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How To Boost Your Energy By Eating Fresh

Part of whole-life wellness, weight loss, and fitness is having the energy to accomplish your goals, and a large part of this energy comes from food. Unfortunately, Americans all over the country, and in and around Houston (twice known as the "Fattest City in America," by Men's Health Magazine), are caught in the trap of easy-to-eat, but hard-to-digest foods.

The culprits: fast foods and soft drinks that are high calorie, instant-energy boosters. Such foods can lead to long-term problems like weight gain, and short-term effects like bloating and lethargy after the initial energy high wears off.

In order to strike a balance between nutrition and energy, fresh food in the form of vegetables, fruit, and locally produced meat products can be a viable choice.

According to a study conducted by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a lack of fresh food available in a neighborhood hurts the health of residents.

This 2010 study dealt with 73,000 residents in 60 communities that had no local full-service grocery store. In these communities, only one store out of every 89 - most of them convenience stores and gas stations - had fresh food available for purchase. This lack of fresh food has led not only to poor health and fitness for members of these communities, but also a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes.

A four-year European study by researchers at Newcastle University in England, meanwhile, has confirmed what many of us already knew about the value of organic fresh food: it is more nutritious. Organically grown vegetables and milk have anywhere from 40 to 60 percent more antioxidants than their non-organic counterparts, which aid in preventing the damage caused by free radicals.

In short, fresh food matters. It is an integral part of any wellness plan and can help jump-start a fitness program by supplying the kind of long-term, sustainable energy and nutrition the body needs.

Remember: "Wellness is not a luxury, it's a necessity."

Live Life Well,

John Aaron
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Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 11, 2011 at 11:04 AM

    Hey John, I'm a twitter follower and saw your link to this article...

    I agree with the point of this article, but think it leaves out the more important reason why fresh food gives you more energy... Enzymes. Live food contains the enzymes necessary to properly digest the nutrients you take in. This makes the digestive process more efficient, and allows you to use energy for activity rather than for digestion. I wrote an article on the importance of digestive enzymes that your readers might be interested in here:

    The Importance of Digestive Enzymes

    -Steve

    ReplyDelete

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