boosting energy by balancing meals
Whether you're a week or a year in, the transition to parenthood is a huge energy zapper. You're physically recovering from pregnancy & birth. Your nutrient stores are heavily depleted. You're surviving on much less sleep than you're used to and your hormones are still out of whack. You might be breastfeeding and wondering how best to support this. You're keen to feel strong and more like yourself again but finding the energy (and time!) to be active can feel impossible. Not that it's all doom and gloom - babies are ace!
And this is where simple, good quality nutrition really comes in. It's the foundation of postnatal recovery and the most powerful way we can energise and nourish ourselves and help our babies to thrive. My aim is for you to be able to put together an absolute power house of a 'postnatal' meal that's really going to feed and nourish you and baby and also give you the energy you need.
So we're looking ideally for all your meals (and snacks) to include all three macronutrients. A fancy word to describe the three food groups; carbohydrates, proteins and fats. And it's when we get the balance of these right in a meal that we really reap the energy boosting benefits (amongst others).
To start, carbohydrates. Essential fuel for every single cell in our bodies and our body's first port of call for energy. The key is the type of carbohydrates we predominantly eat (of which there are two) as they impact our energy levels very differently.
When we eat a meal or snack containing mostly 'simple carbohydrates' (such as white bread/pastries/fruit etc), these foods are quickly broken down by our digestive system into glucose (a sugar), causing blood sugar levels to rise. This provides a quick source of energy - brilliant you might think. However, because our body likes our blood sugar level to be within a normal range, it counteracts this quick rise by releasing insulin from our pancreas, bringing our blood glucose level back down again. But, our blood sugar level can often come down too much, resulting in a slump in energy, feeling hungry again or craving sweet foods. The result is often referred to as a ‘blood sugar rollercoaster’.
Secondly we have 'complex carbohydrates'. These take longer to digest than simple carbs (helping us feel fuller for longer), providing a ‘time-released’ source of glucose over the day and thereby avoiding the sugar (and energy) spikes and troughs. They're also full of fibre which helps to prevent constipation and they help keep our digestive system healthy. Examples of complex carbs include dark leafy greens, starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnips, whole grain breads and pastas, oats, brown rice and beans.
Now, one of the most effective ways we can improve our energy levels is to maintain a balanced blood sugar level. This refers to having a steady amount of glucose (a sugar) available in our bloodstream to fuel all of our cells. And this is why complex carbs are your friend as they provide just that.
When we're thinking about putting a meal together, we can get quite clever with complex carbs. Because not only are you getting the energy and fibre from let's say your dark leafy greens or your sweet potato wedges, but lots of different micronutrients as well such as Calcium, Iron & Magnesium; all incredible for postnatal recovery. So it's about getting as much nourishment as you can from what's on your plate.
Alas, sadly we cannot live on carbs alone. We also need proteins and fats which act similarly to complex carbs in that they also take longer to digest, helping us regulate our blood sugar level and feel satisfied between meals. Proteins provide the same amount of energy per gram as carbohydrates but they're also essential for allowing your body to grow, repair tissues and aid lactation if breastfeeding. Sources of protein include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds.
Fats provide roughly double the amount of calories per gram compared to complex carbs and proteins, so they're brilliant for energy conservation and also essential for us to be able to create certain hormones and absorb certain vitamins (like Vitamin D). Again, it's the type of fat we're looking at. Try to avoid trans fats (margarine/fried foods) and really focus on getting the unsaturated fats on your plate (avocados, nuts, olive oil, oily fish like salmon and mackerel).
So how do we put this into practice? We know we need to include all 3 macronutrients on our plate but in what proportions? Well, the exact proportions will be different for each of us depending on numerous factors including weight, activity and whether we're breastfeeding or not. But a rough guide is 50% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 20% fats.
Balanced blood sugar levels also play a huge role in managing weight. I’ve mentioned how the pancreas releases insulin in order to bring blood sugar levels back down but insulin can also promote fat storage, so frequent spikes and subsequent insulin releases can contribute to weight gain. By maintaining balanced blood sugar levels, you can support healthy weight management.
So i’ve talked about supporting our energy levels by putting together well-balanced meals that support balanced blood sugar levels. We're looking for all three macronutrients to feature in all of our meals/snacks at a rough ratio of:
Complex carbohydrates 50%
Proteins 30%
Fats 20%
But we're not robots! Eating well should be enjoyable and sustainable and we can (and should) still enjoy the odd brownie or handful of biscuits. An 80/20 split is about right.
So hopefully that's given you a little taster of how powerful just tweaking our nutrition can be when it comes to supporting postnatal health. And there are countless other postnatal health issues that nutritional therapy can support. Your health history, symptoms and health aims will be completely different to your friends’ and therefore what you need nutritionally will be different too. The beauty of working with a Registered Nutritional Therapist is that you can really get to the root cause of and address your specific health concerns with nutrition guidance tailored to you.