{"id":2892,"date":"2017-12-08T00:37:30","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T08:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/?p=2892"},"modified":"2021-11-22T07:46:46","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T15:46:46","slug":"hunger-decreases-productivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/hunger-decreases-productivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Hunger Decreases Productivity [Study]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every 7 years our body will change completely. This means that each and everyone of your cells will have been renewed and exchanged for another one that your body has produced. I was always amazed by this. And science\u00a0suggests<\/a>\u00a0that this gives us a unique chance to change and erase any mistakes we\u2019ve made in the past. How? Through a focus on the food we eat.<\/p>\n

Fortunately we don\u2019t have to wait 7 years. Day-to-day changes to our diet can have a massive impact on our productivity. Something like this:<\/p>\n

\u201cAdequate nutrition can raise your productivity levels by 20 percent on average.\u201d ~\u00a0WHO<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When I grew up, there were tons of clich\u00e9 wisdoms thrown at me. Eat at least 5 different fruit every day. Drink plenty of water. Eat 3 separate meals every day. Do this , do that, that\u2019s \u201chealthy\u201d. I realized recently that most of this I\u2019ve just taken for granted and never looked into it.<\/p>\n

Whilst we have uncovered the 2 other major factors that contribute to your productivity, explaining\u00a0how much sleep we really need<\/a>\u00a0and how science looks at the\u00a0impact of exercise on our brain<\/a>, it\u2019s time to tackle the probably hardest and most ongoing challenge we all face:\u00a0nutrition<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The science of food and how it affects our brain<\/h2>\n

One of the most fascinating things about eating is how various ingredients enter your brain through your blood stream. Whichever elements make it through to power your brain will help you to either focus or lose focus.<\/p>\n

Most of what we eat will be broken down to one thing: Glucose. Glucose is our fuel, keeping our brains awake and alert. So at all times, we have a certain glucose level in our blood, kind of like gasoline in a car.<\/p>\n

The most important part here is that we are in full control of how we release glucose to our blood and our brains. Certain foods release glucose quickly, whilst others do so more slowly, yet sustainably. For your brain researcher Leigh\u00a0Gibson found<\/a>\u00a0this to be optimal:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe brain works best with about 25 grams of glucose circulating in the blood stream \u2014 about the amount found in a banana.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And this is the tricky part: the way you can get those 25 grams of glucose into your blood stream is pretty easy. You can eat a donut. Or you can eat a small bowl of oats.\u00a0There is virtually no difference in the very short term for your brain activity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the stretch of a normal 8 hour day however, the differences are spectacular. After eating the donut, we will release glucose into our blood very quickly. We will have about 20 minutes of alertness. Then our glucose level will drop rapidly, leaving you unfocused and easy to distract. It\u2019s like putting the foot down on the gas pedal until you\u2019ve used all your fuel.<\/p>\n

The oats on the other hand will release their sugar as glucose much slower. This means we will have a steady glucose level, better focus and attention levels. Another important factor are your Leptin levels. Leptin will signal to your brain how full you are. If you are now guessing that a donut won\u2019t signal your brain to be full for a long time, whilst oats will, well, you are right:<\/p>\n

What we are also measuring here as the difference between a donut and a bowl of oats is called your \u201cglycemic index\u201d, coined by the Franklin Institute:<\/p>\n

\u201cFoods with a low glycemic index number gradually release glucose into your bloodstream. This gradual release helps minimize blood sugar swings and optimizes brainpower and mental focus\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In fact, the lowest glycemic index of all comes from Soy, at only 18 and the highest comes with white rice of 88 or jelly beans at 80. Thorin over at Lifehacker also looked into some more longterm insights of\u00a0how eating affects your brain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What really matters with eating: when,\u00a0where,\u00a0and who you\u2019re with<\/h2>\n

That\u2019s funny now. We\u2019re going through all this stuff about blood streams and brain fuelling only to find out it doesn\u2019t actually matter?<\/p>\n

Rest assured, it still matters, yet the context of when, where and with whom we eat has an equally powerful impact on our eating activities and hence our creativity.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the \u201cwhen\u201d. The most important part here, is that you make sure you are never hungry. To put this better:\u00a0Hungry judges give in fact\u00a0harsher sentences<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For our case, being hungry, or skipping breakfast can ruin several hours of your productivity until you get your first bite. Let\u2019s take a look at this\u00a0study<\/a>:<\/p>\n

All the children in a class were told to skip breakfast one morning, and then, by random assignment, half of the children were given a good breakfast at school. The others got nothing. During the first part of the morning, the children who got breakfast learned more and misbehaved less (as judged by monitors who didn\u2019t know which children had eaten). Then, after all the students were given a healthy snack in the middle of the morning, the differences disappeared as if by magic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Eric Barker, one of the best productivity and lifehack bloggers out there,\u00a0put it like this<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cAcross the board, yeah, food puts you in a better mood. To be more exact,\u00a0research has shown that\u00a02 cheeseburgers = one orgasm<\/a>.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Using context to control your eating is one of the most important aspects. If you are like me, you always end up eating portions that are too big, which makes me overly full at lunch and very tired a few hours afterwards.<\/p>\n

One of the best proven techniques here is to\u00a0eat from a smaller plate<\/strong>. Why? Because Delboeuf has told us so a long time ago with his illusion experiment of thinking the right circle looks bigger:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The portion on the smaller plate will always fill you up more. This can make the difference of 1 hour of productivity gained each day, simply by reducing the size of your plate and being less full. Joining\u00a0the small plate movement<\/a>\u00a0is definitely something worth trying.<\/p>\n

Another aspect comes in regarding the people you are with as\u00a0Barker points out<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cEating with overweight friends? You\u2019ll\u00a0eat more<\/a>. Is your waitress overweight? You\u2019ll\u00a0eat more<\/a>. Are you a woman eating with a man? You\u2019ll\u00a0eat less<\/a>.\u00a0Wide variety of food? You\u2019ll\u00a0eat more<\/a>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

3 most important aspects to get the most out of eating food<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s time to get our hands dirty. I think we\u2019ve got a basic understanding of how food determines our daily productive output. But what are the best ways forward to act on this information?<\/p>\n