Medically Reviewed On: June 25, 2008

CHERYL WILLS:  I'm Cheryl Wills.  Thank you for tuning in to our webcast.  Do you find that you feel tired every afternoon no matter how much sleep you've been getting?  There is a good chance that your low energy has to do with the food you're eating, and how and when you're eating it.  Today, we'll discuss simple changes you can make in your diet to stay active and alert throughout your day.

Joining me today to discuss this issue is Samantha Heller.  She's a registered dietitian and a Senior Clinical Nutritionist at New York University Medical Center.  Thanks for joining us Samantha.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  My pleasure.

CHERYL WILLS:  Martha McKittrick is also here.  She's a registered dietitian at New York Presbyterian Hospital.  Thank you Martha.

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  Thank you.

CHERYL WILLS:  Let me start with you.  In terms of feeling energized after a meal, it's all about those blood sugar levels.

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  Basically, it's the blood sugar levels that kind of control the way we feel.  It's one of the reasons.  Certain foods or quantities of food will send the sugar up higher.  The higher or quicker it goes, the more insulin that is produced and the sugar drops down.  So, you get your sugar high, and then you get your sugar crash.  That's when you get your fatigue.

CHERYL WILLS:  Samantha, what about overeating in terms of being energized?  Sometimes before a marathon, people just overeat to try to sustain their energy.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  What they do before a marathon is carbohydrate load the night before.  The morning of the marathon they're not going to be stuffing a lot of food in their mouths.  I think one of the things that you're referring to is on Thanksgiving, after people eat a lot, they're just like [snores].  They're comatose for the rest of the afternoon watching football games.

Your body has to devote a lot of energy to digesting all of that food.  At that point, it's not even blood sugar yet.  Your body is just devoting an enormous amount of energy to try to process all that food.

CHERYL WILLS:  In terms of overeating, that doesn't help you to feel energized.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  No it doesn't.

CHERYL WILLS:  It's not how much you eat.

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.

CHERYL WILLS:  So many people eat on the run.  They are driving in a car, going to work, maybe they're on a lunch break and they shopped instead of ate.  On the way back, they're eating.  What does that do in terms of energy?

SAMANTHA HELLER:  I think you just tend to eat less healthy foods.  You eat the things you can just rip out of a package, shove in your mouth and keep going.  Certainly, we're broadcasting this from New York City.  We're chronically stressed and busy.  We're all crazed.  Part of what happens is you're eating unhealthy foods.  You're not giving your body the fuel it needs.  For example, if you have a jaguar – and our bodies are jaguars.  Our bodies are amazing.  But, if you're putting in low-grade, crummy gas – poor food – your body has to work even that much harder to function and get the energy going.  If you put in high-grade fuel, meaning eating healthy foods, you're body is going to be blazing.

The issue is if you're in a hurry, what do you do?  Well, bring food with you.  It's really easy to go to a grocery store and pick up a healthy snack.

CHERYL WILLS:  What effect do carbohydrates have on blood sugar levels?

SAMANTHA HELLER:  They have an absolute direct effect on your blood sugar levels.  When you have a simple carbohydrate; simple meaning sugar, even a fruit is simple because the sugar is simple, or cake or cookie.  Because there is no fat or fiber to slow down the process of absorption, your blood sugars start to climb.  You may, as Martha said, start feeling more energetic.  But, when it climbs that fast, for some people – not for everybody – then you have a sudden drop.

If you eat a more complex carbohydrate, or a mixed meal – if you have a yogurt with a banana – then it's going to raise it in a more even fashion and you won't have that drop.  You're energy will be more sustained.

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  Any time you combine a protein -- which you get in meat, fish, chicken, dairy products, peanut butter, soy or tofu – whenever you combine a protein with a carbohydrate, as Samantha said, you're going to get a much slower rise.  Protein doesn't have that big an effect on blood sugar, and neither does fat.  If you have a little fat on a carbohydrate, you're going to get the much slower rise, and therefore, the slower drop.  What we generally recommend at your meals and snacks, if possible, is to have a carbohydrate, preferably a complex with a little protein or a fat.  That will make it go up much slower and down much slower.  You're not going to get the peaks and the crashes.  It will be more level.

CHERYL WILLS:  In terms of how and when we eat these, break it up into small meals?

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  That's important.  Timing is important in terms of energy levels. I think most of us tend to be so busy, we'll maybe have breakfast, if we have breakfast.  That's a whole other point in itself.  We may have breakfast at 9:00, then all of a sudden look at the watch and its 3:00.  We haven't eaten.  By that point, you're blood sugar is low, your energy is down.  You're probably going to crave something that's not healthy.

CHERYL WILLS:  In terms of breakfast, how big a breakfast?  Are we talking about cereal?

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  You should have something for breakfast.  About half of Americans do not eat breakfast.  It should be something on the smaller side.  I don't recommend jumbo muffins and bagels.  Again, that's overeating.  Something like a bowl of cereal; whole grain cereal with low fat milk, or some whole grain toast with a little peanut butter, some fruit and yogurt.  That's a great breakfast.

CHERYL WILLS:  But Samantha, that's not really balanced.  When we think of balanced we think of the eggs and toast, the meat and the sausage.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  Is that what we think of as balanced?

CHERYL WILLS:  It will kill you, but it's balanced.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  That, I think, is sort of an average American breakfast.  In any diner in this country that's what people are eating. But, it's certainly not the healthiest way to go.

CHERYL WILLS:  What would be a balanced way to go?

SAMANTHA HELLER:  I actually agree with Martha.  I think what she said, some cereal with some fruit and maybe some nuts or some oatmeal with some raisons or walnuts on it.  If you like toast, have whole wheat toast with some peanut butter on it.  The peanut butter is balanced.  You have the protein, you have a little fat and you have whole wheat bread.  You're getting that balance.

CHERYL WILLS:  Should everyone have a little protein every day?  Do we need it?

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  Our bodies need protein.  We need it for our muscles.  Protein is very important.  It's part of our immune system.  The average American gets plenty of protein.  For most people, it's not a problem.  We may get double what we need.  I think the important thing is maybe to break it up into smaller feedings versus going out to dinner and eating that 16-ounce steak and getting all your protein in one feeding.  You're much better off getting a little in the morning, a little at lunch, a little at night, and then snacks in between.

CHERYL WILLS:  That's what you said.  The fruit and the yogurt and then the whole wheat toast.

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  With the peanut butter.  An egg on occasion is fine.  An egg and toast.  Or egg substitutes.  Those are balanced types of breakfast.

CHERYL WILLS:  In terms of water, can water give you that energy?

SAMANTHA HELLER:  Water doesn't chemically give you energy.  What gives you energy is just fats, protein and carbohydrate.  But what is so important.

CHERYL WILLS:  It rehydrates you.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  It rehydrates you.  Every chemical process in your body happens in a water medium.  You have to have water.  The trick is always have a bottle nearby.  Although they can't see it, we all have bottles of water under our chairs here.  We're sipping in between as we talk.  It's very important to hydrate yourself.

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  Most of us are not hydrated.

CHERYL WILLS:  That's true because a lot of us drink caffeine and sodas.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  We dehydrate.

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  Soda with caffeine, coffee.  I know most of my clients when I interview them and ask them what they've had to drink, it's two cups of coffee and a couple of Diet Cokes.  That actually dehydrates you.

CHERYL WILLS:  Why does that dehydrate you?  What goes on?

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  The caffeine causes your kidneys to produce urine, and it just pulls the water out of you.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  It's diuretic.

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  There is nothing wrong with caffeine in moderation.  I generally don't recommend more than two cups a day.  But, you need to make sure that you're replenishing yourself with water.  As Samantha said, I think you need to plan.  If you wait until you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated.  So go to work, have a big bottle on your desk, fill it up twice and then you'll know that you've met your goal for fluid.

CHERYL WILLS:  How much water do we need a day?  Eight glasses?

SAMANTHA HELLER:  Eight plus.  Sip it all day.  You don't have to measure. If you don't like water, try seltzer.  There are flavored seltzers that are good and add a little more body to what you're drinking.  Soda doesn't count.  People think it does.  It doesn't.

CHERYL WILLS:  When someone changes their diet, what should they feel?  How do they know they're on the right track?  There are some people who go on diets and feel miserable, so when do you know you have the right feeling when you go on a healthy diet?

SAMANTHA HELLER:  That's a really good question.  I don't know if there is any one answer.  Certainly, if you start a diet and you start feeling really badly, you better find out why.  That's not a good sign.  You can even be on a sort of an unhealthy diet and start to feel better.  Why is that?  Well, maybe you're starting to lose weight because you're cutting out a food group and you're cutting out calories.  Any time you start to lose weight, if you're overweight, you'll start to feel better.

What you want to do is see a nutritionist.  Talk to someone who can set you on an intelligent, healthful, practical way for you to incorporate healthy eating into your daily life.

CHERYL WILLS:  Martha, should it always lead to higher energy levels?  Do you sometimes plateau?

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  I think one of the most important points is that you need adequate sleep.  You can have the most perfect diet in the world, but if you aren't getting enough sleep, you are not going to feel great.  So, assuming you're getting a decent night's sleep, you should feel better somewhat immediately.  If you're used to eating two really large meals a day, or if you used to snack on sugar a lot, if you cut down on that and go more toward three meals with three snacks a day, you should feel better immediately.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  That's true.  I didn't really answer your question.  But it's true.  Your energy level will improve when you start eating healthy foods, and you're fueling your body on a regular basis.  That's what Martha just said.

CHERYL WILLS:  I assume it's best, as we wrap up here, to seek a registered dietitian or a nutritionist?

SAMANTHA HELLER:  Take a nutrition class.  Educate yourself.  A lot of what you hear in the media isn't the whole story.

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  Be careful what you read.  There are a lot of books out there written by physicians or people who are supposedly credible.  It doesn't mean because someone is a physician or has lots of credentials that it's true.

CHERYL WILLS:  That's a good way to end this segment.  Thank you Martha and Samantha.  And thank you for tuning into our webcast.  I'm Cheryl Wills.