As a nutritionist, every client I work with has different symptoms. But there's always one complaint they have in common: the infamous "I have no energy!”

Sadly they're not alone. Feeling sluggish and fatigued on a regular basis is normal for most Americans today. In fact, it actually comes as more of a shock to have consistent energy that isn't sugar or caffeine induced. As you can probably guess, that couldn't be more backward from how nature intended us to feel.

Assuming you suffer from low energy levels, how would your life change if you had steady, long lasting energy throughout the day without needing sugar or caffeine to perk you up? Would you finally be able to check the tasks off on your never-ending to do list? Would you have more time to spend with your family and friends? Would you be motivated to take on new challenges, exercise more and have more time for your hobbies with your newfound health and wellness?

Simply put, having low energy reduces the overall quality of your life. As a very broad symptom, low energy levels aren't caused by only one factor. Lifestyle patterns such as stress and an irregular sleep schedule can negatively impact your energy levels. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies, caffeine dependency, dehydration, digestive distress and irregular eating patterns can also contribute to having poor energy.

Furthermore, low energy is a symptom shared by several larger health imbalances such as candida (yeast overgrowth), hypothyroidism, adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), depression and fibromyalgia- just to name a few. For this reason, I recommend seeing a qualified healthcare practitioner to address chronic low energy, as it can be a sign of a deeper health imbalance. This will ensure your individual state of health is accurately assessed to determine and address the root cause(s) of your low energy levels.

That being said, there is an effective way to begin improving your energy levels immediately, and that's by improving your digestion.

Improving your digestion can help you see positive results in your energy levels in as little as twenty-four hours. This is because your body requires large amounts of your energy to digest the foods you eat. By improving your digestive function, your body conserves more energy and leaves you with a steadier supply throughout the day.

The amount of energy required for digestion is dependent on which foods you're eating, which foods you're combining together in meals and how well you're chewing your food. If you're often eating rich, fatty foods that are slow to digest, it's not likely that you'll be feeling energized after meals. And if you're not properly chewing your food, your body needs to use even more of your energy to help break it down.

In Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine), digestive fire is called "agni.” When your agni is strong you have more energy, and it helps the body detoxify efficiently. With strong agni, you are free from digestive symptoms such as bloating and acid reflux. When you have poor agni or weakened digestion, you will experience the opposite. This is why having a strong digestive fire is essential to your energy levels.

Food Combining for Energy

Learning how to improve digestion includes discovering the technique of food combining, which I recommend for improving your digestive fire. If you haven't heard of food combining before, it refers to eating specific macronutrients together or apart, based on which foods digest optimally together and which foods digest poor together. Here's a basic guideline to proper food combinations based on how they're digested by the body.

Carbohydrates + Fats = Digest Well Together
example: a vegetarian brown rice bowl with veggies, avocado and sweet potato

Carbohydrates + Proteins = Digest Poorly
example: turkey sandwich with whole grain bread and cheese

Proteins + Fats = Digest Poorly
example: grilled salmon with a hardboiled egg and avocado

Proteins + High Water Content Veggies = Digest Well Together 
celery sticks, carrots and peppers with a goat cheese dill dip

Fats + High Water Content Veggies = Digest Well Togethe
ra green salad with feta cheese, peppers, pecans and walnuts

Fruit = Digests Best ALONE on an Empty Stomach
Do not combine with any foods other than avocados and leafy greens.

As a sidenote, food combining is an effective way to improve your overall health and wellness but is by no means how you must eat for the rest of your life. The reason why food combining is so helpful for people with weakened digestive systems and low energy levels is because your body requires less effort and energy to digest foods that break down well together.

Food combining is a technique used by many people long term because of the energy it brings, but you could even give it a try for just a week to see if you notice a positive difference!

Hydration is one of the most important elements to your digestive system. It helps your body safely flush out toxins and cleanses your kidneys and bowels. Since water helps move food through your digestive system, it makes sense as to why your digestion slows down (and therefore reduces your energy) when you're dehydrated.

It can be easy to forget to drink water during the day, especially if you have young children or your work environment is chaotic. But setting an alarm on your phone to drink a glass of water every hour and a half or so can make a big difference in how much energy you have to accomplish your day to day tasks.

If you find it hard to stay on top of drinking water, get yourself a really cute water bottle that you'll want to carry around with you. Take the opportunity to fill it up on your morning and evening commute, and put a water drinking chart on your desk if you have to.

If you're a coffee or soda drinker, be sure to add in an extra glass of water for each of those you drink because both beverages are dehydrating. If you've had 8 glasses of water and a coffee and soda, you've only really had 6 glasses. The same rule applies for alcohol.

How much water do you require? Your body weight in pounds / 2 in oz.For example: 150 lbs / 2 = 75 oz. (Before factoring in caffeine, alcohol or soda).

Raw foods are living, which means they give us life and energy. Just ask our Pure Energy Chef, Steve Factor!

Eating raw foods 10-15 minutes before meals offers your body plant enzymes that help you digest your meals. For example, having a small veggie salad before your meal can help improve digestion, as can simply chewing on a few cucumber slices or celery sticks before eating.

Plant enzymes do come in capsule form as herbal supplements and are usually sourced from papaya or pineapple, but I personally recommend skipping the capsules and using real food instead. Not only will you better absorb the enzymes, but it's also a cost effective option!

Herbs can be extremely helpful for improving digestive function, especially fennel seed, ginger root, dandelion root, peppermint, triphala and nettle.

Dandelion root helps promote bile flow to reduce bloating, increase bile flow to digest fats and absorb fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Ginger soothes nausea and discomfort and relieves gas and bloating.

Stinging nettle is a liver supportive herb that helps promote the safe elimination of metabolic waste and gentle cleanse the GI tract. Both fennel seed and triphala have been used in Ayurveda for thousands of years to help relieve constipation and bloating.

You can add digestive herbs to your diet by sipping on herbal tea blends throughout the day (which also counts towards your water consumption!) and you may wish to take specific herbs in health supplements such as capsules or powders for a more concentrated dose.

Wheat, meat and dairy products such as cottage cheese, milk, heavy cream and butter are considered mucus forming foods. By being categorized as mucus forming, these foods have the ability to leave behind a slimy or sludgy residue in the intestinal tract. As you can guess, that sludgy residue will slow down your digestion and rob your body of energy.

Wheat, meat and dairy also require a large amount of digestive energy. If you eat these foods regularly, it wouldn't be surprising if your energy levels began to soar once reducing their frequency in your diet. An easy way to begin minimizing these foods would be to have a "Meatless Monday" each week by replacing animal protein with plant based protein, such as beans, lentils and quinoa. You can replace dairy milk with nut or rice milk, while butter can be replaced with coconut oil. Wheat can be replaced with wheat-free whole grains such as spelt, kamut, brown rice or rye.

By substituting these foods for plant-based foods, you'll not only improve the health of your digestive tract and your energy, but your overall health and wellness.