Marla Ahlgrimm: Safe And Smart Ways To Improve Your Energy Levels

While there’s nothing wrong with taking a supplement to improve your nutrition, the chances that these can live up to their promises of boosting your energy and stamina are slim. According to Marla Ahlgrimm, those that do work are likely just caffeine disguised as a healthy product. The retired pharmacist and self-help author says there are better ways to grow your energy levels. 

 

These include: 

• Address chronic inflammation. If you have a condition that causes your body to stay in a state of low-grade inflammation, it’s time to address these concerns. Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other health conditions can leave your body out of whack. Marla Ahlgrimm says that one sure way to help reduce inflammation is to eat foods that have a calming effect on the body. These include almonds, collard greens, and salmon. 
   
• Eliminate unnecessary “to-do” tasks. There’s no way around it, we all take on too much. Unfortunately, being the “yes” man (or woman) for everyone else can leave our bodies depleted of the energy we need to take care of ourselves. Marla Ahlgrimm recommends lightening your load. Start by making a list of your priorities each day. Time to rest should be in your top five. Everything below that might be considered optional, and it’s time to evaluate whether these duties are essential or not. 
   
• Get moving. While rest and relaxation are important to help you have more energy, so too is exercise. When you exercise, your brain releases a chemical called dopamine, which, Marla Ahlgrimm explains, will boost your mood and your energy levels. You don’t have to spend an hour at the gym every day, and even a brisk walk around the neighborhood can get your body and mind aligned so that you have more energy and stamina. 
   
• Stop smoking. Cigarettes and other inhalables are hard on the lungs, says Marla Ahlgrimm. Further, as nicotine is a stimulant, smoking raises your blood pressure and can elevate your heart rate. Each of these contributes to wakefulness and the feeling of nervous jitters. Talk to your doctor about joining a smoking cessation program, which may help you curb your cravings. In the early stages of your quitting efforts, at least make a point to keep cigarettes out of your hand in the two hours before bed. 
   
• Watch your sleep. From the time your head hits the pillow until you rise in the morning, your body is hard at work getting you ready for the next day. If you don’t get enough sleep or, ironically, if you get too much sleep, you may not have as much energy as you’d like. According to Marla Ahlgrimm, your best bet is to gauge how much sleep you actually need each night. Most adults need anywhere from about seven hours to nine hours. Pay attention to how you feel each morning when you get up based on how much you slept the night before. Then, adjust your hours in bed up or down until you consistently feel refreshed and ready to tackle the morning. 
  

Get to know low glycemic index foods. According to Marla Ahlgrimm, low glycemic foods are those with sugars that are absorbed slowly by the body. This offers sustained energy. Foods to eat in this category include vegetables, whole grains, and nuts. She cautions that high sugar foods, like cookies and white breads, give you temporary energy, but they also come with a sugar crash that can leave you sluggish and sleepy. 

The amount of energy that we all have changes day to day. Fortunately, Marla Ahlgrimm says that the tips above can help you maintain consistent energy levels so that you will have fewer days when you don’t want to get out of bed.