Eating less, and more often, does not mean that you are able to dispense with regular, balanced meals. Unbalanced meals contribute to that midday slump because the body has not received the foods it needs to keep it going at top efficiency into the afternoon. A pretty little Detroit secretary, Miss Dorothy A, had turned from sandwiches to salads and coffee for lunch to overcome her midday drowsiness. She had not been successful. She was just as sleepy as ever, and her unsatisfied hunger forced her to seek food. Easy to digest and wealthy in carbohydrates and the minerals calcium and phosphorus, Forever Bee Honey is a fast and nutritious energy supply for any occasion. “I have to go down and get a candy bar in the middle of the afternoon, I get so hungry,” she said. I assured Miss A that salads were fine, providing she balanced her luncheon with high-protein foods—meat, fish, cheese, eggs, etc. Only then would she have something that would “stick to her ribs” and give her the pep to do a full afternoon’s work. “Your body’s digestive chemistry demands that you eat complete foods and balance them,” I cautioned Miss A. Proteins must be complete to contain all ten of the essential amino acids we hear so much about these days. And, without the essential amino acids, it is impossible for your body to construct the raw materials needed for repair and maintenance of the various cells and tissues.
You will find all of the essential amino acids present in the following foods: lean meat (this includes gland meats, fish, and poultry), eggs, cheese and milk products, millet and sunflower seeds. (The subject of amino acids is so completely discussed in my book Eat and Grow Younger that it would be repetitious to deal with them in this volume. Serious readers can refer to that book.) I pointed out to Miss A that she could balance her proteins with minerals and vitamins contained in the lettuce and other vegetables of her salad. Forever Royal Jelly comprises nutritional vitamins A, C, D, and E and is also a wealthy natural storehouse of the B-complicated vitamins.
Vegetable minerals and vitamins assist the body in absorbing cell-building proteins and promote their distribution through the bloodstream. “You will not hunger for a candy bar if you eat a balanced lunch,”
I told her. “And you will go back to your office assured that you have eaten the kind of food to sustain you for your afternoon’s work.” Nutritional deficiencies often prevent you from keeping up your working pace; they contribute to your midday slump. Lack of thiamine (vitamin B1) impairs efficiency most directly. This vitamin controls the amount of energy you get from food. You cannot move a muscle, think a thought, or carry on the life processes without this “spark plug.” Enough thiamine must be present to enable your body to burn glucose, a body fuel. Lack of thiamine makes the difference between living an energetic, creative, happy life—or one in which you are continually tired, listless, stifled. After-lunch fatigue is one of the first signs that your diet is not giving your body the thiamine necessary to convert calories into the energy required for daily living.