Natural food sources for energy

When it comes to understanding energy and food sources, we need to learn to think in the GI/GL system.

GI is the Glycemic Index, or the capacity of a carbohydrate source to spike insulin. Glucose, the end product of all carbohydrate metabolism has a GI of 100, and it effects blood sugar.

GL is the Glycemic Load, some food items like Carrots have a very high GI, but have a low GL. The reason for this is that carrots are difficult to break down in the digestive tract, this essentially slows the release of nutrients into the blood stream.

So what foods do we choose?

Use foods with a high GI, such as energy drinks or pure fruit juice during exercise or workouts. At other times of the day stick to Low GL foods, this includes all vegetables. Fruits have a higher glycemic load on average than vegetables because they are less likely to have cellulose and starches that are not digested.

Great vegetarian sources of energy include:
- Oat cereal
- Fruits all varieties
- Vegetable all varieties
- Low GL pasta's

The simple solution to picking foods of low GI or low GL is this, if it is a brown item (ie. brown bread, brown pasta, whole wheat, whole oats, whole grains, brown rice etc.) then it will be more slowly released into the blood stream. On the other hand if it is white, it will practically be like sugar and be released very quickly into the blood stream. In order to slave off energy slumps during the day, it is important to have basal insulin levels that keep things running smoothly without that 'crash' feeling people get without activity.

If you are looking for a quick energy alternative, there is nothing better than green tea, shown in research to have a multitude of health benefits.

-Canuck Singh

Sodium Propionate

Many people love the taste of processed carbohydrate foods like white bread, pasta, cakes, biscuits and cookies. Unfortunately, because these foods dump enormous amounts of sugar into our bloodstream, they wreak havoc with our metabolism. Our love for packaged, processed foods has lead to an obesity epidemic and an explosion in the number of adults diagnosed with type II diabetes. While it may be impossible to stop people’s love for these foods, science may have come to the rescue.

It now appears that adding a substance called sodium propionate to carbohydrate foods will lower the food’s glycemic index and slow the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream. A team of Swedish scientists conducted a series of experiments that added sodium propionate to many refined carbohydrate foods and results indicate that this generally produces a favorable impact on blood sugar.

The addition of sodium propionate seems to prevent the sudden surge and fall in blood sugar that is normally associated with highly processed foods. Sodium propionate is found naturally in high amounts in sourdough bread and is the reason why this bread has a low glycemic index rating and a modest impact on blood sugar levels.

Who knows, in the near future there may be sodium propionate supplements that bodybuilders can add to their food to slow the food’s absorption and maintain steady blood sugar levels. Steady blood sugar levels are the key to “pain free” fat loss.

Ref: Am. J.Clin. Nutr. 74:254-258, 2001

Other Foods that can be used to decrease the Glycemic Index are:

o Vinegar (20mL)
o Lemon juice
o Sourdough bread – lactic acid and propionic acid by natural fermentation lower GI
o Generally foods high in acidity pull break on stomach emptying to SI

In term's of physical energy, stick to mostly vegetables and brown carbs. These will make sure you don't get energy spikes and drops. If you are doing some activity add in some fruits, fruits are still high in fibre.

If you want to stimulating energy to stay awake for long hours, then stick to tea, green tea, coffee, or spicy sabzi's. These are stimulating foods that will have an energetic effect on the body.

Also, consider light exercise and breathing exercises to increase energy.

The key is to keep your food intake of sugars low, so that you have steady stream of nutrients that does not cause large rises and drops in blood sugar, allowing you to stay energetic for most of the day.


Researchers from the Sport and Exercise Nutrition Research Group at Loughborough University examined the effects of high and low glycemic index (GI) meals on subsequent fuel utilization during exercise. The researchers discovered that a low GI meal consumed 3 hours before exercise resulted in a greater amount of fat burnt (oxidized) compared to the high GI meal.

In this study, eight healthy women consumed either a high or low glycemic index meal three hours prior to completing a one hour run. The one hour run was performed at 60% of the subject' s maximal oxygen consumption capacity. The high GI meal was calculated to have a value of 78 while the low GI meal had a value of 44. Both meals were equal in total calories, calories from carbohydrate, protein, and fat.

Results indicated that during the 60 minutes of exercise, the low GI meal enabled more fat to be used as a fuel source, significantly higher plasma levels of both free fatty acids and glycerol were detected. Additionally, the total amount of fat oxidized after the low GI meal was significantly greater than the amount of fat utilized after the high GI meal. Based upon these results, your last meal before cardio should be a low GI one, to promote better fat utilization during and after exercise. However, further research needs to determine if the same affect occurs in response to intense cardio exercise. Learn more about how to use low GI foods to optimize fat loss, here.

Source: Am J of Clin Nutr 84:354-360, 2006.


-Canuck Singh