28 May 2019

4 ways to encourage wellbeing through better eating

Everything we eat has an impact on our health. Physically, mentally and even socially, food is an important part of our wellbeing. It’s more than mere nutrition—diet has an effect on clarity of thought, and social eating strengthens bonds between people.

All too often, food in the workplace is a hasty affair, with pre-packaged sandwiches or microwaved leftovers snatched between tasks. Lunch should be a much more relaxed affair, a time to unwind a little, a mid-point in the day where you can take stock of the achievements so far and the tasks ahead.

Here are a four ways to encourage better wellbeing in the workplace through better eating.

1. Provide healthy snacks
Many workplaces offer snacks to their employees—but it’s often crisps, chocolate and sugar-laden fizzy drinks. These are great in the short term—most people have a bit of a sweet tooth, and the sugar rush might make the office seem a little busier all of a sudden.

But there’s a risk there. That sugar rush won’t last, and people will become tired, grumpy and irritable, with productivity suffering. The best plan is to provide quality, healthier snacks for people to graze on. Don’t go overboard, and replace everything in the fridge with kale, but fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and cereal bars are great—these provide slow-release energy.

2. Social eating
Humans are social animals, and food can be a huge part of that. In a strange-seeming development, the video streaming site Twitch—usually associated with video games—introduced a category dedicated to social eating a few years ago. Here, you can eat with other people live via webcam—it sounds bizarre, but it’s incredibly popular.

Take this, and run with it. Eating together is a strong team-building exercise, and a pleasant one at that. It doesn’t have to be every single day, but at least once a week, have everyone down tools and gather together, away from their desks, to break bread together and share one of the most fundamental social activities. It’ll promote collaboration, strengthen teams and foster friendships.

3. Hydrate!
You probably don’t drink enough water. This is true for everyone—including all the employees in your care. When you’re buried in your work, the last thing most of us think about is getting our eight glasses of water a day. But being hydrated helps us perform well physically and mentally, and reduces safety risks—if you’re properly hydrated, you’re thinking clearly, and you’re more aware of your surroundings.

Encourage good hydration by providing fresh, clean water. A small bottle chilled overnight and placed on every desk would be ideal, but if that’s not possible, just make sure the fresh water taps in the kitchen are maintained and clean.

4. Celebrate success
When you make such fundamental changes to your workplace culture, stories will naturally emerge. Some people may come out of their shells a little when you’re all eating together—don’t make a huge song and dance about this, but make sure it’s noticed and appreciated.

Start a healthy food club—encourage people to bring in things they’ve made at home for everyone to share, and highlight the best recipes. Ask people to share their tips and ideas for food, their success stories in weight loss or mood improvement, and encourage further health kicks like running clubs, bake sales and social gatherings.

It's genuinely not difficult to make some small changes for big differences. Follow the above hints, and you’ll see great changes to the wellbeing of your people.

This article is provided by Health Assured.

Reference

1. https://www.twitch.tv/directory/game/Social%20Eating/videos/all