How food can affect our daily workplace performance

Performance at workplace is critical for our personal and professional growth. Talking about factors which may affect our workplace performance, we hardly recognise the importance of food. Many of us believe performance is simply a function of well-defined planning and appropriate action. What we ignore amid our struggle to keep up with deadlines, meetings and e mails is a fact that food is a fuel.

The effect of food on our body and performance is much larger than what we normally realize.  The fuel analogy falls short when compared with food as with fuel you get same performance from your car irrespective of which brand’s fuel you are using. The case with food is different.

Food can directly impact your cognitive performance, which is why a poor lunch may ruin your entire afternoon. It means the type of food we use has bearings on the outcomes that we produce during the course of our daily routine.

Why this happen? Actually whatever we eat our body converts it into glucose. This in turn provides energy to our mind. When we run low of glucose, it becomes difficult to stay focused as our attention drifts away. This is the reason why it is difficult to concentrate on an empty stomach.

The above information is pretty obvious and we clearly understand the link between food and our output. Now turning to what is less obvious and we hardly consider before consuming any food. It is a fact our bodies consume different foods at different rate. Some foods like pasta, bread and soda release their energy quickly making us experience a burst of energy followed by a slump. On other hand some foods like high fat meals provide energy in a consistent way however they make our digestive system work harder and reducing energy level in the mind making us feel lethargic.

Mostly we don’t make good decisions about our diet, especially under conditions when we are low with our energy and self-control.

Why we go for unhealthy lunch options? One reason is they tend to be economical and we can get them faster as compared to healthy alternatives. This becomes rather alluring in the middle of a busy day when loads of work is waiting us to deal with.  We chose them as they appear as an efficient lunch option; that is the point where we got mistaken. By going for such lunch options, we save our minutes and pay by performing poorly through the entire day.

So what we input we need to make healthy diet decisions? Information; no alone information can not motivate us to go for healthy food options. Far from information, we need an action plan that can make healthy eating easier to accomplish. Here are few strategies worth trying.

First is time to make decision about food, always decide about your food before you start feeling hungry. If you want to go out for a lunch decide it in the morning not at 12:30 pm. The research has shown that we are far better resisting food temptations in future than in present.

Place a container of almonds and a selection of protein bars by your computer. Bring a bag of fruit to office for the entire week. Smaller and more frequent meals will help maintaining your glucose level consistent through out the day. Any quick drop or rise in blood sugar is harmful for both brain and our performance.

Research has discovered eating fruits and vegetables are not just food for the body, they are beneficial to mind as well. According to a study published in British Journal of Health and Psychology in 2014, the more people consumed foods and vegetables, happier, more engaged and more creative they tended to be.

Explaining the underlying reason the researchers involved in this study noted that fruits and vegetables contain vital nutrients that triggers the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a fundamental role in case of curiosity, motivation and engagement. More, fruit and vegetable produce antioxidants that control bodily inflammation improve memory and uplift mood.

The above discussion brings to light the importance of making healthy food decisions to improve workplace performance. Put briefly, a proactive approach towards food decisions and appropriate diet intake strategies can clearly boast up our performance. It is in contrast with what many of us believe, key to healthy eating is not learning to resist temptation rather making right food an easiest possible option.