An unhealthy diet can have an immediate impact on workplace performance

Recent studies show that unhealthy eating behavior at night can be useless to people and prone to withdrawal at work the next day.

For the first time, we have shown that a healthy diet has an immediate effect on workplace behavior and performance. It is relatively well established that other health-related behaviors such as sleep and exercise affect our work. However, no one saw the short-term effects of an unhealthy diet. “

Seonghee “Sophia” Cho, Corresponding Author of Research, Associate Professor of Psychology, North Carolina State University

Basically, the researchers asked two questions: Does unhealthy eating behavior affect you at work the next day? And if so, why?

In this survey, researchers asked 97 full-time employees in the United States to answer a series of questions three times a day for 10 consecutive days. Prior to their daily work, study participants answered questions related to their physical and emotional well-being. At the end of each day, participants answered questions about what they did at work. In the evening, before bedtime, participants answered questions about eating and drinking behavior after work.

In the context of the study, researchers defined an “unhealthy diet” as an example of when study participants felt they ate too much junk food. When a participant feels that he / she eats or drinks too much. Or if a participant reports too many late-night treats.

Researchers have found that when people are engaged in unhealthy eating behavior, they are more likely to report having physical problems the next morning. Problems included headaches, stomachaches and diarrhea. In addition, when people reported unhealthy eating behavior, they were also more likely to report emotional tension the next morning, such as feeling guilty or embarrassed about their dietary choices. These physical and emotional tensions associated with an unhealthy diet, in turn, were associated with changes in how people behave at work all day long.

In essence, when people reported physical or emotional tension associated with an unhealthy diet, they were also likely to report a decrease in “helping behavior” and an increase in “withdrawal behavior.” Supporting behavior in the workplace means taking a step further when you don’t need it, such as helping your colleagues and helping them with tasks that you are not responsible for. Withdrawal behavior refers to avoiding work-related situations, even when at work.

Researchers also found that those who are emotionally stable, that is, those who can cope with stress well because they are not emotionally unstable, are less likely to be adversely affected by an unhealthy diet. Not only are emotionally stable people less likely to experience physical or emotional tension after an unhealthy diet, but workplace behavior can change even if they report physical or emotional tension. The sex has also become low.

“The big point here is that we now know that an unhealthy diet can have an almost immediate impact on workplace performance,” says Cho. “But there is no single” healthy “diet, and a healthy diet is not just about nutritional value. It can also be influenced by your personal dietary needs, or when and how you eat. Although they are eating.

“Companies can help them deal with a healthy diet by paying more attention to their employees’ dietary needs and preferences and addressing those needs, such as through onsite dietary options. It can affect the physical and mental health of employees, and thus their work performance. “

The researchers also pointed out various research questions that could be addressed in the future.

“One of the confounding variables is that the wording of the question may capture both unhealthy eating and drinking behaviors associated with alcohol,” Cho says.

“It’s what we want to bully to move forward, and it’s interesting to see what people are eating at other times while focusing on the evening meal. In the outcome of the action. Are there specific factors in the diet that affect it? Sugar and caffeine content? Is there a positive effect of an unhealthy diet, such as when people eat a comfortable diet to deal with stress? This is abundant I promise to become a research field. “