5 tips for eating well at work to improve performance

Rather than spending the time wolfing down fatty, salty, high-calorie foods, consider the following advice to pack smarter meals or make the right choices at the work cafeteria.

For too many of us, the lunch break has become just another extension of our already overburdened day. When we do actually sit down to eat, it's often to consume whatever comfort food we can scrape together from the company vending machine or cafeteria.

• Your supermarket stocks numerous healthy soups sold in microwaveable cartons.
• One study suggests that broth-based soups help you to feel full, although they have few calories.
• Pack a bean and vegetable soup along with a piece of rye bread spread with low-fat soft cheese and a carton of milk.
• With this easy lunch you'll have put together all the protein and fibre you need to power your body and brain through the afternoon.

• If you have arranged a business lunch or lunch in a restaurant with friends or colleagues, try to be the first to order.
• Studies show that we're often swayed by other people's choices, so be sure you forge ahead by picking healthy options.

• When buying lunch, especially from fast-food restaurants, don't be tempted by any "meal deal" unless it offers healthy options as part of the deal.
• Otherwise you may end up eating more than you actually want.

• Breakfasts composed of simple starches such as pastries, white breads or many popular breakfast cereals are quickly converted into sugar that floods your bloodstream then goes away quickly.
• This leaves you craving fatty, high-calorie foods at lunchtime.
• Far better is to eat healthier breakfast foods that are digested slowly and thus leave you feeling fuller for longer. These include whole grains and lean proteins.

• Studies have shown that serving healthy food options and replacing soft drink-filled vending machines with machines filled with juice and water leads to students behaving better and achieving more in the classroom.
• The students were found to pay more attention and to be better able to focus on a task. And a report that linked temper tantrums and bad behaviour in younger children to artificial food additives, has advised parents to avoid foods containing these additives.
• So why not follow the lead and switch to healthy, natural lunches to find out what it can do for your mental outlook and motivation?