Fuel for Success: Eating for Energy and Focus

This post is the first in a series about some perhaps less obvious – but still vital – tools for success in graduate school. As a graduate student, you may feel like the most important part of you is your brain. But the truth is, we are whole people, not “brains on a stick” (Smith, 2016). What you do with the rest of your body, mind, and spirit is going to directly and deeply affect your academic success. Today, we’ll start the series by discussing how to use food to fuel your graduate journey.

Our Guest Expert

When I was young, one thing that was super important to my mom was nutrition. We ate sprouts, tofu, and tahini. We belonged to the local food co-op, where carob chips and dried pineapple were as sweet as it got. Her go-to resources were the Adele Davis classics Let’s Have Healthy Children and Let’s Eat Right to Keep Fit. As a result, I tend to enjoy healthy food. That, however, does not make me an expert.

The good news is, I have an expert handy. My sister, Cate, whom I quoted in an earlier post on working more efficiently, is an applied clinical nutritionist with an undergraduate degree in nutrition education and an MBA (which, she says, has no relationship to her nutritional expertise – it just helps her sell it). Her husband has a functional medicine clinic, and she has coached people in eating, weight loss, and managing conditions such as thyroid issues and diabetes. She describes herself as “passionate about food.”

The Importance of Energy

If there is one thing that busy graduate students need, it’s energy. And that energy needs to be sustainable; grad school is the Appalachian Trail, not a walk in the park. That energy also needs to be focused – racing around maniacally from task to task is rarely productive. Instead, students need to be able to concentrate intensely on their work to accomplish as much as possible in the limited time available.

I asked Cate to share some information and tips for sustained energy and focus. Here is what she shared.

Why Does Food Matter?

If you really care about your car, you are going to be careful to fill it with the right kind of gasoline. Otherwise, you will be left with an expensive machine that doesn’t work. The human body is more complex than a car, and we should not expect it to work well on subpar fuel.

“Our bodies are like chemical factories,” Cate said. “There are chemicals we need in the form of vitamins and minerals to keep them running the way they are meant to run. They are all important to keep the brain working and the neurons firing.”

Food can also help control the effects of stress. When we are under stress, our adrenal glands produce adrenaline. This hormone provides a rush of energy but can lead to fatigue. Vitamin C replenishes the adrenal glands, but it cannot be stored in the body. So, it’s important to eat a lot of foods high in vitamin C when you are under stress. These foods include oranges, sweet peppers, and strawberries.

What Should I Eat?

“In general,” Cate said, “You want to stick with proteins, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates, and then on top of that, staying hydrated.”

Good sources of protein include fish, nuts, eggs, and avocados. These also have good fats, and “the brain is full of fat. We need a lot of good, healthy fats to feed our brain.”

Complex carbohydrates are “the more natural ones from whole foods – fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts.” These are different from the simple sugars and white flour in most processed foods.

Eating a variety of healthy foods will help your body get the range of nutrients it needs.

What Should I Avoid?

For busy people, prepackaged and prepared foods and eating out can be tempting time-savers, Unfortunately, “convenience foods are some of the least healthy,” Cate said. “Probably one of the worst things you can do for energy is start your day off with something like a donut.” Donuts are full of sugar, white flour, and unhealthy fat. The same goes for running to get fries and a burger at lunch time.

“You may get a boost of energy, but you will probably crash,” Cate said. “And the fried food will give you digestive discomfort.”

Not only that, but because convenience foods often lack nutrients, “You will probably be hungry again.”

Cate explained that the way many foods are processed strips them of vitamins and minerals in exchange for a longer shelf life. This means that “highly processed food is not feeding your body at all.”

I’m Too Busy to Eat Well

The bad news is that many easy and convenient foods will sap your body of energy and leave you feeling hungry and uncomfortable. The good news, Cate said, is that eating for energy is not all that difficult or time consuming. Here are some of her top tips.

Plan ahead. Think about what you are going to eat for the week, make a list, and go to the grocery store. If you have time to meal prep, cooking a whole chicken can give you meat for salads, soups, protein bowls, and wraps throughout the week. “You are doing yourself a huge favor for the whole week by just sitting down and doing some planning,” Cate said.

Read Labels. If you are buying a dessert, you probably want it to contain some sugar. But if you are buying almond butter or dried fruit, the extra sugar is pointless and will hurt your energy levels. Choosing foods without added sugars is an easy way to start eating for energy.

Shop the perimeter. In the produce section and the meat department, you’ll find foods with no labels at all. That’s because they are whole foods, which are the best kinds for energy and focus.

Pack your lunch – and snacks. “Just being intentional about what you are going to eat is the first thing you can do to set yourself up for success.” Cate always carries raw almonds, or an apple or orange in her purse. Trail mix is good too, as long as you avoid the kinds with candies and added sugar in the dried fruit. Take cut up veggies and hummus, or almond butter to put on your apple. Hard boiled eggs also travel well and are great brain-boosting snacks. Cate recommends a variety of nuts, because they all have different nutrients. Brazil nuts, for example, are a good source of selenium, which is important for brain function.

Eat out carefully. On days when the planning doesn’t work out, look for options that include the complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and proteins needed to help you maintain energy and focus. Cate suggested a salad with grilled chicken or steak as a good lunch option.

Hydration

“Our body is made up of cells, and cells are made up of water,” Cate said. That fact means that getting into the habit of drinking water is essential to keep your brain functioning well. A common guideline is to drink enough ounces of water to equal half your body weight in pounds. So, a 140-pound person would need to drink 70 ounces of water “as a minimum to keep your body functioning.”

To remember to drink, Cate recommended carrying around a water bottle and refilling it as often as necessary. Consider a bottle with markers for ounces or how much to drink by a certain time of day. People who find plain water boring can try adding lemon, mint, or cucumber.

“If people don’t drink water, they feel hungrier, they don’t have energy,” she said. “Our blood has water, or brain has water, our fat has water.”

What About Caffeine?

Many of us rely on coffee, sodas, or other caffeinated drinks to keep our energy up. Cate said that while caffeine can be helpful, it’s good to look for healthier sources than a sugary soda or coffee drink. Those beverages, like other sugary foods, can lead to a crash. Instead, opt for green tea, plain coffee, or even dark chocolate in small quantities.

Organization is Key

As with most tools for success, eating for energy and focus is about intentionality, organization, and planning. It may feel like a waste of precious minutes to create a meal plan and go to the grocery when you could be plowing through that journal article. In the end, though, the investment of time will pay off as you are able to work longer and more efficiently.

Reference

Smith, J. K. A. (2016). You are what you love. Brazos Press, 2016.

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