Everyone has days where there energy seems to be nonexistent. When your energy is low, it impacts productivity. Some people will rely on caffeine or the highly popular, not so healthy energy drinks to get them through the day, which is never a good way to go. If you’re looking for ways to increase your productivity, you not only want to look at what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, who you’re being and identify the missing pieces, you want to take a holistic approach. That includes looking at what you’re eating.
You may notice that you lose concentration around the mid-morning, or maybe your energy drops off right after you eat lunch. These are just indicators of a larger problem: poor diet. Did you know that you can boost your productivity by changing your diet? Well, you can and it makes a big difference. Improving your nutrition can raise your productivity level by as much as 20%! Let’s talk about why your energy drops off at certain points in the day and right after you eat a meal or a particular thing.
What you eat impacts everything actually, not only productivity. Now-a-days people are still eating fast food, which I call fake food. It’s full of chemicals, hormones that were given to the animals and it doesn’t decay or breakdown when left for months or longer. A lot of people aren’t even consuming food anymore. People don’t cook meals and many who do are cooking from a box or a can, not from scratch. Life is moving fast, so people seek to have their food move just as fast so that they can keep up with the pace and while they’re not looking it’s costing them more than their productivity. It’s costing them their health.
Overall, people have forgotten why we eat. We don’t eat for pleasure, the purpose of consuming food is to sustain the body; to sustain life. It’s a beautiful thing when the food looks and tastes good and it’s possible to make that happen, but that’s not the point. We aren’t taught that we eat to sustain life, we learn that when we’re hungry it’s time to eat and most don’t learn what to eat to properly fuel the body.
The reasons why energy levels drop off after you eat lunch, or eat particular things is because: 1) You’re consuming high-fat or large meals that divert the blood supply to the digestive tract and away from the brain, which causes sluggishness and fatigue; and 2) The food that you’re consuming isn’t fueling your body, because what’s being eaten isn’t full of the nutritional value that is needed to fuel the body.
Eating sugary foods can make you feel like you’re spaced out, weak confused or even nervous. So let go of that stuff. Heavy foods like burgers, fries, and other fried foods slow you down and make you sleepy, so they slow you down when it comes to work. Not getting the right nutrients, the fuel that you need can make you process information more slowly, take longer to react and will cause you to have trouble remembering sequences. Needless to say, their consumption doesn’t enhance your productivity. If you want to stop your energy level from dropping off after lunch, and avoid that brain fog that you might be experiencing during the day, fuel your body properly!
Food impacts how clearly you think and concentrate, your intelligence level, memory and reaction time, and even how quickly your brain ages. You may not know it but your brain is hungry tissue and even burns fuel even while you sleep, so eating breakfast is the best way to restock fuel stores and prevent a mental fog later in the day. If you don’t eat breakfast, add it to your daily routine.
Feed your brain and your body what they need. Nuts and seeds have vitamin E and antioxidants; whole grains give you fiber, vitamins and magnesium; dark leafy greens are loaded with vitamins and minerals like iron which brings more oxygen to the body and the brain. All of these support cognitive function. Get plenty of fruits and veggies along with plant based protein to fuel your body and keep your physical energy up. Don’t believe hype. The human body doesn’t need animal based protein.
Oh, and for you chocolate lovers, dark chocolate contains antioxidant properties that increase the production of endorphins, enhance focus and concentration. It also slows down cognitive decline, but of course, you want to consume it in moderation.
Take the holistic approach to increasing your productivity. Start by looking at what you’re eating and making some adjustments. You really are what you eat.