The Power of Nutrition on Productivity

I used to be a sucker for fast food, fried food, and confectionery during my secondary school days. I'd have Mcdonald's every other day after school to satisfy that craving I always had during lessons. The power of dopamine has on our thinking and behaviors thereafter. Time in school was still fun and manageable. Nothing unusual.

But it wasn't long until I realized how miserable I got later into my higher education levels as I struggled to stay focused during lessons when the assignments and tasks grew. I brushed it off and continued leading my old comfortable lifestyle. It then got to a point where I experienced a huge decline in not only my mental focus but also productivity on a daily basis. I kept questioning myself: "Why am I facing all these with no sudden change to my lifestyle?" Figured Google was the right place to start searching for answers, I later came across this article published by Dr. Josh Axe, a certified clinical nutritionist based in the United States. The headline of the article goes "Brain Fog Causes, Symptoms and Natural Remedy". In there, it said that fast food or a poor diet, in general, impairs the brain's cognitive function.

I started looking within and did as told. My diet changed. With perseverance and routine, came a sustainable habit. My lifestyle had also turned into a much much healthy one. As time went by, I noticed a revival of my mental clarity. I became more focused on tasks without any feeling of irritation or trouble concentrating. In fact, my productivity level shot up and thus more work was done.

After years of sticking to this routine, here are my takeaways.

Treat Food as Raw Materials for Your Body

In life, everything that moves requires "fuel" to work. This applies to cars, fans, or even whales. The same applies to human bodies too. We need food to get work done - to move from point A to point B. What you can do with the food is to treat them differently. Instead of satisfying your usual cravings, why not break them down and treat each as a unit of "fuel". By doing so, you'd give up satisfying your temporary cravings for the better of your physical and mental health.

The old saying still applies: We are what we eat & we work how we eat. Diet indeed has a more direct impact on work output and productivity levels than most of us realize. Why? Your digestive system breaks down food into simpler forms of materials which are then absorbed and used by all parts of your body, especially your brain. Eating too much or consuming too many wrong foods is just going to seriously impair your productivity level.

Only by having this mindset can you proceed to stick to it and form a lifestyle.

Carbs Can Destroy Productivity

In case you didn't know, an overabundance of carbs can really do nothing but destroys your productivity. Carbohydrates are typically found in your bread-orientated and starchy foods, and their direct relation to the body's insulin levels can have a devastating effect on your daily energy reserves. Foods rich in carbohydrates tend to cause the body to produce a ton of insulin, which results in the overproduction of sleep hormones like serotonin and tryptophan in your brain. This explains why you feel sleepy after your heavy meal for lunch. In addition, a majority of your body's serotonin is stored in your gut, which explains the link between diet and energy levels. Knowing this small fact helps enlighten you too!

Choose Your "Fuel" Wisely

As you are set to treating food as "fuel" for your body, you have to understand the different categories of food for your different body needs. Just like the vehicles you see on the road, there are different grades of fuel for different needs. In terms of food selection, there is a wide array of whole food that is beneficial, but amongst these foods are some that specifically benefit your brain, thus translating to higher productivity!

For example, a diet high in protein such as salmon and chicken breast could set you up for a longer break in between meals without feeling hungry, allowing you to focus on the task at hand rather than your grumbling stomach. A steady supply of amino acids from your high protein diet also helps keep concentration and focus levels high. On the other hand, we have beets and bananas. They both contain nitrates (the good type of nitrates!) which are ultimately converted to nitric oxide in our body. This nitric oxide helps increase blood flow to certain regions of our brain that are responsible for attention and self-regulation!

Of course, there are still many other foods that benefit your brain in many ways but I guess I will not dive too deep into the specifics. It took me many trials and errors to build up my routines and habits but I hope this short takeaway could help enlighten you in this respect, propelling you further in your quest to hyper-productivity!

If you're crazy about food and nutrition, I'd love to connect with you @weihao_pow_ on Instagram!

Thanks for your time reading! To a better you!

Cheers,

Wei Hao