Fighting fatigue with food.

With work and family schedules packed to the bursting point, it's no wonder Americans are exhausted and looking for a magic supplement that delivers more stamina.

Unfortunately many people may be overlooking the most important source of vitality: energy from ordinary food, particularly carbohydrates.

Ironically, carbohydrates that deliver energy most expediently are the macronutrient people are most likely to reduce in an effort to lose weight and become, well, more energetic.

"The way we get energy as athletes is to eat and eat carbohydrate foods," says Kristine Clark (no relation to Nancy), a sports nutrition specialist at Penn State University in University Park, Pa. When she lectures sports teams she focuses on calories.

"It's been tough with all this talk about low carbohydrates. Teenage girls and especially [female] athletes are susceptible to the low-carbohydrate message," says Kristine Clark, who advises the U.S. Women's Soccer Team.

Pursuing a low-carbohydrate diet can result in fatigue, according to the Penn State expert.

Although athletes can easily consume two to three times as many calories as the sedentary adult, both have similar needs for a variety of foods stretched over the day.

In offering advice for the energy-drained, nutrition experts can't point to any branded foods as solutions. However, savvy marketers can follow the advice to pick up some tips for reaching their audience.

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The ideal energy formulation combines carbohydrates, fats and protein, according to Bonnie Tandy LeBlang, a registered dietitian in Hamden, Conn., and author of "Supermarket Sampler," a syndicated newspaper column. Carbohydrates provide quick energy and protein offers sustained energy. If the carbohydrate food is high in fiber it slows down the glycemic effect so people don't feel hungry an hour after eating.

However, nutrition experts don't recommend a return to the high-carbohydrate diets of the last decade.

"Putting carbohydrates on a platform and saying they're the only nutrient people need for energy isn't correct either. Protein and fat are important for satiety and balanced nutrition," says Kristine Clark.

Carbohydrate foods do have the advantage of being high in B vitamins, including thiamine, riboflavin and niacin.

These so-called stress vitamins play an essential role in the breakdown of protein, fat and carbohydrates into the simplest forms of energy, according to Kristine Clark.

Her snack food recommendations include dried fruit and nut mixes or fresh fruit with yogurt.

When advising college athletes, she endorses energy bars or sports gels as well.

"[Energy bars] are ways of helping an athlete get in very easy calories when they're in compromising situations in which they're very hungry and want something. The bars are usually loaded with nutrients. Look at the label for the protein content," says Kristine Clark.

Just as important as what to eat is when to eat, and marketers can tap into product concepts for different times of the day.

"I look not so much at energy foods as energy patterns," says Nancy Clark, author of "Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, Third Edition" (Human Kinetics Publishers, 2003).

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"When people skip breakfast and barely have lunch they get into the 2 p.m. energy crash and look for the magic bullet such as ginseng or Red Bull," Nancy Clark says. "It's naive to think you can compensate with an energy food for not having eaten the whole day. People think their bodies are failing, but it's that people don't fuel their bodies."

Her approach is to get her clients to start the day with breakfast such as a bagel with peanut butter, milk and cereal for carbohydrates, protein and fat.

As for "energy foods," here's Nancy Clark's take:

"These processed foods can't deliver any more energy than a whole food but can offer convenient energy," she says.

On the energy market

To combine fat, protein and carbohydrate in a high-energy food nutritionists often recommend peanut butter on apple slices or bread or the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

PB N'GO, a line of flavored peanut butters from Jerry Boy Inc., Bedford Heights, Ohio, offers convenience and sophisticated flavors for adult snackers. The recently launched peanut butters, free of trans fats, come in 7-ounce tubes in the following flavors: Dreamy Creamy, Cinnamon Surprise, Jalapeno Kick, Caramel Crunch and Munchy Crunchy. A serving has 6 grams of protein and 12 grams total carbohydrates. The peanut butters are available in supermarkets and fancy food stores.

Balance Bar Co.'s recently introduced GoMix Energy Snack Mix may offer a convenient protein, fat and carbohydrate alternative to chips. The product flavors include Chocolate Nut Crunch, Mixed Berry Crisp and Toffee Crunch in 1.58-ounce bags. Each 200-calorie serving has 14 grams of protein and 21 grams of total carbohydrates.

Not in the supermarket, Chai Crunch, one of the final 100 recipes in the recent Pillsbury Bake-Off, combines popular Chai seasonings, Chex breakfast cereals, dried banana chips and almonds. This home recipe has the sophisticated flavor, texture and ingredient combination that could make it a winner for a food company if parent company General Mills doesn't develop it.