It's very common for people to feel sluggish and tired in the afternoon, even hungry often craving sugar and caffeine. Offices are often full of people getting their caffeine fix and sugar lift from foods such as pastries, muffins, and chocolate.
Is this a coincidence? Why do people do this? Is it because it's available or is there a deeper thing going on?
It's down to your diet largely.
If you are consistently experiencing a slump in your energy levels at a specific time of the day then you need to address this through your diet.
The underlying fact remains that there's a lack of natural agents within your diet which are there to control even energy distribution which in turn avoids this slump. Ultimately, this boils down to well-planned blood sugar control.
Here are 3 key points you can utilize to control your blood sugar levels more effectively, through diet.
1. Vegetables
One of the easiest, most simple ways to manage your blood sugar levels to prevent your energy levels from taking a dive is to add more cruciferous vegetables to your diet. The added fiber and micronutrient content will help ensure that your gut is running optimally and the rate at which your body digests food is more gradual. This helps manage any aggressive rise (and falls) in blood sugar levels, which is where you then suffer acute hunger/cravings.
2. Eat frequently
By following a high meal frequency diet (with the right composition and timing of nutrients!!), you are going to help manage your energy levels far better. How? Doing this will help keep your insulin response and blood sugar level rise down, relatively to having the same calories across maybe 2-3 meals per day. As a result, you avoid that "peak and trough" trend a lot of people experience which then leads to craving sugar and caffeine for a quick fix.
3. Avoid sugar
Snacks such as chocolate, in isolation particularly. This is when you are going to get the biggest rise in blood sugar levels without protein, healthy fats or high-quality fiber present. The issue is this will actually create an effect where you'll need another "quick fix" shortly after this one. If your diet is on point you shouldn't feel the need for "quick fixes."
This is VERY relevant to your goals because if you're sat in work feeling like this your either going into the gym under-fuelled OR you're eating crap to "fix" a problem.
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