BY EMMET RUSHE: This week marks the beginning of “Enterprising Donegal Business Week 2015”.
I will be presenting this Friday the 27th , along with Susan Hayes and Deirdre Mc Glone, and my talk will be about how your health is vital to your success in your business. Registration is at 9am and the presentations will run from 9:30 until 12pm.
This week’s article will focus on how your food choices can help you in your business and help your bottom line.
“Adequate nutrition can raise your productivity levels by 20% on average.” – WHO
Before we even start to look at the effects that a poor diet can have on our health and our waistlines, we will first look at how our food choices will affect our concentration levels and more importantly, our productivity.
The brain’s preferred fuel source is glucose.
Glucose is our fuel, keeping our brains awake and alert.
So at all times, we have a certain glucose level in our blood.
The most important point to note here is that we are in full control of how we release glucose to our blood and our brains.
Certain foods release glucose quickly, whilst others do so more slowly, yet sustainably.
Brain researcher Leigh Gibson found this to be optimal:
“The brain works best with about 25 grams of glucose circulating in the blood stream — about the amount found in a banana.”
However our dietary choices can really impact on how we get the glucose into our bloodstream.
Quick release carbohydrates, like donuts, chocolate high sugar cereals and fizzy drinks will all release glucose into our bloodstream.
This will give us a quick ‘high’ of alertness, but this is very quickly followed by a ‘crash’ and our glucose level will drop rapidly, leaving you unfocused and easy to distract.
What do we do then?
We reach for whatever will get our blood sugars and our concentration levels back to where they were, and FAST!
The food of choice is usually the types of food that caused our initial ‘high’ and ‘crash’ in the first place.
So throughout the course of a day, we are getting peaks and troughs of blood sugar and concentration.
This is a disaster for our health and our productivity.
Another factor with this type of eating is the hormonal effect it has on our system.
Leptin is a hormone that signals to the brain that we are full and to stop eating.
Whole foods, like oats which give a slow release of energy throughout the day, keep Leptin levels stable, and therefore we do not feel the need to snack shortly after eating.
High sugary foods do not have the same effect, 1-2 hours after eating these types of foods, we will inevitably get the ‘crash’ and our body will get a false sense of hunger and we will be looking for food again.
Hunger can also lead to poor decision making and this along with poor concentration levels can have a serious effect on our bottom line.
So much so, that it is currently costing American businesses $100 Billion dollars per year in productivity.
Our productivity isn’t the only thing to suffer because of this.
Our health is taking a beating at the same time.
We are in the middle of an obesity epidemic, and endless business lunches and midday carvery dinners isn’t helping matters when it comes to busy entrepreneurs.
So what can we do?
These tips will help get things back on track;
Eat breakfast every day.
Have protein with every meal.
Avoid heavily processed foods.
Snack on fruit and nuts and avoid sugary snacks.
Use smaller plates to avoid over eating.
Exercise at least 3-4 times per week.
Once your physical and mental health is in check, your productivity and your bottom line will take care of itself.
#TrainSmart
To keep up to date with fitness and nutrition tips, be sure to follow me through the link below. #TrainSmart
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rushe-Fitness/120518884715118
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