How the Anti-Inflammatory Diet Improves Your Productivity
Today we are going to address the relationship between an anti-inflammatory diet and productivity. Do you have days at work that you feel energetic, inspired, and productive, while other days you feel tired, busy and stressed, with almost nothing done at the end of the day?
When you spend several hours a day working, it pays to make those hours healthy for both body and mind.
Making a few simple and smart decisions throughout your workday can help you perform better, and increase your creativity and productivity while reducing fatigue and minimizing stress.
Above all, eating well and eating a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet could be the key to reaching your full potential. How to eat well? Let’s see it in this article…
The Energy Behind The Food
Whether you’ve experienced the power of food on yourself, or you know one of the many people who changed their diet and healed themselves after upset stomach, migraines, eczema, unexplained weight gain, or chronic fatigue, you’ll know the power of what we eat and how the energy of each food can affect us at all levels, both in one way and in the other.
Consider that each food has its unique energy and that this goes beyond the vitamins, minerals, fats, and carbohydrates that constitute it.
Eating well is not just about the nutrients we absorb, but also the energy the food carries with it. Each food has different energetic qualities and properties, depending on where, when, and how it grows, as well as how it is prepared.
Food, The Most Powerful Tool To Change Your Life
Food is a powerful thing, it can be both the poison that programs your body for sickness and disease, or the remedy that rejuvenates your cells and system. It can be the instigator of discomfort and disease or the cure for both.
When you eat processed foods, food additives, chemicals, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, and other inflammatory foods, you create a toxic environment. These foods and substances inflame the intestinal tract. As you continue to eat the same foods, the inflammation spreads throughout the body.
This type of inflammation is linked to allergies, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and even depression.
And here many of you will be thinking only of an elimination approach, of removing food and food. But it is not only about this. To eat well we don’t have to focus only on what we can’t eat and what is not going well for our body, rather the key is to focus on what you can eat. You will eat many other foods that are incredibly healing, not to mention filling and delicious.
These foods are rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, and packed with wonderful anti-inflammatory properties that help the body detoxify and heal, repair and replenish cells, improve energy and metabolism, and maximize health.
Making this change in what you eat every day, and eating right, will produce incredibly profound results. It can lead to increased energy, weight loss, pain relief, intestinal peace, and uplifting mood. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
In our lives, we will eat about 25 tons of foreign particles from the outside world through our mouths as food. This food will contain the essential nutrients we need for health.
But it will also contain bacteria, parasites, curiously shaped food proteins, and a host of other compounds that could hurt our systems.
The Food-Emotions Connection
Both scientific research and personal experience show that what we eat affects the way we think and act. Still, most people don’t recognize the connection between their food and their mood. Think for a moment about how you feel throughout the day. Do you sometimes feel confused and tired after lunch? Angry and irritable between meals? Energized by a healthy meal?
Food certainly changes your mood. The most extreme examples are coffee or alcohol, which change your mood in minutes.
For this reason, they could not even be classified as food but as drugs. And the current bad mood epidemic is linked to lower quality and quantity of real food: negative moods come from “junk” food.
Inflammation And Productivity
Chronic Inflammation
Inflammation is the underlying concept of a healing response from the body. It is the way our body has to take care of and bring more immune activity to a certain area that needs it.
So an inflammatory process is a natural process that our body has to heal itself, until it reaches the equilibrium that it is supposed to reach, and it stops when it is supposed to stop. If the inflammation persists or stays in an area that does not need an inflammatory process, that is, it leaves its natural space-time, chronic inflammation is produced that leads to various problems, more or less serious.
How An Inflammatory Diet Affects Productivity
Numerous scientific investigations have confirmed that the food we eat can affect our health and longevity. The modern diet, filled with processed foods, lacks essential nutrients due to eating patterns that lead to inadequate intake.
This inflammatory diet can lead to the development of coronary (heart) disease. It also causes diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. These chronic inflammatory conditions can lead to a loss of productivity at home and work and negatively impact the quality of life. When there is an imbalance in your body, your mind also suffers and does not work properly.
An inflammatory diet does not provide you with enough energy for your daily needs. On the contrary,
- causes fatigue
- Causes poor mental health
- Causes irritability
- Increases stress and depression
- Lowers your energy level
- Reduces your ability to think clearly and work effectively
As a result, this way of eating hurts your productivity, especially if you work in a creative environment.
The Solution Is In The Anti-inflammatory Diet
Eating well means eating a variety of foods (preferably raw) from all the food groups with the right amounts of nutrients to maintain your health and energy.
These nutrients should include proteins, carbohydrates, fats, water, vitamins, and minerals. Specifically, an anti-inflammatory diet – like the one you can find downloadable at www.antoniosilvestro.com – has a positive impact on cell development in the brain, and the benefits are numerous:
- Helps reduce stress levels. Studies have revealed that people who maintain healthy eating habits are less likely to suffer from depression or mood disorders. When you eat anti-inflammatory foods, you can manage your stress more quickly and focus better on your work.
- Helps keep you physically and mentally active. The nutrients that are present in our food not only affect our physical but also our mental health.
Healthy nutrients improve brain function allowing you to better manage the challenges of work. The following nutrients can improve brain health and overall productivity:
- folate, found in legumes and leafy green vegetables
- omega-3 fatty acids found in walnuts and flaxseeds, plus, as we all know, fish
- Vitamin C, which we find in fruits of the forest and citrus fruits.
- Vitamin E, which we find in nuts and extra virgin olive oil.
Eating For Energy
An anti-inflammatory diet should include healthy foods that energize us and feed our brains. Foods that contain low-glycemic carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats provide the brain with constant energy. That means you should eat fruits and vegetables, whole grains, seeds, nuts, and healthy oils to feel energized. Eating well is easier than it seems.
Foods That Should Be In An Anti-inflammatory Diet
Here is a short list of foods that will help you think and work better:
blueberries
These berries have a great combination of antioxidants and a large amount of gallic acid, which can protect our brains from degeneration and oxidative stress, increasing our focus and memory. If you want to know more about the benefits of blueberries, click here.
almonds
These tasty nuts are rich in healthy fatty acids, antioxidants, and plant proteins. They support healthy brain function and prevent cognitive decline.
whole grains
They will help you stay mentally alert all day. Eat whole grains, preferably without gluten (an inflammatory substance).
Pumpkin seeds
The seeds are rich in zinc, which is vital for improving memory and thinking skills.
green leafy vegetables
These vegetables contain many antioxidants that help improve learning ability.
Raisins
Raisins are rich in antioxidants but are low in fat and calories. That makes them perfect for a healthy snack and to increase your energy and productivity.
Substitute your coffee
Although coffee is a trendy drink when it comes to productivity and work, I don’t think it’s very helpful for this specific purpose. Caffeine is an inflammatory substance that irritates the digestive system and taken every day would lead to intestinal discomfort.
For this purpose we have other allied foods, that is, green tea and dark chocolate (greater than 70%). Dark chocolate is rich in flavonoids that increase blood flow to the brain. It can increase memory, attention span, and problem-solving skills. Green tea contains theanine which can help you focus and concentrate.
move often
In an anti-inflammatory lifestyle and diet, we include physical exercise. Our bodies are designed to move frequently, and that includes more than just planned exercise.
If you’re sitting all day, make sure you move at least every hour. Get up to fill a glass of water, go talk to your coworkers instead of emailing, do some stretching right at your desk, or go for a walk to stay active.
Conclusion
The food we eat influences all aspects of our lives: our physical well-being, mental health, and performance at work. Eating well has to be a priority, thus using food in your favor.
