How to Feel Great Part 3: Eating for Energy

How enthusiastic we are about our days, the hallowed ‘spring in our step’, generally not feeling like our forehead is dragging along the floor, these are all elements that we should be able to count on as omnipresent in our lives. But I would hazard a pretty confident guess that it is the minority of people who feel consistently vital.

As a basic starting point, our cellular energy metabolism (the first base in energy production) is assisted by antioxidants. To summarise some quite intricate chemistry the final point in this process is known as the electron transport chain & is basically a series of ‘trampolines’ (quick pause as the biochemists all raise their eyebrows at me..) guarded by antioxidants which bounce molecules along, then shooting them out at the end for us to use.

So if you’re feeling sluggish my first suggestion for you is to go big guns on colourful fresh produce. Each different shade of a fruit, vegetable, grain, pulse, nut, seed, bean etc indicates a new type of antioxidant as they are those same colourful pigments.

Challenge yourself to try & include 30 different plant based foods per week (once you start noting them down they tot up pretty fast!).

Variety is often touted as the spice of life, but it’s also an incredibly powerful element to concentrate on when it comes to health too.

The other side to this story is the impact of oxidative stress/burden on energy levels. If your body is under more duress because you live in a city with plenty of traffic, eat non-organic foods, have stress in your lives, grab a plastic water bottle on the run here & there, have taken an ibuprofen for a headache a few times, use non-natural cosmetics… these all cumulatively require more antioxidants to neutralise their potentially negative effects. If they aren’t and oxidation increases then we start to feel sluggish, lacking concentration & mentally foggy as a result. And as I quickly note these are things we all do, so what we want to make sure is that we don’t ever leave our bodies in a position where they don’t have enough support to go around. No-one wants to be the slice of toast with only enough hummus to cover half now do they!

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At Detox Kitchen we deliver fresh, nourishing meals to your door to help you feel your best. Choose between our Meal Plans for a full-body detox (London-only) or 3-Day Reset (available nationwide), or Fridge Fills to have quick healthy meals on hand.

Words: London based Nutritional Therapist Phoebe Liebling. More information on her clinical services can be found on her website, and her Instagram feed as @_naturalnourishment.