Food for Thought

We like to keep you up to date with the latest research from the world of wellbeing so that you can share this with your colleagues or use it to help you design the most effective corporate wellness programme.

The food that staff eat affects their ability to perform in all areas.  Most people know the theory of healthy eating but struggle with the practice, often due to a busy schedule.  They also often simple get stuck for ideas.   One thing that is useful – and fairly easy to do – is to add tofu to the schedule.  It’s a great source of unsaturated fats and a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that eating these fats post-exercise boosts blood flow by up to 45 per cent.  So encourage tofu at lunchtime if you want people firing on all cylinders with creative solutions through the afternoon.

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Start Slow, Finish Strong

We like to keep you up to date with the latest research from the world of wellbeing so that you can share this with your colleagues or use it to help you design the most effective corporate wellness programme.

When it comes to exercise, there can be a tendency for competitive, ambitious types to dive straight in, give it 100% and get as much done as soon as they can.  There is a danger however that this approach can lead to injury and frustration. When communicating your wellness messages, encourage staff to think about the long-term plan for exercise and, for each session they take part in, ensure they warm up properly.  

Encourage them to spend a few minutes gradually increasing the intensity of their activity.  This will get their blood flowing, activate muscle fibres and increase their range of motion ready for an effective and injury free workout.  It’ll also reduce the likelihood of any absenteeism or loss of productivity due to aches, pains and strains.

Source materialwww.menshealth.com

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Executive Wellness Questions Answered

We're asked lots of questions about how executives can maintain peak performance so we thought it might be useful to share the most common issues and solutions with you.

Feel free to post your questions in the comments section and we'll make sure you get some useful information.

Q: I would like to increase my protein intake a bit, but found that protein often comes in fatty foods (meat, eggs, cheese etc). Do you have any suggestions of vegetable based protein sources that are easy to find and cook?
Stefan, Germany

A: When selecting meat based proteins opt for lean choices such as tuna, salmon, turkey and chicken.  Good non-meat sources of protein are lentils, pulses or beans.  Stews and soups are a good way to get the lentils and pulses and beans into your routine and also these one pot dishes are usually easy to prepare and good for cooking in bulk and keeping leftovers.  You can also snack on nuts once a day to get some protein and eat wholemeal bread with hummus or nut butter on it. 

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Diet Drinks and Kidney Health - it's not good news

We like to keep you up to date with the latest research from the world of wellbeing so that you can share this with your colleagues or use it to help you design the most effective corporate wellness programme.

Diet sodas are not always the healthier choice just because they are calorie-free.  Latest research presented at the American Society of Nephrology's annual Renal Week conference casts doubt on the ubiquitous sweetener aspartame which is the most widely used artificial sweetener in diet sodas, suggesting that it could speed up the decline of your kidneys. The best and healthiest option is to drink water or herbal teas.  For businesses it's worth thinking about the catering choices for the office and for meetings.  It might not be practical to eliminate diet drinks (or caffeinated drinks for that matter) but always make sure there are plenty of options so that people don't just opt for diet drinks because of habit or because that's all there is.





Source Material
www.mensrunninguk.co.uk
www.womensrunninguk.co.uk
www.womenswalking.co.uk
www.womenfitness.net
www.menshealth.com
www.rodale.com
image by manylittleblessings at flickr.com

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Office Yoga for Reducing Asthma Symptoms

We like to keep you up to date with the latest research from the world of wellbeing so that you can share this with your colleagues or use it to help you design the most effective corporate wellness programme.

Consider offering your employees Yoga classes.  It is a wonderful form of physical, mental and spiritual discipline.  It can improve flexibility, muscle tone and will also help them to relax. In addition to this The American College of Sports Medicine has now found that yoga could also reduce asthma symptoms.  In the study a group of adults with asthma found their symptoms were halved after just ten weeks of regular yoga.  Respiratory issues are one of the major causes of staff absence so maybe yoga could also help to reduce the amount of sick days taken by asthma sufferers.




Source Material
www.mensrunninguk.co.uk
www.womensrunninguk.co.uk
www.womenswalking.co.uk
www.womenfitness.net
www.menshealth.com
www.rodale.com
image by lyntally at flickr.com

Read more on this article...