Mondays, we build your grocery list with one food, focusing on this month’s main topic. As today is the first day of a brand new month, let’s dive in to a whole new topic.
March is for talking Energy support and a reduction in fatigue. First on your grocery list:
SEAWEED.
Seaweed in its natural habitat: super supportive through energy + fatigue woes.
For those who wish to know the ‘why’ behind this idea, I’ll give you three things to think about.
FOR THE MINERALS
Typically, when adding in seaweed, the principle reason is for the minerals. There is a rich array of minerals in all foods that come from the ocean, as the ocean is just that: a rich bath of minerals. When you are struggling through energy or fatigue troubles, you tend to burn through minerals at a faster rate due to the low grade inflammation and free radical damage that could be behind the root piece of why fatigue is there in the first place. Adding in mineral rich foods like seaweed to your regimen can help bolster those organs involved in the body’s stress response, helping then to nourish through and be more resilient through stress. Resiliency is one of the key pieces to reach for in this scenario!
FOR THE BLOOD SUGAR REGULATION HELP
The science tells us that some of the nutrients found in seaweeds - things like fucuoidans and fucoxanthin — have been shown to help improve your body’s sensitivity to insulin (1). This is a key piece to help your body’s natural regulation of blood sugars!
Blood sugar dysregulation can sometimes be at the root of fatigue and energy troubles. Each and every cell in your body runs on glucose, the preferred source of fuel when the body is active. (Unless in ketosis - but that’s another post for another day.) When you run out of stored glucose in your liver and muscle tissues, your body perceives it’s running out of fuel. It mounts the stress response, in order to help free up more sugar into the bloodstream. This works due to the effects of cortisol. But trip this response too often, and you really start to get on a roller coaster of blood sugar and hormone dysregulation all day everyday. Part of the scenario here is that your cells stop hearing insulin knocking at the door, alerting you that she has some blood sugars for you to take up into your cells for fuel. Now you start to lose the ability to take up glucose into your cells, and this means no fuel for the mitochondria in your cells. This means no energy output, which results in fatigue. Seaweed can help keep this system working well, influencing your cells to hear that insulin (carrying blood sugar) knocking at your cell wall’s doors, enhancing that system to work well and restore function and fuel to your mitochondria!
FOR THE OXYGENATION OF RED BLOOD CELLS
Seaweed is a good source of iron to make hemoglobin, the molecule that is embedded in the centre of each of your red blood cells. Reminder from grade eight health sciences: red blood cells carry oxygen around to the cells of your body. This hemoglobin is a part of the energy cycle in your cells, helping you make that energy. Iron supplements are not always indicated - but food versions are a wonderful way to supply the micro amounts your body may need to maintain regular function and energy metabolism.
Kombu
Seaweed is a brilliant food ally when you are struggling with energy or fatigue issues.
Including it in your cooking a few times is a week is a good place to start. Read through to this article for more ideas on how to incorporate it into your daily meals!
Find a few at your local health food store, or Asian grocery store. Start experimenting!
Aiming for a return to energy vitality? Looking to let go of that persistent fatigue? Need some help in feeling real good?
Get in touch by clicking here. Let’s meet up to start drawing up your road map to support you in both quantity and quality of life.