BOOSTING OUR ENERGY

BOOSTING OUR ENERGY
How to Boost Your Energy Naturally?
With that big project hanging over your head, due first thing tomorrow, you follow the same old habit and reach for another coffee or chocolate or energy drink, just to keep your eyes open. Moments later, you feel the rush of sugar and caffeine, and hack away at the computer, pushing ahead on the project, with your eyes on the prize. But after an hour or so has passed, your high of a moment ago suddenly plunges into a deep valley; you feel completely drained. Once again, you reach for another energy drink or coffee. The vicious circle reasserts itself, every time you try to boost your energy level.

Maybe it’s time to step back and evaluate the causes of this pattern. The simple scientific fact is that sugar and caffeine have no energy benefits whatsoever. Although they may produce a fleeting sensation of higher energy, you’ll realize, the minute it passes, that they’ve only succeeded in sapping your energy, leading you to feel more exhausted than you were when you first reached for the coffee maker.

What about sugar? It’s full of carbohydrates, and therefore has the reputation as a sort of high-octane fuel for the body and mind. However, while some carbohydrates, such as those found in starches, inject their energy over time into your blood circulation, sugar dumps its energy almost immediately into the blood. Naturally, your sugar levels in the blood experience a sudden spike. Insulin is emitted by the pancreas in response, redirecting that extra sugar floating around in your veins to your cells. So, overall, the level of sugar in your bloodstream actually falls, compared even to when you first began to enjoy that chocolate or “energy bar.”

Used in moderation (as with just about anything in life), caffeine isn’t necessarily a health threat. It may increase your mental focus or clarify your thinking, if taken in small doses. But if you indulge in it a bit too often, the law of diminishing returns sets in. Not only will you derive less and less benefit from every successive cup of coffee, but you’ll in fact add to your exhaustion. Analyze your caffeine intake over several days, and try to determine where your cut-off point is—the point where that coffee or energy drink stops helping, and starts hurting. Then, you can enjoy caffeine in reasonable doses, without compromising your productivity.

Maybe you should formulate a new strategy, and think of ways to boost your energy naturally. The quick fixes you’ve resorted to in the past may actually be hurting more than helping.