Practical Strategies for Improving Energy Levels and Mood with Food (PART 3)
Happy Wholesome Wednesday!
Over the past two weeks, we’ve explored practical, food-first strategies for improving energy levels and mood. In Part 1, we focused on balancing blood sugar—the foundation for sustained energy and emotional stability. In Part 2, we covered practical aspects of how to build nourishing meals that fuel your body while supporting hormonal health and blood sugar balance. Now, in Part 3, we’re diving into a crucial yet often overlooked pillar of well-being: quality sleep.
Sleep is more than just rest—it plays a key role in blood sugar regulation, appetite control, and metabolic balance. Poor sleep can disrupt glucose metabolism, increase cravings, and leave you feeling drained before the day even begins. The good news? Small, intentional habits can significantly improve your sleep and, in turn, your energy and mood.
Let’s explore how prioritizing rest can transform how you feel—along with simple, actionable steps to help you sleep better tonight.
Sleep as a Non-Negotiable
Quality sleep is essential for overall health and plays a pivotal role in blood sugar regulation and insulin sensitivity. During sleep, our bodies undergo repair and restoration, including regulating glucose metabolism and releasing leptin, the hormone responsible for appetite control.
Insufficient or poor-quality sleep, on the other hand, disrupts glucose metabolism, leading to glucose staying longer in the bloodstream and increased cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol levels can raise blood sugar levels and decrease leptin production, contributing to appetite dysregulation and metabolic disturbances. Additionally, low sleep impacts insulin sensitivity, which is the ability of our cells to respond to insulin and absorb glucose from the bloodstream. Poor sleep can often affect our appetite and lead to an increase in sugar and carb-rich food cravings. This will create blood sugar imbalances that further affect sleep and cravings, ultimately impacting your energy levels and mood throughout the day.
If you struggle with sleep and frequently wake up during the night, it could be a sign of blood sugar instability. Cortisol spikes in response to low blood sugar levels, aiming to restore balance but also disrupting your sleep by waking you up. You can help balance these hormones and avoid nocturnal hypoglycemia by having a small amount of protein as a bedtime snack. It will stabilize your blood sugar during sleep and help improve your sleep quality.
Tips on How to Improve Your Sleep
Since you now know what a foundational role sleep plays in your overall health, blood sugar fluctuations, energy, and mood, here are a few tips you can implement for better quality sleep.
You start preparing for a night of restorative or poor sleep the morning before. Here are a few things to have in mind for your morning routine that will improve your sleep at night:
Wake up at the same hour every day, even on weekends (same for going to bed - aim for roughly the same hour every night)
Expose your eyes to natural light within the first hour of waking
Hydrate your body
Have a nutritious, protein-rich breakfast in the first 90 minutes of waking up
Drink your coffee after breakfast
Go outside and move your body (even if it’s a 10-minute walk, it counts)
Evening wind-down routine:
Avoid artificial blue light after sunset (use light dimmers, red light, or wear blue light blocking glasses)
Have a relaxing routine (meditation, breathwork, journaling, reading a book, etc.)
Enjoy a soothing herbal tea
Make your bedroom dark, cool, and quiet
Avoid screens at least 1 hour before bed
Take a magnesium glycinate supplement before bed
If you constantly wake up at night, have a small protein snack before bed
Bonus:
Your Printable Shopping List for Stable Blood Sugar, More Energy and a Better Mood
Choosing the food you bring into your home is the first step toward a sustainable, healthier lifestyle. Make your home a safe space where you don't have to exercise constant self-control, avoiding the snack drawer or that bag of potato chips. Make sure the food you buy and bring home is as nutritious as possible.
Here are some general guidelines on what and how to choose your produce:
Buy Local, Seasonal, and Organic when possible: The quality of the food will make a difference—fresher, more nutritious food is also more sustainable and has a lower environmental impact.
Avoid/Eliminate Processed and Ultra-Processed Foods: Steer clear of foods with:
Added sugars (sugar comes under many names, many of which you may not recognize, so always check the grams of added sugar in the nutritional facts).
Refined grains (such as all-purpose flour, refined oat flour, white flour).
Refined industrial vegetable or seed oils (including soybean oil, canola oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, palm oil, corn oil, etc.).
Read the Ingredients: Just because a product says "no sugar," "vegan," "keto," or "gluten-free" doesn't mean it's healthy. Avoid foods with ingredients you can't pronounce or don't recognize, including preservatives, additives, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and artificial flavors and colorings.
By following these guidelines, you can make more informed choices that support your overall health and well-being.
Shopping List:
VEGETABLES - eat the rainbow (as colorful and diverse as possible):
Artichokes
Asparagus
Beets
Bok choy
Broccoli and Broccolini
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage (all colors)
Carrots (all colors)
Cauliflower (all colors)
Celery
Cucumbers
Endive
Fennel
Garlic
Ginger
Green beans
Greens (collard, mustard, dandelion, turnip greens, Swiss chard, spinach, watercress, arugula)
Lettuce (all varieties)
Kale
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Okra
Onions
Peppers (all varieties & colors)
Pumpkin
Radishes
Snap peas
Snow peas
Squash (acorn, yellow, spaghetti, etc.)
Sweet potatoes
Tomatoes (all varieties)
Turnips
Zucchini
FRUITS - eat the rainbow and aim for low-glycemic as much as possible):
Apples
Blackberries
Blueberries
Cherries
Citrus fruit (oranges, lemons, lime)
Coconut
Cranberries
Currants (black, red)
Dates
Kiwi
Papaya
Passion fruit
Peaches
Pears
Pomegranate
Raspberries
Strawberries
Watermelon
Açaí berry
Boysenberries
Elderberries
Jackfruit
Mulberries
HEALTHY FATS:
Avocado
Avocado oil
Butter
Coconut (oil, butter, etc)
Ghee
Olives
Olive oil
DAIRY (full-fat, organic when possible - sheep, cow, and goat):
Cheese
Yogurt
Cottage cheese
Kefir
NUTS & SEEDS (All nuts and their butters):
Almonds and almond butter
Walnuts
Pecans
Hazelnuts and hazelnut butter
Cashews and cashew butter
Brazil nuts
Macadamia nuts
Pistachios and pistachio butter
Pine nuts
Chestnuts
Peanuts and peanut butter
Sunflower seeds and sunflower seed butter
Pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed butter
Chia seeds
Flaxseeds
Sesame seeds and tahini
Hemp seeds
PROTEIN (Organic, wild, grass-fed, or pasture-raised when possible):
Fish (salmon, cod, sardines, anchovies, shrimp, oysters, scallops)
Chicken
Turkey
Beef
Duck
Tofu and tempeh
Eggs
OTHER PANTRY ITEMS:
Almond flour
Coconut flour
Lupini flour
Beans (lupini, black, pinto, etc.)
Chickpeas
Lentils (all varieties)
Tomato sauce and tomato paste (look for no added sugar options)
Mustard
Canned fish in brine or olive oil (sardines, salmon, anchovies, oysters, clams)
Fermented veggies (sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi, etc.)
Miso
Apple cider vinegar
Coconut produce (flakes, milk, butter, yogurt)
Spices and herbs
Thank you for taking the time to explore Practical Strategies for Improving Energy Levels and Mood with Food. I hope these insights inspire meaningful changes on your health journey.
Thank you! ✨
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supports my work here on Substack.
✨ P.S.
If you know someone facing health challenges related to blood sugar balance, hormonal or metabolic issues, or someone looking to take an active role in their health journey—or even someone who simply enjoys eating whole foods for better health—would you forward my Substack to them? I’d love it if you could share my page with a friend or restack it to your notes. Your support means so much to me—thank you! ✨
Stay wholesome,
Karina
It’s amazing the power of rest and what it can do for you! Having a protein-rich breakfast within the first hour of waking and delaying coffee until about 2 hrs after waking up has been super beneficial for my energy levels. Thanks for sharing all your tips!