Health Topics
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Healthy Living
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August 2011
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| Pump Up Your Energy Levels |
| Dr. Panchali Moitra |
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The type and amount of food that we eat has a direct effect on the brain’s activity and our energy levels.Include high energy foods and eating strategies to perk up your daily performance and work smarter for longer durations, without any fatigue. |
High Energy Regimen
- Get the most out of your day by starting off with a good breakfast comprising milk and cereal or egg whites and toast.
- Lunches should be low in fat and high in protein as mental energy tends to ebb after a high fat meal. This is because fat takes longer to digest than other nutrients.
- Eating more complex carbohydrates in the form of fibre rich grains like jowar, bajra, brown rice, oatmeal, etc. helps to improve energy levels.
- Eat 5-6 mini meals a day. Studies show that people who eat small, frequent meals suffer less from fatigue and think more clearly than those who eat two to three large meals a day. These mini meals may include nuts, fresh fruits, vegetable soups, a whole grain salad sandwich or bran biscuits.
- To enhance energy levels, foods must be taken in their natural state, i.e. not processed or refined.
- Rice and curry, rice and dal, burgers, biryanis, masala dosas, and sambar, noodles, cream soups (corn starch based soups), fried starters (whether veg or non veg), pav bhaji, vada pav, pizzas are the commonly available meal time traps that most people tend to fall into and feel light headed and sleepy afterwards.
- Limit your sugar intake as sugar may give you the instant energy but later increase fatigue.
- Drink a glass of raw vegetable juice every day to help increase the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood and to improve energy levels.
- Taking Vitamin B supplements help to protect the nerves and enhance energy levels. Food cannot be converted into glucose and utilised when there is a deficiency of the B-Vitamins.Natural dietary sources include whole grain cereals, leafy vegetables, unpolished rice, banana, peas, dals and nuts.
| Days |
Breakfast |
Lunch/Dinner |
High energy drinks |
| Day 1 |
Low fat milk and wheat flakes |
Chapatis + 1 cup vegetables and 150 gm paneer |
Apple juice |
| Day 2 |
Whole grain sandwich and orange juice |
Clear soup + grilled fish and salads |
Carrot and tomato juice |
| Day3 |
Wheat cookies and banana milk shake |
Egg whites with 2 slices of wheat bread and green salad |
Pomegranate and orange juice |
| Day 4 |
Tomato omellete or besan chilla with mint chutney |
Yoghurt and sprouts salad with toast |
Carrot and beetroot juice |
| Day 5 |
Oatmeal and curd |
Jowar chapatis + 1 cup of dal and 1 cup cooked vegetables |
Spinach and mint juice |
| Day 6 |
Fruit plate with cheese toast |
Unpolished rice and beans with raw salad |
Wheatgrass juice |
| Day 7 |
Rava idli with sambar |
Boiled pasta with steamed fish and stir fried greens |
Coriander and dudhi juice |
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Dr.Panchali Moitra is a Nutrition Expert, Weight Management Consultant and Specialist in Alternative Medicine |
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