With work pressures and busy schedules, making healthy meals can be a challenge. But what we eat impacts our cognitive performance, so how and what you put in your body directly affects your productivity and energy levels. Your digestive system is a magical black box that transforms food into energy. And energy is the fuel you burn over the course of the day to be productive. When you eat too much or too little, your energy suffers. When you eat just the right amount, you have a solid, consistent amount of energy to get through the day.
You wouldn’t put regular gas in a sports car that requires premium fuel. So why are you feeding your body substandard crap and expecting outstanding results?
For entrepreneurs, eating isn’t just about satisfying hunger. When you spend all day confronting challenging mental tasks, the brain’s nutritional demands are greater.
For example, have you ever worked so hard that it felt like your brain were on fire? It sort of was, says Patti Milligan, director of nutrition at Tignum, a consultancy that helps businesses boost employee performance through holistic wellness programs. “You produce lots of oxidants in the brain when you’re working,” she says. “Foods that are high in antioxidants like, berries, beans, apples, tea; they act like flame retardants”, so they can help you to think and act in a better day. And don’t forget water. “The brain is 70 to 80 percent water,” Milligan says. “When it’s metabolically active 10 to 12 hours a day, removing metabolic waste from the brain requires optimal hydration.” This directly shows how what you consume can affect your performance.
Science bears this out. According to a Cambridge University study, after five days on a high-fat diet, the treadmill performance of lab rats declined by half. Moreover, the rats eating fatty chow began to falter on a maze test they had been trained on–finding only five treats before making a mistake. The healthier rats were able to find six or more treats. And as any entrepreneur knows, it’s all about finding the treats.
Also, according to research from the Health Enhancement Research Organization, employees who eat healthy throughout the day are 25% more likely to perform at a high level. Furthermore, employees who consumed five or more servings of vegetables and fruits, a minimum of four times per week, were 20% more likely to be more productive.
If you’re serious about performing your best at work, then making intelligent decisions about food is critical. To reach your peak performance, with a high level of energy throughout the day, you need to eat a well-balanced, healthy diet. Please, take a look of this infographic , it is about the impact a person’s diet can have on their performance at work and the optimal diet for increasing your productivity. And never forget: You are what you eat