Six Foods You Need to Avoid If You’re Stressed at Work

You spend a large portion of your day at work, so it’s not hard to see how your corporate wellness impacts the rest of your wellbeing. Work stress feeds into the rest of your life, which, in turn, has a negative influence on your overall health. Therefore, we’re always trying to find ways to reduce workplace stress and, thanks to registered dietician/nutritionist Keri Gans, MS, RDN, CDN, author of The Small Change Diet, we now have the answer: your food. According to Gans, what you eat may contribute to your stress load and, since diet is one of the things in life you have any control over, it’s a good place to start when dealing with workplace stress.

 

1. Avoid foods high in caffeine: The Stress Management Society states that while caffeine can be stimulating when you’re tired, foods and drinks with caffeine also contain the neurostimulator theo-bromine. Gans explains, ‘Both theo-bromine and caffeine have been proven to increase stress levels. Caffeine can also cause a loss in concentration, which can result in poor work output and thus more stress on the job. If you need coffee or tea in the morning for that boost, make sure you do so in moderation or you won’t be able to reduce work stress.’

 

2. Foods rich in sodium: ‘Sodium can cause the body to retain water, possibly leading to hypertension and an increase in stress,’ Gans warns. ‘Thankfully, sodium is fairly easy to monitor in a diet; make sure you read all product labels. Natural and whole foods will have less sodium than those in packages, but keeping hypertension at bay also means keeping up with an exercise routine.’

 

3. Junk foods: Not only do junk foods get in the way of your weight loss plans; they can also hinder your efforts to reduce work stress. Gans notes, ‘Snacking on potato chips, candy and baked goods may temporarily relieve hunger, but it rarely lasts any length of time. This can cause an energy crash later in the day and can lead to chronic hunger, which can make work that much more difficult to get through. What’s more, junk foods lack the vitamins and minerals the body needs to manage stress throughout the day.’

 

4. Fatty foods: There is research that indicates if you eat a fatty meal you will increase the negative effects of stress on your heart. ‘Most people don’t realize it, but starting the day out with a high-fat dairy product could be sabotaging that goal to reduce work stress,’ Gans cautions. ‘The more stressed the body feels, the less likely it is to perform well throughout the day, and as most of us now, poor performance is one way to drastically increase job stress.’

 

5. Alcohol: Gans advises, ‘Most jobs don’t allow drinking on-site, but if you go out for a business lunch steer clear of those alcoholic drinks. Alcohol stimulates the release of the stress hormone cortisol even though it may seem like it lowers your inhibitions. Also, drinking heavily at night can make you sluggish for work in the morning and make you less likely to pick up on important job facts throughout the day.’

 

6. Fizzy Drinks: If you steer clear of alcohol on business lunches, don’t replace your usual tipple with a glass of fizz! The Stress Management Society asserts that you should avoid fizzy drinks if you are feeling stressed at work. Gans comments, ‘When the body is under pressure, a build-up of carbon dioxide and lactates in the body can result in a condition called “acidosis”, which can harm health. The high levels of carbon dioxide in beverages aggravate that condition; therefore soft drinks need to be considered as an unnecessary addition to your diet.’

Categories: caffeine, day nbsp, junk foods, reduce work, sodium, steer clear, Stress, stress gans, stress management, stress nbsp, work stress, workplace stress

Is there a Specific Solution to Your Job Stress Situation?

‘Chronic job strain can put both your physical and emotional health at risk,’ says Paul J. Rosch, MD, the president of the American Institute of Stress, but when corporate wellness experts and the like talk about this strain, they tend to forget that we’re all individuals, and whack it all under the big umbrella term of “work stress”. There is a myriad of different causes of work stress, which require a variety of solutions. So, which of these specific situations is affecting your wellbeing both in and out of the workplace?

 

1. Overworked and underpaid: You get in, you sit down and you keep working right up until the last minute. However, even though you’re putting in every minute of every hour of the working day, you have no say in how you do things, what type of projects you work on or on your own schedule. Peter L. Schnall, MD, an occupational stress expert at the University of California, notes that “high-demand, low-control” jobs cause a great deal of strain to your mental wellness, but research suggests that you can ease the stress by finding ways to get more involved in decision-making.

 

2. Stalled career climber: Even though you’ve been working away and trying to get noticed, all you’ve managed to do is make your boss look good without them realising you did all the hard graft. You’re yet to receive a raise, a promotion, or even sufficient recognition for your blood, sweat and tears, and this is the perfect cocktail for stress, especially if you’re a very driven and ambitious person. Instead of stewing about these so-called “effort-reward imbalances” try talking to your boss about your career goals. You might not get a promotion there and then but at least everyone is then on the same page, and your boss can give you some insight about how to improve your situation.

 

3. Desert island desk-jockey: In an office full of colleagues and supervisors, you feel totally alone. You don’t feel like you can go to your boss for help or guidance, and you don’t have a trusted ally to turn to when you need a good vent. In order to do your job well, if at all, you need a good support system that includes practical support from your bosses and emotional support from colleagues. This means you need to communicate your needs more effectively, being more specific and persuasive with your boss and making the effort to connect with your co-workers.

 

4. The office doormat: You’re on the front-line, dealing with demanding and even nasty customers, but you’re now allowed to fight back. Instead, you have to take it all in your stride and maintain a facade of professionalism, calm, and courtesy, no matter how much they verbally abuse you. Dr Schnall explains, ‘When there’s a discrepancy between your internal state and the roles you’re expected to play at work, you experience what researchers call “emotional labour.”’ Again, you should talk to your boss about advice or additional training on how to handle difficult customers without taking it personally and feeling demoralised.

 

5. Terrorised by technology: Thanks to the internet and the nifty little smartphone your company so generously provided, you are now within reach 24/7, and don’t your colleagues know it! There’s no leaving work at the office anymore; you can’t even distinguish between your work and personal life. Dr Rosch notes, ‘Technostress is an important and growing issue,’ and you can forget that you control your phone, and not the other way around. Turn off email notifications on your phone and set aside three times in your day (during working hours) that you will check your inbox.

Categories: boss, career progression, Doormat, nbsp, Stress, technology, work, work stress, working

Why Is It So Important To Take Your Full Lunch Break?

Lunch breaks are an endangered species in this country; 60% of us don’t take a lunch break at all, and the rest that do rarely take a full hour to focus on nutrition, relaxation and nothing else. The average UK worker takes a lunch break of about 29 minutes, and don’t pretend you don’t spend that time nervously checking your phone or emails.

 

Sometimes, there genuinely are occasions in which you’re required to work through lunch, but turning it into a regular thing can be damaging to your wellbeing. You may think that not stopping will allow you to leave earlier, but more often than not you’ll end up working through lunch and not leaving on time, and this adds to accumulative stress building up over the day. However, Kumud Gandhi of Mental Healthy says that frequent breaks actually help to improve your concentration and reduce your stress in tiny amounts. So what other ways can help you de-stress at lunchtime?

 

When it comes to your lunch, make sure you include an orange with the peel still on. According to Prevention magazine, citrus aromas can curb stress and anxiety, as well as help with digestion and nausea, so peeling an orange can help to reduce some of the morning’s stresses. Avocados are also a great choice for your de-stress diet, as these have been shown to lower blood pressure. If you want more foods to help chill you out, turn to salmon, almonds and spinach.

 

For your lunchtime activity, a great way to lower your stress levels is to get out of the office. Research shows that a short walk in the park helps to reduce stress and allows your brain to recover from tension. While you’re at the park, sit down and read a book. While you might feel a bit uneasy about spending all of your free time reading, evidence suggests that even reading for six minutes can lower levels of stress – providing you’re not reading your work emails on your phone, of course. If you can’t get away from the office, find a peaceful place nearby for a ten-minute session of zen meditation. All you have to do is clear your mind and focus on your breathing.

Categories: avocado, lunchtime, work stress