Good nutrition is essential to maintaining our energy and productivity levels each day. While research on how foods affect our brains is still young, there are some tried-and-true ways to get the most out of what we eat, including making sure we reach first for the best foods for daily alertness.
Photo by PhotoPrince (Shutterstock)
On the Buffer app blog, Leo Widrich discusses the science behind how nutrition influences our productivity. Essentially, food is converted to glucose, which is like fuel for our brains, keeping us focused and alert. The best foods, like oats, give us a slow and steady supply of glucose, keeping up focused for longer than bad foods like doughnuts, which only offer 20 minutes of alertness before we crash and become easily distracted. (We’ve seen this concept before, with Massive Health’s fullness and sugar crash infographic mapping out different foods’ effects on our energy.)
The best foods to eat for productivity, according to the World Health Organisation, are nuts, seeds, chocolate (especially dark chocolate), fish, blueberries, avocado, whole grains and raw carrots.
How do you make sure you prioritise those kinds of foods? Reorganize how your food is stored in your cupboard (and fridge):
One of the most interesting aspects about eating is that we are extremely likely to eat what is in close sight. In fact famous researcher Brian Wansink mentions that “You are 3 times more likely to eat the first thing you see in your cupboard than the fifth thing you see.” Make sure you organise your food in way that brain powering foods get more exposure. It’s an incredible trick to start eating better food that will give you more daily alertness.
Check out the full article for more tips on staying productive through proper nutrition or learn more about brain foods here.
The science behind how your productivity is chose by what you eat [Buffer]
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