One of the most difficult elements of learning our own personal nutrition profile is the number of variables associated with how energetic we are at any given time. It can be pretty confusing.
Suppose you have a headache. You drink a tall glass of water, take Advil, eat a bunch of anti-inflammatory foods, go for a jog, sleep for an hour and wake up without your headache. What was responsible for healing your throbbing dome? It may have been the aggregate of your steps or it may have been just one. Even if every time you had a headache, you took just a single action, you’d still be left unconvinced. The sample size would inevitably be too small, and there would be even more data points left unexamined.
Today, I took a friend’s Ford Excursion to be serviced. I’m borrowing it for an upcoming trip to Mammoth, where I will be snowboarding with my young men (be on the lookout for posts from the High Sierras). While the truck was being checked out, I went to get work done at Sunlife Organics, a juice bar offering organic juice, smoothies, bowls and…you know this kind of establishment. I got lost in emails and phone calls, looked up, and it was time for lunch. If you’ve been following the blog, you know I eat mainly animal flesh, and there was none on the menu. You also know that I’ve been eating grain free for quite some time. Lunch wasn’t going to be easy here, but I was locked in with strong wifi (from next door at Umami Burger), so I wasn’t leaving.
I decided to go off my normal schedule and display some flexibility. I first asked about the tomato basil soup. I was curious about the ingredients. Charming and cheerily smiling Juliet (“like Romeo and Juliet,” she said) and the rest of the crew at the counter did their best to help out with the contents. No sweeteners. Hurdle leaped. The second part of my lunch was the “Paleo Bowl.” Its contents, from the Sunlife Organics website:
Grass-fed maple yogurt, cinnamon, and MCT oil topped with Paleo granola (blend of nuts, coconut, etc), blueberries, and shredded coconut
This meal was phenomenally tasty. That said, it was sweet. I ingested my first refined sugar in quite some time. It may have been honey, it may have been maple syrup, it may have been organic, but it was sugar. You know my recent routine. I’ve only been eating sugar naturally occurring in fruits, veggies and sweet potatoes. Nothing removed from its original form. This meal was a monster deviation from my recent norm. I crushed that lunch at 1:15pm this afternoon.
Here’s the thing. It’s 9:30pm now. Normally at this point in my day, I can barely keep my eyes open. I’m struggling to get my last bit of work in and desperately needing a brain break. Tonight, I have stamina. Is it the sugar? Perhaps. But I also spent a substantial portion of the day outside. Additionally, I had an off day from my workouts. I didn’t have a meeting today. I connected with my boys at dinner. I had a strong, productive work day. Tricky, right?
Variables. They make proving theory hard. Sometimes, anecdotes are all we have to go on. In this case, I’m betting my body has been needing some sugar. I’ll just have to be comfortable with not being sure. For me, that’s a challenge.
Thoughts?
Kap
Jack says
For a while I’ve been keeping to a pretty consistent meal plan at least six days a week. Mostly lean proteins, good fats, and unrefined carbs. I don’t exercise a lot, but I’m a pretty lean guy and my resting heart rate is usually around 50 or a little below (got it checked out by my doctor, he says it’s fine since I don’t have bradycardia symptoms).
When I go out to eat with friends once in a while or go to a dinner party (inevitably more often during the holiday season), I usually don’t worry too much about deviating from my meal plan. It’s nice to enjoy some of the things I don’t normally have – like bread, pasta, desserts, alcohol etc. What I’ve noticed regularly is that when I take my resting heart rate after a day of having “treat” items, it’ll be five to ten beats faster per minute. I don’t know what part of the deviation from my meal plan causes this – more sugar, more salt, more calories overall – and it doesn’t necessarily create a perceivable difference in my energy levels, but it undoubtedly has an impact on me physiologically. Before getting on my current meal plan, I would never have been able to make that kind of specific connection.
On the other hand, whenever I miss my daily coffee (I use a Chemex) I feel like my energy/productivity definitely takes a dip. Not sure if it’s chemical or more of a placebo effect. Could be a bit of both I think.
Michael Justice says
Jack, Low energy from skipping coffee is probably your body missing it’s daily dose of caffeine. My heart rate also goes up after a deviation from my normal diet. I think digesting food it is not normally used to causes your system to deviate from your normal pattern.
Msquared says
Ok- so question… You talk a lot about sugar… I’m confused as to how the body processes sugar from berries and sweet potatoes versus say, organic honey?
Can you sprinkle some knowledge here?
Ps- great post. A sign of a great writer is when the reader can imagine the setting and characters in that situation.
I felt like I was at Sunlife today, conversing with Juliet and having a Paleo bowl. Well done.
Read you mañana.
Steve says
Msquared, I think this might help your understanding of sugar. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/difference-between-sucrose-glucose-fructose-8704.html
Chris says
Looking at glycemic loads per serving is interesting as well…
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods.htm
Peter Summerville says
Chris and Steve,
Those are both awesome links. Thank you for sharing that.
-Peter