Late-Night Snacking Hinders Work
By Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen, MDs
The list of celebrity revelers who partied too hard to make it to their gig the next day is long and legendary. Some — like Rihanna and Justin Timberlake — have mended their ways. Others, not so much.
But celeb or not, what you consume the night before can have a profoundly negative impact on work the next day.
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Doctors have long known that late-night indulgence in drugs and alcohol can cause serious problems at work, increasing the risk of accidents and missed deadlines.
Now there is evidence that late-night unhealthy eating also triggers physical problems such as headaches, stomachaches, and diarrhea, as well as emotional strains that negatively impact how people behave at work throughout the next day.
A new study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that unhealthy late-night eating — specifically junk food and snacks — makes many people inclined to avoid work-related tasks the next day, and to be withdrawn and unhelpful around colleagues.
That’s more proof, say the researchers, that both what and when you eat has far-reaching effects on your well-being.
"The big takeaway here is that we now know unhealthy eating can have almost immediate effects on workplace performance," says Seonghee Cho, study co-author and assistant professor of psychology at North Carolina State University.
To improve your work performance, adopt a plant-based diet free of red meat, egg yolks, added sugars, and fried and ultraprocessed foods. Confine your eating to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with 80% of your calories consumed before 3 p.m.