Feeling tired? How to boost your energy to avoid an afternoon slump

We asked top health, exercise and nutrition experts what they recommend.

The nutritional scientist: Dr Sarah Berry

Drink an afternoon coffee

Coffee’s properties are renowned: it promotes alertness and reduces tiredness by blocking adenosine receptors, which slow nerve activity. However, this only happens once the caffeine has been absorbed into the bloodstream, so take your coffee break about twenty minutes before the time of day you normally feel like taking forty winks.

Don’t worry if you already started the day with a caffeinated pick-me-up — the fear that drinking several cups of coffee could be deleterious to one’s long-term health isn’t supported by contemporary research. In fact, says Berry, professor of nutritional sciences at King’s College London, “Those who say that we shouldn’t be having loads of caffeine because it’s a stimulant are misguided because the evidence also shows that adding coffee or tea into our diet reduces our risk of all-cause mortality.”

Berry’s only word of caution is that people metabolise caffeine at different rates, so drinking coffee later in the day “may impact your ability to get to sleep, which we call sleep latency, but also your quality of sleep”. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine last year found that caffeine can have an impact on the body six hours after it is consumed.

Reconsider that lunchtime white bread sandwich

Pay attention to blood sugar dips, Berry says. These can affect our feelings of energy, our energy intake and our alertness, and the size of the dip varies between individuals. Research carried out by the health science company Zoe, of which Berry is chief scientist, found that there are “big dippers” and “small dippers”.

“After a meal some people have quite a big dip in blood glucose, which results in a significant reduction in energy,” Berry explains. Big dippers were also more likely to feel hungry sooner and consume an average of about 300 more calories during the day than small dippers.

A follow-up study revealed that meals with a higher amount of sugar and a lower amount of protein and fibre were associated with larger dips. “What this demonstrates is if we’re choosing the type of foods that are causing us to have a blood sugar dip, then that will result in a reduction in our feeling of energy,” Berry says. These foods are sometimes referred to as “fast” carbohydrates because they’re absorbed into the bloodstream so quickly.

Switching from white bread to whole grain bread for your lunchtime sandwich can be an easy fix, for example. But you also don’t have to completely cut out refined carbohydrates. “This super rapid release of blood sugar comes from eating refined carbohydrates largely on their own,” Berry says. “If you add fats or proteins into the meal, say a pesto sauce and chicken, that delays the rate at which you metabolise the glucose.”

Don’t rely on ‘energy’ supplements

“I’m sceptical of things like powdered energy supplements,” Berry says. “If you’re taking it but the rest of your diet is poor, you’re still going to have that glucose rollercoaster, a depleted microbiome and lack of energy.”

The personal trainer: Dalton Wong

Go for a lunchtime walk

You may not be commuting, but you still need to get outside. Wong, founder of TwentyTwo Training, says walking is one of the best antidotes for fatigue. “It’s a great way of avoiding a nap. It helps increase blood flow around the body which will make you feel more awake,” Wong says. He suggests a walk of at least 30 minutes daily. “You want to be slightly out of breath, so it’s not a jog but it’s not a slow walk either. Walk at a pace so you can still hold a conversation.”

In a study published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, researchers from the University of Georgia in the US found that energy levels increased by 20 per cent and reported fatigue decreased by 65 per cent when people took part in regular low-intensity exercise.

And if you can, include walking up and down stairs. A 2017 study in the journal Physiology & Behaviour found that adults who were fatigued through lack of sleep felt more energised after they walked up and down stairs at a regular pace for 10 minutes than if they consumed 50mg of caffeine, the average amount in a can of Coca-Cola.

Perform a 10-minute ‘strength circuit’

Slipping a mini workout into you daily routine is easier when you’re working from home. Strength circuits are great, says Wong, because exercise increases cortisol which is like “a natural hit of caffeine”. Circuits can be done just using your bodyweight. Wong recommends picking five or six exercises and performing them in a circuit. An example might be lunges, push-ups, squats, planks, lateral lunges and side planks. If you’re a beginner, try just one circuit per session, spending about 90 seconds to complete each exercise.

Do a quick stretch

A 2017 study published in the journal Mindfulness found that hatha yoga and mindfulness meditation can both improve energy levels and brain function. Wong’s go-to yoga move is a cat-cow stretch. On all fours, inhale deeply while curving your lower back and bringing your head up, tilting your pelvis up like a cow. Then exhale deeply and bring your abdomen in, arching your spine and bringing your head and pelvis down like a cat.

Try belly breathing

Wong says it can be beneficial to do some diaphragmatic breathing. Known as belly breathing, it involves breathing slowly and deeply using the diaphragm and abdominal muscles. A 2017 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that this type of breathing can improve one’s attention levels, which are often compromised when tired.

• The 12 reasons you’re always tired — and what to do about it

The dietician: Helen Bond

Drink more water

Last week Robert F Kennedy Jr observed that he’d never seen Donald Trump drink a glass of water, but only slight dehydration can leave you feeling worn out, according to Bond, a registered dietician. European recommendations suggest 1.6 litres of fluid a day for women (about 8 x 200ml glasses) and 2 litres of fluid a day for men (about 10 x 200ml glasses) — on top of the water provided by food you eat. A study published in the Journal of Nutrition showed that even a 1.5 per cent drop in the body’s normal water volume increased fatigue levels and lowered participants’ ability to concentrate on tasks.

Fine-tune your breakfast

There’s evidence that when we eat may be just as important for our energy levels as what we eat. Researchers from King’s College London revealed that eating in a ten-hour window — eg if you want to eat breakfast at 9am, you must eat your last bite by 7pm the night before — was not just associated with lower hunger levels, but also higher energy — and mood. But don’t skip breakfast altogether. In a study published in Nutritional Neuroscience this year, doing so was found to be associated with an increased propensity for daytime sleepiness.

Pop a daily multivitamin

While food supplements are not a substitute for a varied, well-balanced diet and healthy lifestyle, if you think that your diet is lacking and you need a helping hand with your energy levels, a daily multivitamin can be a “top-up insurance policy”, Bond says. She points out that vitamins and minerals such as folate (B9), riboflavin (B2), iron and calcium are falling short in our nation’s diet, according to the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

Consider having a GP check-up

Bond notes that if you’re feeling tired all the time (TATT, as it’s known to doctors), make sure you don’t have any underlying health issues that cause extreme tiredness, such as coeliac disease, iron deficiency anaemia, underactive thyroid, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes or sleep apnoea.

The gut health expert: Dr Federica Amati

Up your fibre intake, but go slow

Eating a fibre-rich diet can have a massive impact on increasing energy levels, according to Dr Federica Amati, head nutritionist at Zoe. More than 90 per cent of adults in the UK don’t eat enough fibre, which according to NHS guidelines is 30g a day. Make sure to increase your fibre intake slowly though, warns Amati, by no more than 5g at a time. “You can get quite gassy otherwise,” she says. Good sources of fibre include green peas, broccoli, lentils, brussels sprouts and whole grains.

Amati also recommends fermented foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut. “Probiotic foods add an additional layer of benefit to a high-fibre diet for our overall health and energy levels. Foods like kefir, kombucha and miso also play a role. They provide probiotic microbes, and they provide other types of prebiotics, such as lactose in the case of kefir, but they lack the fibre content.”

Don’t stress about your protein intake

“You don’t need to massively up your protein levels in order to have more energy,” Amati says. “In fact, if you over-index on protein, you’re more likely to suffer from constipation and that’s more likely to make you feel sluggish.” Government guidelines suggest adults need 0.75g of protein per kilogram of body weight a day, which amounts to about two palm-sized portions of meat, fish, nuts or tofu. Other protein-rich foods include beans, lentils, chickpeas and eggs.

Snack wisely

“If your snacks combine fibre, protein and fat, so you have something that’s really a mini meal, then it’s going to have a net positive effect on your energy levels and metabolism for that day,” Amati says. Yogurt with berries mixed with nuts and seeds or boiled eggs, a handful of nuts and some carrot sticks are good choices. “If your snack is an ultra-processed protein bar, that’s not going to help you.” Ultra-processed foods and those high in added sugars can lead to energy crashes.