Cycling as much as I do improvements in diet are always of interest.  What is interesting however is how our diet effects things other than our athletic performance.  I've read a few things recently underlining the importance of the food we eat to our orexin levels.  Orexin is a brain chemical that seems to be responsible for all manner of good things.  If we have lots of orexin in our brain we're more energetic, less hungry, less sleepy, with of course the flip side that a reduction in orexin has a negative consequence on those things.

So, how does diet effect our orexin levels?  Let's start with the downside first.  Studies have shown that high sugar diets have a negative impact on our orexin levels, which given the high sugar diet in many western countries probably goes some way to explaining the obesity levels we see throughout society.

Thankfully research has shown that there are foods that have the opposite effect.  They boost orexin.  What is this wonder food I hear you ask?  Turns out it is as simple as protein.  A new paper by Cambridge University shows that eating high protein foods can increase the activity of orexin neurons in our brain.  This in turn makes us more awake, more alert, more active, which of course makes it much easier to burn off the calories we've just eaten.  What is also interesting is that if you eat protein with sugar, the protein helps to dampen the effect of the sugar on us, so the sugar no longer makes us tired.

Obviously the implications of this finding is quite huge given the pretty awful diet most western countries enjoy.  So many foods and meals in our supermarkets are laden down with sugar and other sweeteners, to the extent that sugar now accounts for roughly 16% of our total calorie consumption each day.  Sadly many of us eat these sugary items because we think it gives us an energy boost due to the high calorie content, but this research shows that the opposite is actually the case.

Some ideas for high protein foods throughout the day

Breakfast

Milk and yoghurts are great sources of protein so try and incorporate them in your breakfast.  Eggs are also great and can make a tasty breakfast in lots of ways.

Mid-morning snack

Much better to spread your calories out throughout the day, so a snack is great.  Don't go for a chocolate bar though.  Instead have a pot of nuts or seeds handy that you can nibble on.

Lunch

Chicken is a nice healthy white meat with lots of protein.  Cheeses are also good sources of protein.  Or maybe some eggs.

Afternoon snack

Back to the nuts here.

Dinner

Pretty much any meat (including fish) is good here, but beans are also a great source of protein, as is things such as soy.  Lots of options there, and you can have yoghurt for dessert.

Sure you can think of many more alternatives to add some protein to your diet.  The lesson is though if you want to be more alert at work, higher in energy then ditch the sugar and load up on protein.