Energy

Energy

Not many people keep jump ropes in their offices for quick energy breaks. But Ann McGee-Cooper, Ph.D., creativity consultant in Dallas and co-author of You Don''''t Have to Go Home from Work Exhausted, says she always does. In fact, for her, having a jump rope is all part of business. As a consultant to big corporations where executives need all the breaks they can get from long business meetings, Dr. McGee-Cooper has tried just about everything to help her clients renew their energy levels.

So it''''s no wonder that when the energy expert met legendary anthropologist Margaret Mead 23 years ago, she wanted to know one big thing: "What''''s the secret of your energy?"

After all, famed anthropologist Mead regularly traipsed off to places such as Bali, Samoa and New Guinea. Mead would zoom from one remote spot to another to study native cultures on their own ground.

Not content limiting her studies to anthropology, Mead readily expressed her views on women''''s rights, child rearing, sexual morality, nuclear proliferation, race relations, drug abuse, population control, environmental pollution and world hunger.

She was a curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City for 52 years.

And, oh yes, she wrote 23 books.

Confronted with Dr. McGee-Cooper''''s question, Mead stopped and thought a minute. Then she replied, "I suppose it''''s that I never grew up--while fooling most people into believing that I have."

Bingo. Dr. McGee-Cooper decided that Margaret Mead was dead-on. Who has more energy than children?

It''''s Child''''s Play

Think about it. Children never get tired of play. They look forward to recess like no other time of the day.

As Dr. McGee-Cooper points out, we can learn from our kids. Play is stress relief--and stress can be an energy sapper. The light and oxygen outside our doors are energy midwives; they deliver that urge to run through green grass on glorious days. As for recess, it''''s an energy break--exactly what Dr. McGee-Cooper urges business folk to get every day.

Here''''s another factor that helps breed energy--the fuel you feed your energy generator. "The body is a sophisticated biological machine, and it needs fuel for the energy to do all the work that goes on in its cells," says Dan Hamner, M.D., a fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine and author of Peak Energy. "But what''''s the right amount of fuel? And what''''s the right concentration of nutrients in it? What makes you feel the best? You don''''t want to flood the carburetor--your pancreas. You want to inject a steady stream of gas."

Getting the Octane You Need

Obviously, you can''''t run your body on empty. Researchers have found that three big meals a day aren''''t ideal, though. Eating smaller meals and snacks five or six times a day provides you with the most constant energy flow, says Dr. Hamner.

And you have to eat smart. The food that you choose should be low in fat (ideally, 10 to 15 percent, according to Dr. Hamner). It should also be high in complex carbohydrates that come from sources such as fruits, grains and vegetables. As for protein, you get enough from moderate amounts of lean meat, beans and low-fat dairy products, according to Dr. Hamner. It''''s also important to limit your calories.

Here are some basics that will help you power up for more energy.

Get your wake-up cals. "Breakfast is critical," says Elizabeth Somer, R.D., author of Food and Mood, "and you should eat it within the first couple hours of awakening. If you wait until 11:30 or 12:00 to eat, you''''ll never regain the energy that breakfast could have given you. It''''s also the right way to start the day''''s distribution of calories and nutrients."

For the best breakfast, Somer believes in a mix of complex carbohydrates and protein. "If you eat all carbohydrates at a meal, you''''ll feel sleepy in an hour or so." That''''s why you don''''t want to eat a bowl of fruit and nothing else for breakfast. Although the fruit is certainly healthful, it should be combined with a little protein, such as yogurt or nuts.

A favorite power breakfast of Somer''''s is quick and easy: a tortilla with low-fat cheese, plus an orange. Or try this: Have a bowl of whole-grain cereal, milk and a banana.

Eat meat in the morning. If you''''re a meat-eater, make it the second of your five to six meals a day--and have it by about 10:00 a.m. But take the lean route. To limit fat, have very lean meat, fish or turkey.

"Animal protein takes longer to digest," says Dr. Hamner. "When you eat meat early, your body has time to break it down, and its energy is fed into your system slowly throughout the day. Why eat that hard-to-digest food at night, just before your body is about to switch into its rest pattern?"

Forbidden Foods

When you''''re fueling up for energy, the foods you avoid can be as important as the ones you favor. Here are some basic rules to help you skip the energy drainers.

Never eat sugar on an empty stomach. It''''s 3:00 p.m., and your eyelids feel like mattresses. Instant energy--you need it now. And you know how to get it--eat a candy bar.

Bad idea, says Somer. You do get a burst of energy from sugar, she notes, but you pay for it soon after. The pancreas squirts out a burst of insulin to carry that excess sugar out of the bloodstream and into your cells. But the insulin works overtime and . . . thud, now you have low blood sugar accompanied by fatigue, according to Dr. Hamner.

There''''s a way to guard against plummeting blood sugar, says Peter M. Miller, Ph.D., executive director of the Hilton Head Health Institute in South Carolina. "It''''s okay if you eat something like a turkey sandwich first. That way the candy bar doesn''''t undermine your energy level."

Stuff not, slump not. "Large meals--more than 1,000 calories--make you tired no matter when you eat them," says Somer. That''''s because more blood goes to your stomach area to begin a massive transport operation.

That means the rest of your body is a bit short of oxygen-rich fuel, says Dr. Hamner. All the more reason to nibble and nosh rather than gorge. Have smaller meals subsidized by snacks such as fruits, vegetables and small amounts of other low-fat and no-fat foods. And drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.

Energy Walks

Oxygen is the other element in the energy equation. When the cells in your body don''''t get enough good air, they burn their fuel fitfully and inefficiently. That makes you feel sluggish and sleepy--as if you''''ve been sitting in a stuffy office all day, says Dr. Hamner. For more ready energy you can''''t beat a whiff of fresh air. Here are some ways to get it.

Pant like a puppy. Dr. Hamner suggests this exercise to get a quick oxygen rush to the brain. Take 20 quick breaths, rapidly tightening your stomach muscles as if you were panting. (By contracting your stomach area, you pant from the diaphragm rather than the upper lung area.) Follow these panting breaths by taking one very deep breath filling air to the top of your lungs. Then exhale this breath, as if you''''re emptying your lungs to their very bottom.

Go for a thermal. At the Hilton Head Health Institute in South Carolina, where clients follow a daily regimen for weight loss and better health, everyone takes a 10- to 20- minute walk after lunch--and often after dinner, too, according to Dr. Miller. "It''''s a way to energize yourself. We call it a thermal walk."

According to Dr. Hamner, the reason that you get tired after meals is that blood and oxygen are diverted to your stomach and intestines for digestion. "A brisk walk will send some blood and oxygen to your brain and tissues, too. That revitalizes you and prevents that postmeal slump."

Stroll in the morning sun. Our bodies are still primitive beasts in some ways. On their own, without our civilized behavior to command them, our bodies would prompt us to rise with the dawn and bed down as soon as darkness falls. Our so-called body clocks, the internal prompts that regulate biological rhythms--put us in sync with light and dark. It''''s not surprising, then, that a 20-minute walk in the bright sun jump-starts your day better than any cup of coffee. Your whole body responds to the sun''''s rise-and-shine message.

Iron Woman

Many women are expert jugglers of work, family and multiple responsibilities. "So women think it''''s only natural that they should be tired," says Somer.

But maybe it isn''''t just juggler''''s fatigue. In part, women''''s exhaustion may be caused by a simple lack of enough iron in their diets, Dr. Hamner says. About 40 percent of all women--especially adolescent girls, athletes and pregnant and premenopausal women--have iron stores that are too low. They''''re not low enough to show up on routine blood tests. But you can have another simple measurement done--a serum ferritin test--that will identify whether your levels of iron are low enough to make you feel tired.

The iron is for your red blood cells. It helps them haul oxygen from your lungs to your brain and muscles. If your cells don''''t get enough of this mineral, they''''ll pull some of the stored iron out of your bone marrow, muscles and other tissues. And the cells in those tissues will slowly collapse, according to Dr. Hamner.

Most premenopausal women should be getting 18 milligrams of iron a day--the Daily Value--to help keep their tissues strong, says Dr. Hamner. Preferably, that iron should come from your food. If your diet is lacking in iron, get it with the help of a supplement, he suggests.

Here are some tasty ways to eat your iron.

Put some stable in your diet. Many women have cut out or cut back on the beef, pork and lamb they used to eat. For the most part, that''''s healthy. "But the first and best source of iron is red meat--extra, extra, extra lean," says Somer. She points to research showing that our bodies can absorb up to 30 percent of the iron in meat but only about 2 to 10 percent of the iron in vegetables, fruits, legumes and grains. "You can have just a couple of ounces of meat a day. Mix it into chili and stir-fries," she suggests.

Cook a hill of beans. The next best iron sources, says Somer, are beans and peas. A cup of cooked kidney beans has five milligrams of iron, for instance. And it''''s so easy. Just add some beans and peas to soups, stews and salads, she suggests. They add iron, fiber, vitamins, minerals, taste and texture.

Chase it with C. Combinations of some vitamins and minerals enhance iron absorption. If you pair iron with vitamin C, for instance, your body will drink in more of that mandatory mineral. It''''s easy to do, too. Drink orange juice, which is very high in vitamin C, when you have hot oatmeal, which is a respectable source of iron. Or add high-C tomatoes to your iron-rich rice and beans, suggests Dr. Hamner.

Temper your tannin intake. Other substances actually reduce your body''''s absorption of iron. Both coffee and tea contain compounds called tannins that can reduce iron absorption by 80 percent. So drink your hot brews between meals, not with them, says Dr. Hamner.

Space out some supplements. If you''''re taking an iron supplement, be aware that calcium or zinc supplements can interfere with iron absorption, too. Rather than taking all those supplements together, space them out during the day, says Dr. Hamner. Take a multivitamin with water before 10:00 a.m. Other supplements and their timing will depend on your activity level, age and general health.

See also Nutrition