Complex Carbs, Simple Life

Grocery shopping with three diaper aged children is…where is the word for it?  I distinctly remember putting the car in park and lacking the energy to get out.  What is it for you that zaps your energy? Christmas shopping?  Juggling work outside and inside your home?  I was shopping yesterday when I started to feel like my stores of energy had been uncorked and were almost gone; and there wasn’t even anyone with diapers in my shopping cart! 

Food equals energy. Cars need gas for it, but we need food.  Can you run bad gas in your car and affect the way it operates? Yes. Can you put the wrong food in your body and affect your energy level? Yes.  Would you like some more energy? Do you need some? If you had it, is there something you would do now that you are presently not doing because you run out of energy before the day is done?

Especially around the holidays when there is so much more to do, we could use an extra dose of energy.  So let’s start with the basics; sleep, hydration, and relaxation.  Skip the extra TV show and get an extra half hour of sleep, drink water with your meals and in between your meals throughout the day, and take a 20 minute walk down the street and back to get the blood moving as they say.  Check.

Now what about food?  One really easy change to make in your diet is to make sure that the carbohydrates you eat are complex, not simple.  You want your life more simple but your carbs complex, meaning unprocessed whole grains…spelt angel hair pasta rather than regular noodles, whole wheat pastry flour in the pancakes, whole wheat bread instead of sourdough for your sandwich, and quinoa, couscous, or wild rice instead of white rice with dinner. 

While these complex, whole grain carbs will eventually end up as glucose blood sugar just like processed grains, it will happen more slowly and evenly because of the fiber in them.  This slower digestion eliminates the spike and then fall in blood sugar levels that accompany the digestion of carbohydrates without fiber. Instead of a rush and then crash in your energy level, complex carbs provide energy that is more constant and even as the digestion moves steadily along at a slower pace. Fruit has the same benefits because it has carbs and fiber together just like a whole grain. (1)  So switch to whole grains at every meal, and try snacking on fruit instead of something like pretzels made with refined flour.

I’ve given you a lot to think about and we’re just getting started, so let’s continue next week with our look at eating for greater energy.  Be thinking about what you would like to use more energy for in the coming year, and I hope you have a wonderful time doing whatever you do to enjoy the holidays.

Looking for reindeer and more energy too,

Molly
Test Cook and Research Specialist for Orange Tree Lane

PS- Last week’s extra recipe Apple Rich Quick Bread pictured above is loaded with complex carbohydrates because of its whole wheat pastry flour, ground flax seed and apples with the peel!

(1) http://www.prevention.com/11fixesforinstantenergy/list/1.shtml

Molly