How to boost energy with healthy snacks

• Energy boosting foods have vitamins and minerals in them that will reduce inflammation in your body, help you recover faster from exercise, and keep your blood sugar levels steady throughout the day.

• Citrus fruits like oranges have a lot of vitamin C in them and antioxidants that start to work 20 minutes after you eat them. It’s a really fast source of energy and one of the best high energy health snacks. Orange juice also works well. Look for one with pulp in it, which will give you more fiber and help keep your blood sugar levels steady.

• Honey is a great food to boost energy. If you put sugar in your tea or coffee, try replacing it with honey instead. It’s a more complex sugar so your body processes it more slowly. The darker the honey the more nutrients it has. Buckwheat honey is a really good choice.

• Beans are a great low calorie source of energy.

• Trail mix can contain a combination of many energy boosting foods. You can make your own out of your favorite nuts like cashews or pecans, and seeds like sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. Raisins are good too and you can even add a little bit of dark chocolate too—it’s becoming known as a healthy ingredient.

• Berry juice is also great for boosting energy. Exotic berries like pomegranate are great sources of antioxidants. Also black currant juice and blueberry juice is also great for boosting energy, but avoiding a crash later. Juice can be sugary so dilute it—about a ½ cup of juice with ½ cup water.

STACEY: I'm Stacey Tisdale for howdini. We all know the feeling--the low energy slump. You'd love to just put your head down and sleep, but unfortunately it's the middle of the day and no, you can't take a nap. Christine Richmond tells us ways to boost energy with foods. She's a senior editor and green expert at Natural Health magazine. Christine thank you so much for joining us. Why do we hit these energy lows?

CHRISTINE: You know most likely it's caused by not getting enough sleep, but also if you over exert yourself during an exercise routine or if you have a really big meal you tend to just feel sluggish afterwards. And I think when that happens most of us will just grab a cup of coffee or a caffeinated soda and hope that will give us the jolt we need and it does for a little while and then you have that crash where you're just feeling worse.

STACEY: A lot of us use sugar, a lot of us use caffeine. We all think we know about food boosting our energy, but what are the biggest myths?

CHRISTINE: Well, I think a lot of people will reach for a cup of coffee or caffeinated soda to give them that jolt that they need. A lot of people reach for candy for the same reason. Those foods ultimately, they'll give you a quick energy burst, but then it's an immediate crash afterwards and it's just not going to get you through the day.

STACEY: What are some of the characteristics that energy boosting foods should have?

CHRISTINE: You want to look for foods that have vitamins and minerals that are going to reduce inflammation in your body, that are going to help you recover faster from exercise, and keep your blood sugar levels steady throughout the day.

STACEY: Well tell us about some of the foods that could give us that jumpstart.

CHRISTINE: Citrus fruits, we all know that they have a lot of vitamin C in them, that's an antioxidant that actually starts to work twenty minutes after you eat them. So it's a really great, fast source of energy. And if you would rather not have citrus fruit, you can have orange juice, but try to look for one that has some pulp in it to help give you a little extra bit of fiber. That will help keep your blood sugar level steady as well. Honey is a great energy booster food. If you put sugar in your tea or coffee in the morning, try replacing it with honey instead. It's a more complex sugar so your body will process it more slowly and the darker the honey the more nutrients is has. So a buckwheat honey is a really good choice.

STACEY: You say beans are also great for energy.

CHRISTINE: Yeah, beans which are a really popular vegetarian source of protein. They're just a great low calorie way to get energy.

STACEY: And instead of getting that candy bar or a cup of coffee, say I might want to get some trail mix.

CHRISTINE: Yeah, you can make your own trail mix out of your favorite nuts like cashews or pecans, seeds like sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds, raisens, and actually a little bit of dark chocolate too. At Natural Health we're very excited to hear that dark chocolate is becoming a healthy ingrediant.

STACEY: And you also say that berry juice is also great when it comes to boosting energy.

CHRISTINE: Yeah, I think a lot of people are hearing about exotic berries like pomegrante and acai berries as being great sources of antioxidants. And they are so--in addition to that black current juice, blueberry juice are also good choices. Juice can be a little bit sugary so you want to dilute it with half a cup of juice with half a cup of water. That way you're getting the benefit of the berries without getting too much sugar.

STACEY:Great information Christine Richmond, senior editor and green expert at Natural Health magazine. Thank you so much for joining us.

CHRISTINE: Thank you.