Nutrition Tips for Office Workers

How and how much you eat matters as much as what you eat at your meals, because what you eat during the day is as valuable to your body as your main meals. A healthy, balanced eating routine, healthy food choices in the rush of daily life and healthy eating habits for office workers all have a big effect on general health.

Nutrition for Office Workers

Office life and a busy work tempo can reduce how much people move and affect their eating habits. For this reason, pay attention to the office worker nutrition tips below to look after your general health.

Small changes in the way office workers eat can improve quality of life. Our tips for office workers are as follows:

Keep Your Eating Balanced

Adequate and balanced eating during the day is extremely important. Make sure you take in enough of the micronutrients and macronutrients you need through the day.

In offices, snacks are often unhealthy or skipped altogether. Skipping meals is as unhelpful for health as unhealthy snacking.

Try Not to Skip Meals

In a good eating plan, meals are best not skipped, because skipping them can affect your work performance and lead to unbalanced eating through the day. So practical snacks should have a place in your office eating routine.

Healthier Choices at Vending Machines

When you have to use a vending machine, try to choose the healthiest options available. For example, you can choose mineral water instead of fruit soda, and a healthier snack instead of chocolate.

Do Not Neglect Breakfast

Breakfast is one of the meals most often neglected, especially on weekdays. Skipping breakfast can lead you to eat more later in the day. So even if you cannot have breakfast at home, you can have a practical, nourishing breakfast at the office. For example, you could have 1 cup (about 200 ml) of milk with walnuts, or a bowl of yoghurt with an apple. A sandwich prepared the evening before is also a very practical breakfast.

Office Nutrition: Keep Nuts and Dried Fruit Close

You can keep foods that do not spoil or smell in your office drawer, such as dried apricots, figs, grissini (breadsticks), wholegrain biscuits, walnuts and hazelnuts. When you cannot go out or do not have much time for a snack, these foods are a good alternative.

Do Not Neglect Movement

Living conditions and a busy workload can lower office workers' activity levels. When unbalanced eating is added to a sedentary lifestyle, weight gain and health problems become more likely. So try to get up and move around every 20 minutes while you work. Walk as much as you can between work and home, or add short daily walks to your routine.

Drink Enough Water

Drinking water matters for general health and also for weight management. So take care with your water intake in office life. Bearing in mind that drinks such as coffee and tea do not replace water, many adults aim for at least 2.5 litres of water a day, though your needs may differ.

Office Nutrition: Prepare Infused Water

Increasing your fluid intake during the day can help you feel less hungry. By preparing infused water, you can take the edge off the urge to snack and drink more fluids. Some infused water recipes you can prepare:

• Apple-Cinnamon-Clove

1 cinnamon stick

2 litres of water

6 cloves

1 thinly sliced apple

• Orange-Mint

8 fresh mint leaves

2 litres of water

1 orange (cut into cubes)

• Pomegranate-Lemon-Basil

5 fresh basil leaves

2 litres of water

1 lemon

1 small tea glass (about 100 ml) of pomegranate seeds

This article is for general information only; please consult your doctor and dietitian about your own situation.