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Summary & Participants

Do you find that you feel tired every afternoon, no matter how much sleep you've been getting? There's a good chance that your low energy could have to do with what you're eating, as well as how and when you're eating it. Today we'll discuss simple changes you can make in your diet to help you stay active and alert throughout the day.

Medically Reviewed On: June 25, 2008

Webcast Transcript

CHERYL WILLS:  I'm Cheryl Wills.  Thank you for tuning in to our webcast.  Do you find that you feel tired every afternoon no matter how much sleep you've been getting?  There is a good chance that your low energy has to do with the food you're eating, and how and when you're eating it.  Today, we'll discuss simple changes you can make in your diet to stay active and alert throughout your day.

Joining me today to discuss this issue is Samantha Heller.  She's a registered dietitian and a Senior Clinical Nutritionist at New York University Medical Center.  Thanks for joining us Samantha.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  My pleasure.

CHERYL WILLS:  Martha McKittrick is also here.  She's a registered dietitian at New York Presbyterian Hospital.  Thank you Martha.

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  Thank you.

CHERYL WILLS:  Let me start with you.  In terms of feeling energized after a meal, it's all about those blood sugar levels.

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE:  Basically, it's the blood sugar levels that kind of control the way we feel.  It's one of the reasons.  Certain foods or quantities of food will send the sugar up higher.  The higher or quicker it goes, the more insulin that is produced and the sugar drops down.  So, you get your sugar high, and then you get your sugar crash.  That's when you get your fatigue.

CHERYL WILLS:  Samantha, what about overeating in terms of being energized?  Sometimes before a marathon, people just overeat to try to sustain their energy.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  What they do before a marathon is carbohydrate load the night before.  The morning of the marathon they're not going to be stuffing a lot of food in their mouths.  I think one of the things that you're referring to is on Thanksgiving, after people eat a lot, they're just like [snores].  They're comatose for the rest of the afternoon watching football games.

Your body has to devote a lot of energy to digesting all of that food.  At that point, it's not even blood sugar yet.  Your body is just devoting an enormous amount of energy to try to process all that food.

CHERYL WILLS:  In terms of overeating, that doesn't help you to feel energized.

SAMANTHA HELLER:  No it doesn't.

CHERYL WILLS:  It's not how much you eat.

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