Why You're Tired & How To Fix It

Today’s almonds have been activated by:

In A Rush?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

• Modern life has resulted in a great increase in general fatigue; there are many reasons for this (e.g. diet, lifestyle, as well as the pressures and yes, even the conveniences, of modern living)

  • Today’s main feature takes expert advice on how to eat for the best energy levels, so that we maintain energy through the day, sleep well at night, and are ready to hit the floor running in the morning.

• Do you enjoy cooking in principle, but in practice find the shopping and preparatory work a bit much to maintain every day?

  • Today’s sponsor Purple Carrot is offering delicious and nutritious plant-based meals to your door, with a wide range of options to choose from (e.g. high protein, high fiber, lower calorie, gluten-free, etc).

• Today’s featured recipe is for a mouthwatering protein falafel. As you may know, baking falafel rather than frying it, can result in dryness. This recipe calls for baking them in a way that won't get dry, and the secret is one of its protein ingredients!

Read on to learn more about these things, or click here to visit our archive

A Word To The Wise

Watch and Learn

8 Things Mentally Healthy People Do

Some people seem quite unflappable, while others are consistently on the edge of a breakdown or outburst. So, how does a person regulate emotions, without suppressing them? Here are 8 ways:

Prefer text? The above video will take you to a 10almonds page with a text-overview, as well as the video!

Tuesday’s Expert Insights

Why You're Tired & How To Fix It

This is Sadia Badiei. A dietician by academic and professional background, she’s nowadays hung up her lab coat for a chef’s jacket, and is best known for her “Pick Up Limes” brand. Today, we’ll be taking her advice on managing energy levels with what’s on our plates!

You may recognize her; we’ve featured her videos occasionally, mostly recently:

Pick Up A Zest For Life: 10 Lessons For A Healthy Mind & Body

But, what does she want us to know about living life with more energy?

It starts with balance

Badiei makes the case that we should strive for a nutritionally-balanced diet; that may not come as much of a revelation, but what does that look like for a vegan (Badiei advocates for plant-based eating)?

She recommends that our diet consist of:

• About 50% fruits and vegetables

• About 25% grains and starches

• About 25% proteins

• Modest amounts of fats

• A little of well-chosen dairy substitutions

• Finally, a few judicious supplements to top it off

That does add up to more than 100%, but 1) we did say “About n%” and 2) this is not a bad thing to note, actually, since Badiei advocates (as we do) for focussing more on what we add into our diet, rather than what we take out.

Breaking it down a little further, she recommends making sure to get “the foundational seven”, which is a little like “Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen”, but in this case it’s counted on a per-food-type basis.

Thus, she recommends:

1. Dark green leafy vegetables

2. Assorted other non-starchy vegetables (your choice what kind)

3. Fruit, of any kinds (unlike Dr. Greger separating berries)

4. Grains and starches (so for example, potatoes are lumped in with rice here, botanically very different, but often fulfil a similar culinary role)

5. Nuts and seeds

6. Legumes

7. Fortified dairy alternatives

For full details including how much of each, and “what counts”, etc, see:

Pick Up Limes | The Nourish Method

Time your carbs

Slow-release carbohydrates, those with the most fiber, are best most of the time, giving us more sustained fuel, keeping us energized for longer after meals—even if we would rather sleep:

She cites: Fiber and Saturated Fat Are Associated with Sleep Arousals and Slow Wave Sleep

Quick-release carbohydrates, those with what’s generally considered a less favorable carb:fiber ratio, are best if we’re going to eat nearer to bedtime. We know, eating before bed is often considered a bit of a no-no, but Badiei bids us indulge if we so desire, as the quicker-absorbed carbohydrates support tryptophan reaching our brain more efficiently, and thus promote sleep onset.

See also: Should You Go Light Or Heavy On Carbs?

About that fat

We mentioned (or rather, Badiei’s citation mentioned) saturated fat. It is indeed linked with difficulty falling asleep, and/but omega-3 fatty acids, on the other hand, promote better sleep.

She cites: The relationship between sleep duration, sleep quality and dietary intake in adults

While you’re enjoying those nuts and seeds (for the omega-3 fatty acids), you might also note that several also star in Badiei’s list of plant-based foods that are rich in tryptophan, such as soy, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, beans, green vegetables, and mushrooms.

Micronutrients

Badiei’s focus here is on B-vitamins, iron, magnesium, selenium, and zinc. We imagine most of our readers here are taking steps to ensure to get a full daily coverage of vitamins and minerals anyway, but you might want to read what she has to say about iron on a plant-based diet, because the numbers may be different than you think.

The reason for this is that while animal products contain mostly heme iron, which is easier to absorb but associated with a risk increase in some diseases, plant-based foods usually* contain only non-heme iron, which is healthier but not as bioavailable, so if eating only plants, we need more of it:

Pick Up Limes | Iron on a Plant-Based Diet

*If you eat a carnivorous plant, guess what, it’ll have heme iron in it, tangling that food web.

“What if I know I have chronic fatigue for non-dietary reasons?”

Well, that sucks, and we’re not going to pretend the above will magically fix it. However, there are still things that can at least relatively improve your experience:

Eat To Beat Chronic Fatigue! Yes, Even When Fatigued Chronically

(it’s a good guide to being able to consistently eat healthily when your energy levels are consistently at minimal, meaning that a lot of common advice becomes unusable)

Take care!

Our Sponsors Make This Publication Possible

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Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free

This Or That?

Vote on Which is Healthier

Yesterday we asked you to choose between sunflower seeds and sesame seeds—we picked the sunflower (click here to read about why), as did 72% of you!

Now for today’s choice:

Click on whichever you think is better for you!

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Recipes Worth Sharing

Mouthwatering Protein Falafel

Baking falafel, rather than frying it, can result in dryness. This recipe calls for baking them in a way that won't get dry, and the secret is one of its protein ingredients! Add to this the spices and a tahini sauce, and you've a mouthwatering feast that's full of protein, fiber, polyphenols, and even healthy fats.

Click below for our full recipe, and learn its secrets:

Penny For Your Thoughts?

Wishing you an energized day followed by a good night’s sleep,

The 10almonds Team