But first, let’s talk about what is a stimulant? Stimulants are technically a substance that raises levels of physiological or nervous activity in the body. One thing to understand about stimulants (especially in the drug category) is that our genetics play a large role in how our body metabolizes certain things. For example, some allergy medications that are known to cause drowsiness may actually boost someone’s energy level.
So can stimulants give you better energy? There are some pros and cons, and they are not always the answer for better energy. Stimulants:
– Turn up our energy levels, and increase our energy-burning potential.
– They can be used as tools to help our mood and improve our focus, but we want to make sure when we’re delivering them that they aren’t contributing to major energy peaks and valleys, but rolling hills instead.
– Stimulants can help restore balance, which is important if you’re dealing with something like an infection or going through a digestive tune-up.
– Some stimulants, like certain carbohydrates, cacao, or coffee, may also
incorporate flavonoids or antioxidants, which is why it’s also important to
consider the quality of the stimulants we’re using.
– Unfortunately, some stimulants can also prevent recovery. If our body is waging a war to repair from damage or injury, some stimulants will be counterproductive and prevent optimal recovery. So we want to be conscious if we’re making choices that will contribute to better recovery.
So how do we stimulate better? We want to build a stimulant plan that’s going to focus on the what, when, and how of our stimulants.
-Space them out: One of the key things is that we want to look at vitamins, spices, herbs, mushrooms, sugars, amino acids, drugs, etc, and we want to space them out. So we want to address our quantity at one time, and space them out.
– We also want to be strategic and conscious of utilizing bandaids and how they may impact us. If you’re super tired at 5pm, and you decide to have an espresso and end up not being able to get to sleep, that’s not better.
-Focusing on quantity and quality is going to be super important in how to
stimulate better. We want to look for things that haven’t been hyper-processed that will get us better levels of antioxidants, etc, and prevent us from also taking in things that would be suppressing that energy.
– Consume our stimulants with nutrients for balance. For example, if you’re having carbohydrates, consume those with a source of healthy fats or protein to help protect against the effect of that stimulant.
– Spices: Instead of sauces full of added sugars, or salt, you can use spices for boosts, and you can get the benefit of flavor and a little energy boost. Or also cinnamon could be a spice that could count as a bit of a stimulant.
– Finally, we need to understand our health and our genetics. If you know other aspects of your health may mean you need to watch your caffeine intake, be sure to look at the bigger picture.
Think about where you could make 1 upgrade to improve your stimulant intake.
For more on this topic subscribe to my channel and hit the bell to know when I post my next video. Thanks for watching.
