Author: Julie Ryan

My mom was recently diagnosed with cancer. As I listened to her talking to her oncologist about the constant fatigue and her discovery that if she ate some protein instead of taking a nap her energy levels rebounded, I couldn’t help but think about how the foods we choose can either increase or decrease fatigue. I guess I can still learn a few things from my mom.

It’s interesting that we so often go straight for coffee or a sugary snack when we need an energy boost even though those are rarely the best choices. Sugar and caffeine might give you a quick burst of energy, but they also typically come with a sugar crash. Choosing the right snacks and meals throughout the day can make all the difference in whether we spend the day on the sugar high/carb crash roller coaster or simply coast through with steady energy levels.

Making wise food choices can not only boost our energy levels in that moment but can help them stay constant throughout the day. So what are the best foods to maintain energy throughout the day? Here are my top five picks.

Almonds

Protein is an excellent source of quick energy that can boost us throughout the day. The best part is that it doesn’t take much. A handful of almonds will raise your energy levels and keep you going for several hours. Unlike with carbohydrates, it takes your body a while to turn protein into energy, meaning that you get a solid boost over a longer period of time, rather than the sugar rush and crash that you get from loading up on carbs.

Lean Meat

A few slices of lean deli meat can go a long way. Skip the bread and avoid the carbs, but lean meat doesn’t just provide protein for an energy boost, but also B vitamins that increase energy, and the amino acid tyrosine that increases dopamine and norepinephrine, which can help you feel more focused and alert.

Leafy Greens

A salad of leafy greens is filled with B vitamins to increase energy, plus most salads won’t weigh you down and leave you wanting a nap. Dark leafy greens such as spinach and kale are also high in protein.

Apple With Peanut Butter

An apple with a spoonful of peanut butter may be one of the best snacks you can have. It offers good carbs, fiber, water, good fats, and protein, making it a perfectly rounded snack or meal that leaves you feeling satisfied and full of energy.

Water

Although water isn’t a food per se, what you drink can do as much for your energy levels as what you eat. Don’t weigh yourself down with sugary drinks, but do stay hydrated. Dehydration can leave you feeling really fatigued. In fact, drinking 2–3 full glasses of water as soon as you get out of bed can help you wake up even better than a pot of coffee. I’ve found water to be so important for controlling fatigue. Drinking 2–3 glasses before I get out of bed makes all the difference in feeling dead to the world versus feeling ready to get up and move. 

A snack of almonds and a few chocolate chips or an apple with peanut butter helps me get through the day without crashing, and a salad with lean meat is about the most filling meal I can find. 

The next time you feel your energy levels waning, don’t go for another cup of coffee or a sugary snack. Choose a high-protein snack that will leave you energized and satisfied throughout the day.

I’d never heard of hydrogen-rich water, I just thought water was water. Then I was contacted by Gail Levy, the founder of HFACTOR Water. She offered to send me a few samples of HFACTOR hydrogen water to try to see if it made me feel any better. The claims she provided were pretty strong, and she was even nice enough to send along some medical studies. It’s like she already knew me (and how much I love reading medical studies).
Levy explained how she came to be interested in hydrogen-rich water: “I was introduced to the benefits of molecular hydrogen through my friend, Barry Orms, a former NBA player. He and his friends discovered that it helped improve their recovery and resulting aches and pains. Prior to Barry’s introduction to the world of molecular hydrogen, I had lost a friend to ovarian cancer. I remember while she was alive, constantly researching and looking for that one amazing product that would help her through the difficult treatments of radiation and chemotherapy. Inspired by Lori, my initial research showed me that hydrogen-rich water was very promising in helping with the effects of radiation and therapy, that gave me the impetus to forge ahead and research this new technology.”
So, I said yes. Why not? If it did nothing I’d move on and no loss, if it helped, I’d shout it to the world. So Levy sent me a six pack of HFACTOR and said I should drink two a day, a few hours apart.
When the water arrived I was having a rough time. I’d start the week well but by the end of the week I was out of energy. The water arrived on Thursday as I was already starting to feel drained. I drank it for three days and I couldn’t really see a benefit. After I talked with Levy she offered to send me a 12 pack so that I could try it at the beginning of the week and see if helped me avoid feeling drained by the weekend. I’m happy to say that it did. Actually, I didn’t even drink two a day on some days (I’d forget), but by the weekend I was still feeling good.
There is certainly plenty of scientific evidence to support the assertion that hydrogen-rich water can improve many health concerns. Molecular Hydrogen Studies lists 52 studies related to hydrogen-rich water. Reading through these studies you might come to the conclusion that hydrogen-rich water is a cure-all.
According to Sergej M. Ostojic, MD, PhD of the Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Center for Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences of Belgrade, Serbia, “Hydrogen functions as an important physiologic regulatory factor with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic protective effects on cells and organs and the ability to mitigate a variety of diseases. Oral intake of liquid that contains hydrogen represents a novel, easily translatable, and safe method of delivering hydrogen to humans.”
Hydrogen-rich water is also alkalizing. A study presented in the journal Research in Sports Medicine found that drinking 2 liters of hydrogen-rich water per day for 14 days improved arterial blood flow and alkalinity in active young men. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now approved hydrogen-rich water as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) based on the consumption of 2 liters per day.
A study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh found that drinking 1.5 to 2 liters per day of hydrogen-rich water for eight weeks reduced metabolic stress and increased antioxidant levels while decreasing acidity in people with metabolic syndrome. Subjects also saw their good cholesterol increase by 8 percent and their bad cholesterol decrease by 13 percent.
The list of benefits seems endless as you review the studies. Hydrogen-rich water:

• Protects the liver against potential damage from acetaminophen (maybe you should take your Tylenol with hydrogen-rich water?)
• Improves quality of life in cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment
• Reduces oxidative stress
• Reduces tumor growth
• Reduces muscle fatigue following exercise
• Improves lipid and glucose metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes
• Reduces bladder pain in patients with interstitial cystitis (IC) and painful bladder syndrome

The list goes on and on, and those are just a few of the studies on the topic. So, if it’s so great why aren’t we seeing it everywhere?
Evidently, enriching drinking water with hydrogen isn’t as easy as it sounds. When hydrogen is exposed to air it dissipates like any liquid. So, you need a specialized container like Gail Levy designed, or you need to use a metallic magnesium stick like was used in many of the studies reviewed.
There are products on the market that do just that. pHwatr produces sticks that you can insert into your water bottle, allowing you to hydrogen enrich the water you are already drinking.
If you are like me you’d never heard of hydrogen-rich water until you read this article. But now that you know that the benefits range from improved recovery time from exercise, reducing oxidative stress, and even better cholesterol levels, it’s time to get hold of some and try it. You can grab the shelf-stable ready-to-go water packets, or you can buy a stick to insert in your own bottle. Either way the benefits should be obvious.

I’m not the kind of person who does a lot of research before I jump into something. Typically I just jump in and often learn the hard way. You’d think by now that I’d know that I should dig a little and learn from the mistakes of others, but I guess I’m a little stubborn, and I was born in Missouri (the “show me” state), so I continue to learn the hard way.

The good news is you don’t have to learn the hard way, because as much as I like learning things on my own I also like sharing what I learn and helping others (who choose to do the research) avoid the mistakes that I didn’t.

When I began juicing four years ago I just jumped right in. I’d watched Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, and I downloaded their plan for a juice fast (so I could have some recipes to start with). But I didn’t really know what I was getting into, which may have turned out to be a good thing. I learned a lot in those first few days and weeks of juicing, and I’ve learned even more in the years since. Here are just a few of the mistakes that I made that you might want to avoid.

Not planning appropriately 

I started my first juice fast on January 2. The problem was that there weren’t many grocery stores open on New Year’s Day. As a result, I ended up overpaying for the produce I needed for those first few days. Had I been prepared, I would have shopped on New Year’s Eve (or earlier) to make sure I had enough produce to get through the holiday.

Not researching

There are a number of areas where research would have helped me during that first juice cleanse, not the least of which would have been knowing where to buy my produce to get the best deals. I probably spent close to $100 for the produce I needed for the first three-day juice cleanse. These days, because I know where to shop, I can buy enough produce for a 7-day juice cleanse for about half that much.

Not understanding the difference between fruits and vegetables

We all know the difference between a fruit and a vegetable, yet when it comes to juice cleanses it seems to be the number one thing that people forget. Somehow a juice cleanse becomes all about fruit juice, and we end up taking in huge amounts of sugar and calories. The reality is that a juice cleanse should be mostly about vegetable juices with a little fruit added for flavor (not the other way around).

Not getting to know your juicer first

When I did my first juice cleanse I used a juicer I borrowed from my mom. I picked it up the day before I started the cleanse and used it once before I officially started the cleanse. I should have borrowed it a full week earlier and familiarized myself with it. Had I done so, I would have known that that model didn’t juice green leafy things well, and I would have found a replacement sooner.

Not easing into it

This is actually one mistake I didn’t make as completely as I could have. I did start removing meat and sugar from my diet and replaced it with produce a week or so before I began the cleanse. Unfortunately, many people don’t do this, which is probably one of the biggest reasons for negative side effects and juice cleanse failure. If you go straight from eating a standard American diet to trying to do a juice cleanse, you will be in pain, you’ll suffer withdrawal, and you will have headaches, digestive issues, and a host of other possible side effects. The cleaner your diet is before you make the transition, the fewer side effects you’ll have to face.

There are likely a host of other mistakes that you should avoid and probably just as many others that I made. I doubt I have to tell you not to stick your finger in the juicer while it’s running. I made that mistake, but I’m sure you are smarter than I am.

Even if you do go into your first juice cleanse as unprepared as I was, you’ll still come out ahead of where you started. You’ll learn a lot (perhaps the hard way) but you’ll be better for it, and your next juice cleanse will be that much easier.

Of course, if you can make your first juice cleanse easier, why wouldn’t you?

Avoiding gluten seems to be a fad for many, for others it’s not even a choice. I fall somewhere in between; although those around me would say that it’s not really a choice for me anymore either.
When I became sick in 2010 my doctors ran every test in the book, including tests for celiac disease to determine if a gluten allergy was making me sick. All of the tests came back negative and eventually I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia.
While the only answers doctors had for me came in a prescription bottle, there were plenty of other people around me giving all sorts of advice. I heard from several people that diet changes were sure to make me feel better. The problem is that they were suggesting everything from dairy to gluten to meat. If I gave up everything they suggested might be making me sick, what I would be left with?
For the next two years, I continued to ignore the suggestions that food sensitivities (not allergies) might be at the root of my illness. Finally, I’d had enough. Enough feeling terrible. Enough fatigue. Enough pain that kept me on the couch instead of living life. Just enough. I was willing to try anything. However, rather than simply jumping on this idea that it was definitely food sensitivities and definitely gluten, or dairy, or eggs, I decided to have some tests run to see if I was, in fact, sensitive to certain foods.

The Results Are in

The tests were positive. While the results showed very low markers for sensitivities, the markers were there for gluten, whey, eggs, and yeast. So, I decided to try living without these foods. I removed all of them completely for a full month before I tried any of them again. I felt so much better within just a couple of weeks that I decided I wasn’t interested in re-introducing any of the foods. Eventually, however, I did.
The first time I had gluten again was completely an accident. We’d gone out to eat, and I ordered something that sounded safe enough. However, I should have asked. The next day or so I felt awful. I was suddenly reminded of just how bad I’d felt in the years before my diet changes. The over-arching pain and fatigue were back. Fortunately, as I returned to a gluten-free diet the fatigue and pain went away, and I felt good again.
I’ve now been gluten-free for four years. I’m thankful that it’s become a fad of sorts, because that fad has made my life much easier. It’s so much easier now than it was four years ago to go out to dinner and find a gluten-free menu. Better still, it’s easier to find options on a gluten-free menu that aren’t just salad.
I’m grateful that I don’t have to avoid gluten to the level that someone with celiac has to avoid it, and these days if a little gluten sneaks in it isn’t going to lay me out like it did four years ago. I don’t have to be as careful now, but I am still careful. I still avoid gluten.

Added Benefits

I have to say that weight wasn’t really something I considered when I decided to cut out gluten. But, within six months of removing it from my diet, I lost 40 pounds. That’s one positive side effect that I never had with any of the prescription medications that I tried for my illness.
I’m also eating healthier overall. Instead of simply replacing pasta and bread with gluten-free versions, I’ve mostly removed those items from my life. I eat more salads these days and more fruits and vegetables in general.
I rarely ever feel like I’ve given something up.
Why did I go gluten-free? I went gluten-free because I wanted to feel better. At the time, I didn’t know if that change would work, but it did, and although I might miss certain foods on occasion, I have to say it’s been worth it.

When I tell people that I juice and that I’ve completed multiple juice cleanses, there are a few responses that I get. Of course, people who are also juicers are excited to meet another like-minded soul, but more often people meet my comments with disbelief and questions. Perhaps they’ve tried juicing at some point, without success. Or, maybe they just heard something that has kept them from giving it a try. Whatever the case, I’m happy to share my thoughts and experiences and turn their reasons not to juice into reasons to juice.

Here are a few of the most common statements I get when I tell someone that I juice, along with my responses.

I tried juicing but I just ended up gaining weight.

A common mistake many people make when they start juicing is to only think of juicing in terms of fruit. In fact, when you do a juice fast the majority of your juice content should be vegetables. Just as in a regular diet, fruit should only be a small percentage of you eat. For instance, when I do a juice fast, three out of five of my daily juices will be primarily vegetable juice. Depending on the blend, I may add in a single piece of fruit (usually an apple) to make it taste better. The other two juices may have more fruit, but will still have some vegetables as well. Cucumber, celery, beets, and carrots all make excellent juice bases.

I tried a juice fast, but I felt awful so I had to stop.

Many people make the mistake of jumping into a juice cleanse without preparing their body. If you’ve been eating a typical Western diet–low in fruits and veggies and high in processed foods and sugar–and you suddenly cut out all the foods your body is addicted to, you will pay for it. It will hurt.

Day three is when you will usually feel it the worst, in the way of headaches, stomach upset, and possibly even a fever. The worse your diet is before you start, the worse you will feel on day three.

However, if you take the time during the week or so leading up to your juice fast to plan, reduce the amount of processed foods and meat in your diet, and begin adding juice to your diet on a regular basis, you can reduce those symptoms.

All that sugar in juice isn’t good for you.

You are correct. If you are drinking a lot of juices high in sugar, it’s not good for you. However, the amount of sugar in any juice depends entirely on what you are juicing. Choose wisely. If you are diabetic or have other health issues, you should talk to your doctor before you start juicing and find out if there are specific foods you should avoid juicing altogether. In some situations, you may find out that it’s better for your system to blend your fruits and vegetables rather than juice them, as this will reduce the speed at which your body absorbs the sugar. In other situations, you may find that juicing simply isn’t a good idea for you at all.

Aren’t smoothies better for you since they maintain the fiber content?

It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Drinking a smoothie is no different than eating the same fruits and vegetables.

I juice because juicing is like mainlining massive amounts of nutrients. When you drink a smoothie your body still has to work for those nutrients, therefore they are absorbed more slowly. However, juicing does not remove all fiber content, so even during a juice cleanse you are still getting a decent amount of water-soluble fiber. When I do a juice cleanse one of my goals is to flush out the bad and replace it with good. By eliminating the majority of the fiber, my digestive system is allowed to rest and simply absorb the good stuff.

I hope you are using a protein supplement.

I’m not sure where this myth that you can only get protein from meat came from, but this is probably the most common response I get from people about doing a juice cleanse. Protein is plentiful in many vegetables, especially the dark green leafy kind, like kale, spinach, and collard greens. I juice a lot more greens than I would ever eat, and that’s really one of the greatest things about juicing. You can get the nutrients from a huge amount of fruits and vegetables that you’d never be able to eat in a day. During the course of a seven-day juice cleanse I get plenty of protein. However, if I were to do a long juice cleanse (30 days or more) I would likely add a protein supplement.

The reasons for juicing are endless, and in my opinion, they outweigh any reasons to avoid juicing. I can honestly say that I feel like it’s saved my life. I can tell a difference in how I feel when I’m juicing regularly versus not juicing. I simply feel better. And, when I notice my diet is slipping a little too far to the unhealthy side, a juice cleanse is an excellent way for me to rebound to healthier habits. 

Before you jump in it’s a good idea to know what to expect and how to deal with it. Knowing the reasons why many people avoid juicing and how to avoid those issues is a great way to make sure that you have a good outcome.