Ask The Smoothie Whisperer: Pre-Workout Energy In The Afternoon

Addictive Wellness co-founder, Sage Dammers, is the smoothie whisperer. His knowledge of herbal nutrition blew us away after a recent blender session and we decided to run a series with him on smoothies that solve problems. Each of his blender potions is designed to address a team member need. Start with this one for Monday morning moods and then check out Sage’s solution below for afternoon energy slumps. You’ll never cancel a workout again…

Q: At around 2:30 p.m., I get that afternoon slump. My eyes get tired eyes, I have trouble focusing, and I feel like I need to push hard to get through the rest of the work day. I’m usually trying to gear up for an evening workout, so I’ll have an espresso shot around this time, but that can lead to insomnia later! I need a smoothie that gives me a stable energy boost and will help me complete a killer workout – without making me anxious and jittery.

A: Let’s start with looking at why you’re experiencing this energy dip. This is naturally the time of day when your midday meal is being digested, and if your lunch is high in carbohydrates and sugars, you could be experiencing the low point of a blood sugar roller coaster. You could just use caffeine or sugar to send you back up the roller coaster again, but that will prolong the cycles of ups and downs. And having caffeine after 2:00 p.m. is likely to interfere with your ability to get quality sleep, setting you up for less energy tomorrow. I would try having a lunch that is high in healthy fats and non-starchy vegetables and contains moderate levels of clean protein and minimal amounts of carbohydrates. This will provide you with great nutrition and steady energy without sending your blood sugar up and down.

At this stage, I’m imagining you’ve already eaten lunch, so we’re not going to create something very filling here. Rather we are going to focus on bringing in the best tonic herbs in the most potent vehicle to get them into your body and keep you going. Let’s start with a base of gynostemma tea. If you’re interested in longevity, this is an herb you should definitely know about. It gently lifts one’s energy levels, but not in the same forceful fashion that caffeine would. This drink is meant to be invigorating, rather than stimulating. Next we’ll add a packet of our Chai Elixir Blend to stoke your digestive fire and get in some of our favorite adaptogenic herbs. We’ll also add an extra dose of astragalus and cordyceps – two of the greatest qi tonics in the Chinese system, lauded for their abilities to support the body’s own natural energy production mechanisms. Finally, we’ll cream it up with some caprylic acid, an extract from coconut oil that your body can very easily convert into ketones, which function as a cleaner burning, longer lasting energy source compared to glucose.

You can also take a few capsules of rhodiola rosea with your smoothie. Hypothetically, you could add this in tincture or powder form to your drink, but it has a very particular flavor that isn’t going to combine well with what we’ve created here. But it’s definitely worth including, as studies have consistently shown rhodiola to be highly effective at reducing fatigue symptoms.