How nutrition impacts mental health

The food we eat fuels our bodies but do you realize the impact it has on your mental health? The foods we eat can provide our bodies with long periods of energy and they can make a positive influence on the brain. Eating a bag of potato chips will not provide your brain with the same fuel and power that a bowl of broccoli will. Healthier foods have vital nutrients that are needed by our bodies in order to function properly. There have been a lot of studies done on the brain and the impact of junk food. Many of the studies have concluded that fatty foods often lead to an increase of anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns like bipolar. By cutting out these foods, you will find a decrease in these symptoms but also an increase in your productivity and overall mood.

Employers can play a big role in healthier eating habits. If you have a wellness program in place many of your employees may already be participating in it and they may have already made the proper steps to eat healthier. However you can help them make healthier choices by coming up with dietary recommendations and the various impacts of these foods. Each day you can send out new tips with the company emails or you can even have a monthly newsletter passed around that includes the different meal suggestions for them to try. It's a smart idea to try and get your employees to try eating healthier.

The other way you can impact employees eating habits is by serving healthier choices for lunches. On-site cafeterias are always nice because you can change up the various meals served and hopefully start encouraging your staff members to start eating healthier. This way they will fuel up on healthy sandwiches versus hamburgers. As you focus on serving healthier meals, they will start to eat them and many of them will start to notice the difference in their mental health and also in their overall health as well.

If you have vending machines you need to get rid of all the candy and soda that people will fuel up on for snacks. Perhaps you can pack a fridge with some 100% fruit juice drinks along with fresh fruits and vegetables. Nuts and whole grains are also great snack foods. Look into serving them healthier foods for snacks and watch the difference in their energy and also their overall motivation to work harder. The more you are able to influence their eating habits, the easier it will be for you to get your employees to start caring about their health and wellness.

For company lunches and other events you should always bring in healthier foods. Avoid the doughnut breakfast options and bring in some fresh fruit, granola bars, 100% orange juice, and other healthier options. This is a wonderful way to encourage healthier eating on the behalf of your employees. The other thing you should do is to treat your employees to lunch once and awhile from a healthy restaurant. The more you are able to encourage your employees to focus on their health, the easier it will be to start working on a wellness program. Employees that are already committed to their health through eating habits will adapt well to the program as it includes adding in some exercise and other things. As employees start to take out time to walk each day and to do things to strengthen their bodies, you will see a decrease in the health insurance premiums along with sick leave and an increase in productivity.