According to a survey performed last year, 60% of American adults feel more tired now than they have ever felt. While a lot of this fatigue is rightfully attributed to lack of sleep, stress, and our generally hectic lifestyles, what is often ignored is the significant impact that our diet has on our energy levels. As we learn in this episode, what we eat has a tremendous impact on how we feel, particularly when it comes to our energy levels. Helping us to understand this relationship is nutritionist Christina Stapke.
Christina Stapke

Christina is a board certified and licensed integrative and functional dietician. One of her areas of expertise is actually helping her clients evaluate and adjust their diets to improve and maintain their energy levels.
9/12/2021
Better Man Clinics
Most of our audience will understand on a general level what a dietitian and nutritionist does. You are specifically an integrative and functional dietitian. What is that and what inspired you to become one?
Christina Stapke, RDN
The biggest difference between an integrative and functional dietitian and conventional dietitian is that an integrative and functional dietician really takes a much deeper dive into hyper-personalizing recommendations for someone. For example, instead of just talking about general recommendations for nutrition or exercise (given whatever someone’s health conditions are health concerns are), we look at other factors like genetics and, in some cases, digestive health, to tailor those nutrition recommendations. We also look at things like toxin exposure, digestive health, sleep, and stress. All of these other factors can really influence our health. That is what we would focus on in the integrative and functional world. As a conventional dietitian, you may just focus on diet and exercise. That may be a little less personalized.
What got me into this field? It really started before college. I was just feeling absolutely terrible; really, really low energy. I was Googling all the time trying to figure out my symptoms – a lot of digestive issues, hormones, and mood issues. I felt like I was really young to be having all these symptoms. I was put on some medications and they kind of helped but didn’t really get me too far. But then, at one point in college, one of my family members was actually admitted to a rehab facility for an addiction. It was a really scary experience. It was a big deal for my whole family. When I was visiting them, I ended up meeting the staff nutritionist. I was kind of interested in the field at that time, but didn’t really quite know what I wanted to do yet. And he sat me down, and he said, “you should really look into the field of functional medicine and nutrition. It’s really trying to address the underlying causes of what’s going on with someone versus using more of a symptom management approach.” At that point, it started to click for me. Maybe these medications I was taking weren’t really the long term answer for my symptoms, especially because I still wasn’t feeling good. It set me on this path to study functional nutrition. I went and became a registered dietitian (which is a national credential) and then got additional training as a functional nutritionist and dietitian. Through that process, I was really fortunate to learn more about functional medicine and nutrition on myself, to really get myself feeling better, and to heal my symptoms and get all those figured out.
I later went to open up my practice. I was working in a hospital as well as a clinic a for a while, but I didn’t quite feel like I was able to help people in the way that I wanted to – as a functional nutritionist. Now I’m a virtual practitioner and I see clients throughout the US. I really work on just getting people feeling better and understanding what their bodies need and getting them back into balance.
Better Man Clinics
It sounds like you are taking a much more holistic view of nutrition. Today, you see so many diets types out there -paleo, keto, Atkins, intermittent fasting etc. I would assume, given what you just said, that you can’t really paint everyone with the same brush, right? You need to take a more tailored approach?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Right, exactly. That is the beauty and the curse of this field and human beings, right? It’s like, if only everyone could just follow this one diet, and it would be so clear, right? But it just simply not like that because humans are all a little different. And so, as a result, we do need to tailor someone’s diet to whatever’s going on with that person. A keto diet might be great for one person in the short term, but for another person, it might be not a good idea whatsoever.
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Is there a relationship between your diet and your energy level? Again, we’re not talking about “diet” in terms of having an extra Diet Coke and feeling pumped for my meeting. I mean, on a general level, does what you eat on a daily basis affect your energy level across time?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Absolutely, absolutely. At a really foundational level, every cell in our body needs energy. And that energy can come from glucose. Ultimately, we need calories. However, the quality of those calories matter. If you’re getting a cup of broccoli versus a cup of Cheerios, you’re not going to get the same level of nutrients and these nutrients can also play a really important role in your energy levels. There are also some other things to consider that are often overlooked. One of those things is blood sugar. I’m sure some of you have felt a spike in blood sugar (that kind of sugar high) after you eat a dessert of some kind, and then you feel that crash shortly thereafter. Blood sugar is really important for energy. We want to make sure our blood sugar is nice and stable throughout the day, versus having these major fluctuations (major spikes and major drops). So that’s an important factor. We’ll talk more about how to maintain that further in the interview. Another important factor is our digestive health. If our digestion is out of balance, not only can we be less efficient with absorbing those calories and those nutrients, but if you have certain levels of bad bacteria, certain foods can actually contribute to fatigue after meals as well.
Better Man Clinics
You brought up a really important point at the very beginning. You said calories are energy. We always think about calories not as energy but as the enemy because they lead to weight gain. As a result, we believe that we have to limit our calories. But truth be told, if you’re not consuming any calories, you’re probably not going to have any energy. That being said, not all calories are created equal- we have proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, all of which yield calories. Of those categories, do some impact energy levels more than others?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Yeah, absolutely. And again, I’m totally going to sound like a broken record by the end of this so I apologize in advance. But this is something that really needs to be tailored. But yes, the breakdown definitely matters. And ultimately, we want things to be balanced. We don’t want you to just eat a bunch of carbohydrates, or just eat a bunch of protein or fat. We need all of these essential building blocks for a lot of different functions in the body. But at a basic level, carbohydrates are the easiest way to access glucose, which every cell in our body needs. We can also derive glucose from protein and fat, but it’s just a longer path to get there. So some people on very low carb diets might feel terrible if they’re not quite efficient at making those conversions. Someone might feel awful doing that. In general, carbohydrates break down into glucose so they can provide energy. However, we want to make sure they’re in balance with protein and fat. Some examples of healthy carbohydrates are fruit (especially the lower-sugar fruits like berries), potatoes, winter squash, turnips, rutabaga, and whole grains. The unhealthy carbohydrates include sugar, sweets, candy, ice cream, cookies- things like that. Pairing healthy carbohydrates with protein and healthy fat is a really good way to kind of sustain energy.
Better Man Clinics
You get carbohydrates in berries and you get carbohydrates in candy. They both turn into glucose in your bloodstream and that’s what gives you that energy. So why are berries good for you and candy is bad for you?
Christina Stapke, RDN
It really comes down to a couple things – fiber and nutrients. You’re basically not getting any nutrients or fiber in a candy bar, you’re just getting sugar. With berries, you’re getting fiber and you’re getting a ton of nutrients that can really support energy production as well.
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So is it safe to say those nutrients are going to support your energy? You get the initial sugar from either candy or berries and that sugar is going to give you an initial spike in energy. But do those other balanced nutrients maintain the energy level rather than just having the energy crash rapidly – like a sugar high and subsequent low?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Exactly. Also, the fiber can actually delay your absorption of that glucose into your system because fiber delays that whole digestion process. That delay in the absorption of glucose allows you to maintain it (and the energy from it) for a longer period of time and without the spikes and drops.
Better Man Clinics
And those good carbs that you mentioned like berries and the squash – those foods all have that combination of the fiber and the nutrients?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Yes, exactly. All those foods are packed with nutrients and fiber.
Better Man Clinics
What about fat and protein? Would you expect foods high in fat and protein to give you any type of energy boost in the short term as well (like carbohydrates) or does the energy from fat and protein present itself later ?
Christina Stapke, RDN
They can. Again, this all needs to be tailored a little bit. For some people, if you have a blood sugar imbalance, having a little bit of carbohydrate at your meal can be helpful to maintain the blood sugar and your energy. But other people do really well without carbohydrates, just having some protein and healthy fat. Fat and protein still play a role in energy. With carbohydrates, you get the conversion into glucose pretty much immediately. The protein and fat just take a little bit longer. That’s also why it’s really important to always make sure you pair a carbohydrate with a protein and fat. For example, you can have a salad with a piece of chicken and some potatoes. In general, you should fill half your plate with some veggies that don’t really contain lot of carbohydrates (like some lettuce), a quarter of your plate with carbs, and quarter of your plate with protein. That’s just one model for how that balance could look like.
Better Man Clinics
Using that model, are the carbs that I had as part of my meal going to give me that initial energy and then the protein and the fat will kick in later on? Does that create a more stable energy level over time versus if I just had the carbs (through which I would get that initial boost, but I’d probably soon be hungry and tired)?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Exactly.
Better Man Clinics
Understanding that there is variability from person to person, if you had to choose (on a general level) five of the healthiest, high energy foods, which would you choose?
Christina Stapke, RDN
To answer that question, I start thinking about the foods that are most packed with the nutrients that are key for energy production: iron, magnesium, vitamin C, coenzyme q 10, B vitamins and zinc. By the way, I wouldn’t go out and buy all of these supplements because that needs to be be tailored. But focusing on foods rich in those nutrients that are really crucial for energy production, I think about some protein sources like grass fed beef, organic chicken and turkey (really high in B vitamins). If anyone is brave and can find good quality organ meats, they are really high in nutrients. Other good choices are leafy greens (like kale and spinach), legumes, fatty fish(like salmon and tuna), shellfish, nuts and seeds, bell peppers, strawberries, and some whole grains. Those foods are all packed with those nutrients that I listed.
Better Man Clinics
What about foods that can actually lower your energy? A classic example that I learned about in medical school was turkey and the tryptophan within it. Are there other foods that can really deplete you of energy that you may want to stay away from?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Yeah, processed carbs. Foods like white bread, baked goods, cookies, crackers, candies etc. Processed carbs might have a really short increase in energy, but it’s not going to last very long. So those are pretty much guaranteed to cause a crash. That can definitely decrease your energy as your blood sugar crashes. Also, if you’re eating a very large meal with a ton of fat, that can really, really be very laborious for your digestive tract to break all that down. And because fat digests a lot slower than carbohydrates, you’re not going to be able to access those nutrients very quickly, leaving you fatigued.
Better Man Clinics
Do diets (like Keto) that are heavy in fat and protein cause people to have less energy?
Christina Stapke, RDN
I definitely have seen clients that try and do keto and their digestive tract is not ready for it. They don’t feel good, they end up having low energy, and feel really terrible. That’s an example of someone that may not be ready for keto. Their bodies just may not be attuned to that type of diet. I think keto definitely can be done in a healthy way if one is being really diligent about the types of fats they are choosing. I think there’s a healthy way to do keto and an unhealthy way. It also comes down to portions as well. If you’re having an extremely large plate and you’re getting uncomfortably full after every meal, that may be excessive. If someone’s eating some healthy fats, and they’re getting to a place of feeling 80% full, they may feel amazing. There are a lot of people that feel great while on diets focused on fat and protein.
Better Man Clinics
You just made a great segue in terms of portion size. It is not only about what you eat, but how much you eat. To what extent does the size of the meal impact your energy level short or long term? And what is that optimal size?
Christina Stapke, RDN
I think a good rule of thumb that I often tell my clients is to get to the place where they are about 80% full and then stop eating. That is generally a good rule of thumb so that you’re not overeating. Otherwise, your stomach gets bloated and you just feel sluggish. Again, that can be a sign that you may have eaten too much. You do want to get enough calories to carry you throughout the day so you don’t want your portions to be too small. So 80% full is a good rule of thumb.
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What about the timing of meals? I’ve heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and have also hear recommendations to skip breakfast. I also heard that you should have multiple snacks throughout the day to keep an even keel from some sources and not to have snacks from others? From an energy standpoint, does the timing of meals matter?
Christina Stapke, RDN
This comes back to the blood sugar question for me. It is not a one size fits all. I don’t think everyone should fast but I also don’t think everyone should eat every two or three hours. It depends on the individual. Some people have no problem waiting five to six hours between meals. If they can do that and if they are eating enough at a meal and have enough energy, that’s considered a little fast which is helpful. Fasts can be important for digestion by allowing food and bacteria to fully move through the intestines. But some people may have a big drop in their blood sugar between those two meals. These people will feel low energy within two to three hours of a meal. That might be a sign that either they didn’t get enough nutrition at the initial meal or their blood sugar drops too quickly. For people feeling that low energy two to three hours after a meal, having a healthy snack (some healthy carbohydrates, healthy protein and fat) may help their energy by bringing their blood sugar back into that steady state where we want it to be.
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If you are hungry and tired before lunch after eating a reasonably sized breakfast, does that mean that the breakfast probably wasn’t ideally balanced? Maybe it was it was high in carbohydrates that gave you an initial rush but maybe not enough protein or fat to maintain your satiety and energy level? Is that a fair assumption?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Absolutely. Again, some people can eat totally balanced and then still need a little snack. That being said, the scenario you outlined is a common one. I see it all the time where breakfast consists of cereal and some fruit or oatmeal and fruit. It’s just not enough to sustain you to that next meal. We definitely want to focus on balanced meals first and see how you feel trying to wait those four or five hours until the next meal and then adjust accordingly.
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Given the breakfast that you mentioned (cereal and fruit), if someone gets fatigued and hungry before lunch, what tweak would you recommend? What would you advise that someone add to that breakfast to maintain energy and satiety before lunch?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Always try to pair any carbohydrate with some protein and fat to sustain you. So, for example, if you are having cereal, maybe add a couple eggs on the side and/or throw some nuts into that cereal with some berries. Adding that fiber, fat and protein is the key. Alternatively, maybe you have a scramble in the morning with some sausage and have some fruit or veggies on the side – that would be ideal. Those are some examples of how you can kind round out breakfast.
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In terms of the three meals a day- breakfast, lunch, or dinner-I have heard an emphasis on different meals, from an energy standpoint, as the most important meal of the day. Is their a most important meal of the day?
Christina Stapke, RDN
I do think that getting most of your nutrition in between the morning and afternoon versus all of your nutrients at night makes a lot of sense. First of all, if you are not eating until very late in the day, your cells are going to be not as efficient at getting that energy they need throughout the day because they will need to access body stores to get that nutrition. I recommend getting most of your calories by lunchtime and having a reasonable dinner. Again, a big reason for focusing on breakfast and lunch is just being able to get that energy during the day when your body needs it – when we’re up and moving and working and doing what we need to do during the day. We need fuel for those activities and food is that fuel. But in the evening, we sleep. A huge part of sleep is detoxification. If we’re eating a massive meal at dinner time, it’s going to take our body and our liver some time to process all those nutrients. It takes around six to eight hours for the liver to process all those nutrients, leaving less time for the liver to clean house and detoxify. If we’re not allowing that time, we could run the risk of our livers not being able to completely detoxify, which can allow those toxins to build up. That can absolutely impact our energy levels too.
Better Man Clinics
Let’s pivot to snacks? What are the most energy promoting snacks?
Christina Stapke, RDN
It goes back to the formula of a little bit of healthy carbohydrate and fiber and a little bit of healthy protein and fat. Some examples could be :
- hard boiled egg with some berries
- a closed handful of nuts with a few slices of apple or a few slices of some other piece of fruit.
- a few bites of leftovers like chicken and a few potatoes and some carrot sticks
- some bell peppers and veggies with some guacamole or some hummus
So in each of those snack ideas, there’s a little bit of that carb, a little bit of protein, a little bit of healthy fat.
Better Man Clinics
What is the benefit of having snacks rich in fiber? What are some of those high fiber snacks?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Fiber is found in complex carbohydrates. For example, berries, apples, nuts, potatoes, guacamole and hummus all have fiber. So basically, any kind of complex carbohydrate is going to have some fiber in it. Because fiber is digested a bit slower, it can carry you a little bit farther in terms of energy levels.
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Is there an optimal snack size?
Christina Stapke, RDN
A good rule of thumb is, is a closed handful. For example, take a handful of nuts, close your hand, put it in a ball. Whatever you can fit reasonably in a closed hand is a good snack size as a rule of thumb.
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Some people subscribe to a policy of needing to have four snacks or six snacks a day, regardless of hunger. Is that a good policy?
Christina Stapke, RDN
No, I definitely don’t recommend just automatically incorporating snacks. Again, if you can get by having your full meal and waiting until the next meal, you’re giving your body a chance to work through all of those nutrients by allowing your digestive tract to move food and bacteria through. Snacks are ok to get you by if needed, but, with rare exceptions, are not usually recommended if you are not hungry.
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What about the quick energy fixes that we often turn to like sodas, coffee, energy drinks, and power bars? Are those quick fixes reasonable and effective options in lieu of snacks to maintain energy and combat hunger throughout the day?
Christina Stapke, RDN
If you are pounding energy drinks or coffee until dinnertime, you’re really just running on fumes. That can be really stressful on the body. This is not to mention the fact that a lot of the ingredients in the energy drinks are not great for our bodies- particularly artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose. You want to stay away from those artificial sweeteners as they can really feed a lot of those bad bacteria in our digestive tract. They can also interfere with our metabolism and our blood sugar as well. It’s good to avoid those drinks for that reason. Also, drinking excess caffeine can just be really stressful on the body as well. So as far as the energy drinks go, it’s best to avoid them if possible. But if you do need a caffeine boost, we want to figure out why that is. Did you not eat enough today? Are you low in certain vitamins and minerals? Is this related to hormones? Is it related to other things that are going on in your body? That said, if you do need a little bit of a caffeine boost, then you can absolutely get it, but try going with something natural. Maybe go with a cup of coffee without a lot of sugar or sweeteners in it. Or try some black tea. At least that way we are getting some good antioxidants and some other nutrients.
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What about energy bars? Many of these bars claim to pack all the nutrients from a balanced meal into a single, convenient bar. What are your thoughts on that characterization and on these energy bars in general?
Christina Stapke, RDN
I am a fan of whole or unprocessed foods. If you must have an energy bar, I would absolutely look at the ingredients and then see if you can actually identify what any of those ingredients actually are and if any of those ingredients are something that you can imagine living in nature. There are some bars that aren’t the worst. They are using more natural ingredients. But again, if you can eat a whole food -some nuts, a little fruit, a hard boiled egg- that would be a much better choice.
Better Man Clinics 41:25
So just to be clear, it’s not so much that those bars are not giving you the protein or the fat or the carbohydrate. Rather, its all that processing and all the other elements in the bars there are actually bad for you. Am I correct with that characterization?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Yes, it’s just not a sustainable source of nutrition. In addition, those bars are also lacking some key nutrients. The bar may have the protein and maybe some carbohydrate, but may be lacking nutrients like the B vitamins, zinc, vitamin C, CoQ 10, and others. In general, you’re not getting a whole lot of those nutrients from those kinds of bars. Those nutrients are often what translates into sustainable energy.
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Are supplements a good option for increasing energy levels?
Christina Stapke, RDN
I definitely use supplements in my practice. I think that they’re incredibly helpful and effective for people that are exhausted and need that support. Some people go to a drugstore without any guidance by a practitioner and just start trying things out. I was guilty of this myself because I had terrible fatigue for a long time. No shame to anyone that is doing that because you just need energy and you are trying everything. But if you go into a store, and you’re just trying things out, you could potentially do more harm than good because you don’t really know what your body needs. There are a lot of intricacies as far as nutrients go and supplementation goes with regards to how your metabolism is functioning. One thing to consider is which nutrients your body actually needs. Also, the quality of the products you’re getting in a drugstore should be considered. A lot of supplements that you can get in the drugstore are unregulated. Many of the companies producing these supplements don’t do a whole lot of quality control testing because it’s usually expensive to do that. That’s why those products are typically cheaper. So there are a lot of issues with just going out on your own and trying a bunch of different supplements. That said, supplements can be extremely effective if taken properly, if someone is guiding you, and if you are able to do specialty testing. I can think of a client who recently came with a lot of fatigue, brain fog, a lot of digestive issues. He was not absorbing nutrients effectively and we ended up doing some specialty testing which showed us the levels of vitamins and minerals in his body. Once we were able to get that information, we were able to craft a tailored plan based on what his body needed to give him more energy. Ultimately, that really helped his energy levels.
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If you have a client come in and you’re suspecting they have a deficit in a particular vitamin or mineral, is your first instinct to try to increase foods that are rich in that nutrient and see if you can bridge the gap or do you feel that supplements should be the first step in that situation?
Christina Stapke, RDN
It depends on how well their digestion is working. If they have a lot of gastrointestinal symptoms like gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, they are likely not efficiently absorbing nutrients and may benefit from supplements. I always encourage food first, whenever possible. If someone doesn’t have any kind of digestive issues, we focus on trying to get the nutrient from food to the extent that we can. But some people just do need a little bit more support. For example, someone with a digestive imbalance may do a lot better with a nutrient that’s dissolvable under their tongue versus something that they have to take as a pill.
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How does alcohol impact energy levels?
Christina Stapke, RDN
B vitamins are very important for energy production, detoxification and the immune systems. Alcohol depletes these essential B vitamins. If you’re having serious issues with your energy and you are drinking alcohol regularly, that could be contributing to fatigue because you are depleting a lot of key nutrients. Also, some people are more efficient with detoxifying than others. If you have some digestive concerns, and you’re not getting a balanced diet, and you’re drinking a significant amount of alcohol, that can be a perfect storm as far as depleting those B vitamins and other nutrients.
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What about hydration? Does drinking a lot of water help with raising and maintaining energy levels as well?
Christina Stapke, RDN
Yes. Our bodies are mostly made of water and we can think of our bloodstream as a river. This river is how we are transporting nutrients and different materials throughout our body. If that river is dried up or barely has any water, it’s going to be really inefficient at getting the nutrients where they need to go. If you’re dehydrated, that can make that whole process really inefficient and can absolutely contribute to fatigue. So, in general, unless, you have a heart condition or have some fluid retention issues, I would aim for a water intake goal(in ounces) of about half your weight (in pounds). And that’s minimum and assumes that you’re not sweating or exercising. If you’re sweating or exercising, you’d want to do drink a bit more. Of course, if you’re not drinking anywhere near that amount now, don’t just start drinking that amount right away. Work up to that amount slowly.