But in terms of energy dropping in the afternoon,
a) it may drop even farther if you're just tired to begin with, and b)
if there has been a really long span of time between the time you have
lunch and the time you're still at your office or at work, you probably
need a snack. Your blood sugar is getting lower.
CHERYL WILLS: Martha, sometimes people eat things
full of sugar to try to get a jolt. Does that help at all?
MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE: I think that's a natural
tendency. I think our bodies somehow know, "If I get sugar, I'm going
to feel good. I’m going to get my burst of energy." I see that
a lot with my clients. Let's say that if they've had lunch at noon,
by 4:00 o'clock they're starting to feel kind of sluggish. I doubt
they're going to be craving broccoli or tuna fish. Chances are you're
going to want something sweet or a carbohydrate; something that's going
to get you going. So, you might go to the vending machine and get
a pack of cookies. You'll feel great. You'll get your burst
of energy. But, what will happen a little bit after that is that
you'll probably get your drop. Actually, the worst thing you can
do when you're feeling sluggish is to eat something with a lot of sugar.
Again, that's going to shoot your blood sugar up quickly. You release
the insulin and it can bring you down quickly so you get the drop.
You're much better off planning a healthier snack that doesn't have the
simple sugars in it; something like maybe a little peanut butter and whole
wheat crackers, or some yogurt and fruit, cottage cheese and fruit.
Even a bag of pretzels, which isn't loaded with sugar, won't give you this
effect.
