Corporate catering: how to organize. Office diet: how to eat healthy at work

Many city residents spend most of their time at work, so the issue of nutrition during the day is quite acute. Experts in the field of nutrition told RIAMO how to organize meals in the office and how to properly create a menu, how many times a day you should eat, and why it is dangerous to ignore the lunch break.

Office food problems

Office employees. Photo: flickr.com, Russian Council

Nutrition has a serious impact on a person’s overall health, including his performance. Proper nutrition reduces the risks of developing acute and exacerbation of chronic diseases, says nutritionist Margarita Koroleva, head of the clinic, author and head of the delivery project healthy eating"Royal Diet"

“According to statistics from the World Health Organization, nutrition is one of the main factors influencing human health. Thus, genetic factors determine it only by 7-9%, while nutrition - by more than half,” noted Koroleva.

One of the main problems that office workers face is a violation of their diet and diet. Some prefer fast and inexpensive fast food, others try not to go on a lunch break so that with the time saved they can go home early, and still others “break in” with unhealthy snacks during the day. All this, according to a nutritionist and expert Nutrilite brand Yulia Bastrigina, can lead to metabolic disorders and excess weight.

Office work is limiting physical activity, slow down metabolic processes body, and eating habits, as a rule, do not change.

“The difference in calories in and out causes weight gain in people who switch to sedentary work. And the quality of food is noticeably decreasing: the constant rush forces you to order food from nearby fast food establishments, where the food has a high calorie content, or not eat at all, counting on a hearty dinner. Add to this lack of sleep and constant stress, which can lead to uncontrolled eating, and negative result It won’t take long,” says the Queen.

Planning

Experts unanimously recognized diet planning as the solution to the problem. Even if your office does not have a canteen, today there are many services for delivering food to the office for every taste and budget, and not only fast food. This will allow you to correct and coordinate your nutrition schedule.

“It makes sense to think about what you will eat in advance and plan sample list dishes for a week, so that there is room for meat, fish, vegetables, seafood, and poultry, because there is nothing more dull than the same food every day. This is where lunch delivery services to the office can come in handy, especially those where you can formulate your diet in advance,” notes chef Anton Prokofiev.

In turn, Marina Gaisinskaya, a gastroenterologist and nutritionist at the Medsi Clinical Diagnostic Center in Moscow, advises roughly calculating the number of snacks during the day, as well as what products they will consist of.

“This will help make your diet as healthy and balanced as possible. Don't forget that it's bad organized meals may lead to the development various diseases gastrointestinal tract. And the pathology of the biliary tract - stagnation of bile, cholelithiasis - is a frequent companion of people who eat infrequently and skip snacks,” explains the doctor.

Breakfast

Breakfast. Photo: flickr.com, with wind

Experts advise starting the day with good breakfast, which should be in the first hour after waking up.

“It’s better to have breakfast in a calm atmosphere; of course, it is advisable to do this at home, so that you don’t suffer from stomach pain at work in the morning. For breakfast, it is best to eat muesli or whole grain porridge cooked in water; you can add pieces of fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and berries to them. This breakfast option is the healthiest,” says nutritionist Margarita Koroleva.

According to Gaisinskaya, the best option for breakfast is oatmeal.

“Breakfast can also be dairy. Will fit low-fat varieties cottage cheese or yogurt, to which you can add vegetables, herbs, or fresh fruits. Another variant proper breakfast- an omelet with the addition of herbs and vegetables,” says the Queen.

By the way, breakfast should also be planned in advance; with this approach, the morning will not be hectic, you won’t have to eat something harmful, and less chance just stay hungry.

Prokofiev advises avoiding dry food, and even if you overslept and have little time, before leaving home you should drink at least a glass of tea or a cup of coffee with a sandwich, and then have a hearty meal in the office.

Fractional meals

After breakfast, you don’t have to wait painfully for the lunch break. Thus, Gaisinskaya recommends eating frequently and in small portions throughout the day; you can make an interval between meals of about 2.5 hours, but the portions should be small - 200-250 grams. This helps to avoid strong feeling hunger in the evening.

According to Bastrigina, dairy products are perfect for snacking, especially if you combine them with berries. You can also take with you nuts, dried fruits, kefir, juices with pulp without sugar, vegetable juices, vegetable or fruit chips, grain buns.

“We spend most of our time in stuffy rooms and polluted traffic jams, and our body needs antioxidants. To replenish their supply, prepare yourself a simple and healthy smoothie: heat a frozen mixture of summer berries or fruits (currants, cherries, plums) in the microwave, add a little sugar or sugar substitute, if you are afraid of gaining extra weight, sprinkle sesame seeds. If desired, you can add yogurt or kefir to the drink,” the doctor advises.

Dinner

Dinner. Photo: flickr.com, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung

A full lunch will give you strength for the rest of the day and help make dinner easier, so it’s not advisable to ignore your lunch break. It’s good if you manage to eat a bowl of hot soup at lunch, notes Prokofiev.

“Lunch is the main meal of the day, accounting for at least 50% energy value food ration. The traditional lunch time of 13-14 hours was not chosen by chance, by the way. As a rule, by this time a person’s physical and mental strength tends to zero, and an urgent need arises to replenish the body’s energy reserves,” explains Koroleva.

She does not recommend spending your lunch break at your desk; it is best to change your surroundings and take your mind off things.

“The optimal choice would be some kind of salad, a piece of meat, poultry or fish with a small side dish. Sauces and fatty foods It’s better not to eat or at least try to combine them with light salads. In addition, eating slowly will help you avoid overeating,” the expert is sure.

Main - good nutrition. Thus, the absence of cereals and grains in the diet, for example, wholemeal bread, can create a deficiency of B vitamins, which feed nervous system.

“But an excess of sweets will just “burn” the remaining vitamins of this group: they will be used up for utilization by the body simple carbohydrates. Absence sea ​​fish with constant emphasis on recently popular chicken breasts or meat will lead to iodine and polyunsaturated deficiency fatty acids, which help the brain work efficiently and productively,” explained Bastrigina.

A full business lunch with a vegetable salad, first and second courses at an affordable price will be the best solution, she believes.

Coffee break

The classic drink of an office worker is coffee. However, its invigorating effect is greatly exaggerated, since coffee only “stimulates” the brain receptors, and by the second half of the day it completely depletes their resource.

“Most often, if the diet is balanced and enriched with a variety of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, then coffee may not be required - you will already feel cheerful and full of energy,” the nutritionist assures.

Dinner

If you eat right during the day and don’t forget about healthy snacks, then by dinner you won’t have an acute feeling of hunger. This means that it can be made as light and healthy as possible, without the risk of overeating. For dinner it is better to give preference fish dishes with vegetables.

By the way, experts advise not to fast after 18.00, and remember that the last meal should be three to four hours before bedtime.

Irina Ivanova

Did you see an error in the text? Select it and press "Ctrl+Enter"

“The Right Office” is a series of materials on how to organize your work day and workplace so that the daily eight hours in the office are beneficial not only for your resume and bank account, but also for your body and health. In four materials, we will take a detailed look at all aspects of the office dormitory and, with the help of experts, will tell you how to eat, what to pay attention to and what to do in between solving work tasks in order to make your office truly correct. The special project was prepared in collaboration with VELLE - a healthy snack for office employees.

The attractiveness of a company for employees has long been determined not only by high salaries. Modern managers strive to attract the best talent, including through the design of office space, flexible working hours, corporate courses or sports activities, and in recent years they have also used the trend for healthy eating to do this. Eating on the go has long been unfashionable, but drinking a smoothie in the morning and bringing eight containers of food for each day is on the contrary, if only because it directly affects the amount of personal time, efficiency and, accordingly, appearance. What kind of nutrition does a proper office require, how to create a menu for the day, what is the best snack, what to eat for breakfast and dinner, where to store food and how to make the kitchen at work a place of power, said Dream Industries chef Ivan Dubkov and interior designer Ivan Proskurin .

Ivan Dubkov

company chef
Dream Industries

About fractional meals and daily menu

We spend a lot of energy if we eat rarely and heavily. Hence, for example, the tradition of sleeping after lunch. I myself worked in an office, so I have a great idea of ​​what kind of mood you get after a hearty lunch. In this situation, fractional meals can certainly be a useful and correct solution.

If you have such an opportunity, you should eat small portions every three to four hours.

But, living in a big city, every day we are faced with rush jobs, business meetings, and moving from place to place. As a result, fractional meals turn into snacks, and healthy food turns into bars, sweet coffee and kozinaki. This has nothing to do with a healthy lifestyle. A good alternative to liver and bagels are dried fruits and nuts, but eating only them will be incorrect and even harmful.

I'll tell you how a day works in our office kitchen. From 10:00 to 12:00 - breakfast. We cook millet or rolled oats porridge on water with bananas. All the sweetness in it comes from bananas; we don’t add sugar. We set out plates with grated dark chocolate, nuts and nut butter. homemade. Everyone can come up and prepare their own dish from different ingredients.

It is for breakfast that you need to eat food,
rich in sugars.

We are, of course, talking about the right sugars, found mainly in fruits and honey. Firstly, such food helps you wake up, feel cheerful and get to work. Secondly, this way we exclude fermentation processes, which can start in the stomach if you eat sweets at night. In addition, fruits provide a complete set of elements necessary for life: fiber, minerals and vitamins.

At 10:30 we prepare freshly squeezed vegetable juices. For those who like fruit, there is a manual citrus press and a whole basket of oranges in the kitchen. At the same time, we offer employees a smoothie made from berries and bananas and another green smoothie made from spinach and mint.

Fractional nutrition - the basis of ancient Indian medicine

The trend for fractional meals arose along with the fashion for traditional and alternative medicine. Eating according to the body clock is advocated in Ayurveda, which comes from Hindu philosophy. Following the teachings of the ancient sages, the day is divided into several periods, synchronized with the location of the sun in the sky and our biological clock. It is precisely by relying on these periods that adherents of Ayurvedic practices propose to build both the menu and their daily routine.

So, when the sun rises and a person is just waking up, his body requires a lot of energy. The time between 6:00 and 10:00 is best for a hearty, rich breakfast that will energize your body for the day's accomplishments. This period is called “Kapha time”. It is followed by “Pitta time” - from 10:00 to 14:00, when the sun is at its zenith. According to Ayurveda, at this time the body absorbs nutrients best. Then comes the evening cycle, during which you need to have dinner before the sun sets on a new circle at 18:00.

Lunch must be complete, so Dream Industries prepares salads, soup and hot dishes. Of course, we are not talking about Olivier or herring under a fur coat - only fresh natural ingredients. Our team adheres to the principles plant nutrition. This means we don't eat meat or cheese. The basis of hot dishes is cereals and vegetables. We also use tofu, soy asparagus, and prepare mixtures of curry pastes, nut urbechi, and hummus. We like to make replicas of traditional dishes - for example, we serve borscht with sour cream made from cashews and apple cider vinegar.

Lunch must be accompanied by whole grain bread, which is rich in healthy elements.

Even if a person is not a vegetarian, I would recommend eliminating preservatives and processed foods from food. A healthy diet is always based on organic and fresh ingredients.

Particular attention should be paid to food preparation methods. Fried food is not the healthiest, as during frying the oil releases carcinogens and other harmful substances.

If you decide to please yourself fried dish, choose coconut or olive oil (but always unrefined oil) - they have the most heat combustion.

The beneficial substances of foods are well preserved if they are stewed or baked. But most vitamins are found in raw foods, so my main tools in the kitchen are a blender and food processor.

6 products that
best for snacking

Nuts

They contain essential fatty acids, such as omega-3, without which our body cannot function normally. Nuts support brain function and are rich in protein and vitamins like E, B6, selenium, iron and zinc. Especially for regular use recommend almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, hazelnuts and walnuts. True, you can’t overdo it with them: all nuts are very allergenic and high in calories.

Berries

It is best to add berries to the diet in summer and autumn, when they are available in our region and not imported from distant countries. Doctors recommend raspberries because they contain acetylsalicylic acid. Raspberries will be a salvation for those who suffer from headaches. It also contains a lot of vitamin A, C and pectin.

Olives

A product that contains a huge amount of vitamins A and E, beneficial for hair and skin. It is believed that frequent use olives reduces the possibility cardiovascular diseases, and its high nutritional value helps to quickly restore strength when overworked at work.

Bananas

This is another product for the brain, because bananas contain phosphorus. Despite the fact that they contain quite a lot of sugar, the body absorbs bananas well thanks to the fiber that this product is also rich in. By the way, it is believed that the smell of bananas can suppress appetite. So, if you want to eat, but there is no lunch in the near future, a banana is a good choice.

Carrot

It contains a lot of carotene, which is easily absorbed by the body. True, eating carrots without additives is almost useless; it is better to combine them with a couple of drops olive oil. This way the nutrients will be better absorbed. In addition, carrots contain calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and a whole list of vitamins.

Dried fruits

If it's winter or early spring and there is no opportunity to purchase truly fresh fruit; a dry substitute will do. Dried fruits are especially recommended for those who are engaged in intellectual work, as they contain a lot of sugars. Dates, dried apricots, and prunes are suitable for snacking, but you should be careful with portions, otherwise you can quickly gain weight.

About corporate vegetarianism

We have many foreign employees working in our company, and sometimes we prepare dishes together based on recipes from their national cuisines. During this time, we became convinced that if you approach the matter with imagination and taste, you can incorporate even the most “meat” recipes into the principles of vegetarianism.

Yes, vegetarianism is fashionable, but also with medical point sight it is recognized in many countries of the world. Many medical communities recommend a vegetarian diet, and lately I have been hearing more and more about professional athletes who reach Olympic heights without eating meat.

If you approach things wisely, a diet that excludes animal products will be balanced and healthy.

About superfoods

Trend recent years- superfoods. This plant food, which contains much more useful substances than in analogues. For example, superfoods include goji berries, chia seeds, and cocoa beans. Despite the fact that their effect is sometimes overestimated, this good way add to your diet natural vitamins. Thanks to globalization, superfoods are now easy to buy in stores, and there are hundreds of dishes you can use them in.

About formulas in food

There are many formulas that are used to calculate percentage proteins, fats and carbohydrates, and depending on this, create a menu for the day. For me, this is too mathematical an approach - it’s like trying to calculate feelings for a loved one. All these concepts and systems make you feel confused. It’s very easy to force yourself into a box, but is it necessary?

Try to feel what would be the most suitable food for you at this stage of life, and, of course, give preference to natural, fresh products, processing them as little as possible during cooking.

Food is an integral part of our life, without it we simply would not exist. Do we remember this when we eat at the computer or while running? During lunch, try to devote time to this process, putting things aside. When we smell food, the body works properly, secreting saliva and gastric juice. If we eat slowly and consciously, chewing food slowly, it is better absorbed and gives a feeling of fullness without overeating. Therefore, rather than having a snack on the go, it is always better to wait for a free 20-30 minutes and eat while sitting and in a calm environment. Remember, your relationship with food is no less worthy of your attention than personal connections, work or leisure. Like all of the above, what we eat also influences the formation of personality. It is important to remember that food is pleasure. Enjoy!

It is unlikely that you will be able to enjoy food, even the healthiest and most delicious food, if your employer allows you to eat only while sitting at your desk at the computer. A well-equipped and comfortable kitchen is also a guarantee of health, although not so obvious. But the scientists different countries For more than ten years now they have been trumpeting the dangers of eating on the go or in cramped conditions: some say what a blow this causes to the liver, others - that such a lifestyle leads to stomach ulcers, and still others - about possible depression and emotional disorders. A professional interior designer told us how to arrange a kitchen in an office and make it a truly comfortable space that promotes a healthy lifestyle.

What should be

The kitchen must first of all be functional. The refrigerator must accommodate the lunches of all employees who bring them with them. Moreover, many of those who adhere to healthy image life, prefer fractional meals - they may need up to three or four places in a common refrigerator.

Likewise, there should be enough warm-up chambers for the entire team. As a rule, supporters of a healthy diet do not use microwaves, because it is considered harmful. So a truly proper kitchen should be equipped with ovens: heating in them, although it takes a little more time, does not spoil the food. If a manager really cares about the health of his subordinates, he will put several coolers in the office. And not only in the kitchen.

A must-have in a kitchen that is used by many people is easy-to-clean surfaces. For example, artificial stone, metal and laminated materials are suitable. This important question hygiene and longevity. Ceramic tiles are guaranteed to last for many years, even if several dozen people walk on them every day.

It's great when the kitchen looks more like a cafe. This effect can be achieved, for example, with the help of warm, cozy lighting, bright elements and fresh flowers. In a place where food does not fall and where products are not stored, you can use wallpaper - they always add coziness.

What shouldn't happen

The office kitchen should not contain unnecessary items and should not be cluttered. For example, if only one employee of the entire team drinks freshly squeezed juice, then the juicer is a redundant item. This is especially true for small rooms. By the way, sometimes it’s worth getting rid of seemingly irreplaceable things - for example, a countertop. In this case, a column cabinet will help to use space more rationally.

If the company has absolutely limited opportunities, kitchens are being installed in what were once working spaces. Conventionally, you can put a microwave and a small refrigerator and call it a kitchen. The main thing is that the chosen room has at least one window and the smells of food do not linger for long. Moreover, if water supply and sewerage are supplied to the workroom or, for example, a hob is installed in it, then this is contrary to the law. The kitchen must be officially approved, a new BTI (technical inventory bureau) plan must be obtained for it, and only then work on the supply of communications must begin - in compliance with sanitary standards and fire safety standards.

At the same time, you shouldn’t go too far and turn your work kitchen into a home kitchen. Otherwise, employees will never leave the table.

How you can experiment

Our studio recently worked on an office kitchen project. We really wanted to introduce an element of interactivity, so we added new functionality to all surfaces: the kitchen cabinets were covered with slate paint, and other surfaces were made glossy so that they could be written on with chalk and special markers. Now employees can leave messages, instructions, and reminders to each other. Everyone can take part in the design, so the kitchen has become a living area, different from the office.

Another non-standard approach is to make a bar table. Now a new trend is developing - working and eating while standing. They say it's better for your back. So it’s great to provide the opportunity to choose: whoever wants to sit on high chair, and someone will be able to have a snack while standing.

Several years ago, scientists conducted a long experiment and calculated how much food a person eats in a lifetime. It turns out that over 70 years we consume about 50 tons of a wide variety of products. Nothing can do without food Living being, but a person can make his own choice whether it will be 50 tons of fries and burgers or a full meal healthy food. It depends on how the diet is structured whether office workers will be tired and neglected or successful and beautiful. And even if the second path is more difficult, it is definitely more interesting.

Many people spend most of their time at work performing certain functions. Work brings moral pleasure and material independence, and determines a person’s everyday life. A person’s lifestyle and their way of eating are closely interconnected - if you work at night, you are unlikely to listen to advice about proper nutrition. In this article we will discuss the principles of healthy eating at work, talk about typical mistakes nutrition.

How to properly organize food in the office?

Healthy eating at work can and should be organized according to all the rules. With an eight-hour workday it is very easy to do standard reception food good for your health.

Never skip breakfast, even if you want to sleep an extra ten minutes, because your ability to work throughout the day will depend on the correct morning meal.

Eating at work is different everywhere. In some companies, employees have to work without lunch breaks, while in others they have quick snacks several times a day.

It is important to remember that any sandwiches, cookies, candies or waffles contain carbohydrates and fats that will only harm the body. Avoid fast food at work immediately. If the office where you work regularly hosts such tea parties, then it is advisable not to attend these events at all, or simply eat fruit with tea or coffee. An orange, apple or kiwi will keep your figure and saturate the body with vitamins and microelements.

You shouldn't get carried away with coffee; many varieties of green tea have the same amount of caffeine, but tea is much healthier. When you feel thirsty, drink water, because nowadays many people suffer from dehydration.

You should try to eat according to a schedule - don’t skip breakfast, don’t move lunch, and have a snack at about the same time. If you eat according to the clock, then your body will work smoothly, as if on schedule.

In many offices, meals are reserved for special break. If you have a choice, it is certainly better to dine in the dining room or eat food brought from home.

At fast food When working with food from cafes and restaurants, it is better not to drink cool, sweet soda, since this drink stimulates the appetite and disrupts the digestion process.

When choosing food in a cafe, pay attention to the method of preparing all dishes, sauces and side dishes. It is better to order a set lunch, which includes the first course, salad, second meat dish, side dish and tea. If you tend to be overweight, it is advisable to reduce the side dish to a minimum and limit yourself to one piece of gray bread.

Proper nutrition at work: shift schedule

Proper nutrition at work during a shift schedule is quite difficult to organize, because some people have to work 12 hours a day, while others have evening and night shifts. The nutrition of a person working 12 or even 24 hours has its own characteristics.

If you want to stick to a healthy diet during a shift work schedule, then you need to make your meal times and your diet as close as possible to your weekend diet.

It is very harmful for the body to eat nothing during the working day, and at home try to make up for lost time with large amounts of food, but “dining” at two or three in the morning, even if you are awake at work, is also not worth it.

Have dinner at the time most familiar to your body, for example, at eight o’clock in the evening, but you should not overuse strong tea or coffee. In the morning you can eat your usual breakfast.

Fast food at work: common mistakes

For seemingly insignificant dietary mistakes at work, we pay with our health, feeling good, energy.

We list the most common mistakes:

• skipped breakfast;
• a bun or cookies instead of fruits and vegetables;
• binge eating;
• lack of fermented milk products in the diet;
• improper distribution of food nutrition;
• lack of water and a large number of meat;
• consumption of fast foods and semi-finished products.

We all do this - we eat pizza and cakes at work, have lunch in front of the computer, or skip meals altogether. What to do with all this, says nutritionist Yulia Bastrigina.

One of the main problems faced by office employees is disruption of their diet and diet. Some people prefer fast and inexpensive fast food, others try not to go on a lunch break so that with the time saved they can go home earlier, and still others only indulge in snacks during the day. All this can lead to excess weight and metabolic disorders. To avoid this, it is important to understand that there is a direct relationship - how complete your nutrition is, so high is your performance.

About complex carbohydrates

The absence of cereals and grains, such as wholemeal bread or porridge, in the diet of an office worker can create a deficiency of B vitamins, which nourish the nervous system. So don’t give up a serving of whole grain pasta and instead take a salad without dressing - it will only make you want to eat more, and your performance will decrease several times. As well as stress resistance.

About fish and chicken

The lack of sea fish with a constant emphasis on the recently popular chicken breasts will lead to a deficiency of iodine and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which help the brain work efficiently and productively. So be sure to include salmon, trout, herring, and mackerel in your diet. You can choose baked, stewed, steamed or grilled. But try to avoid those that have been cooked in a huge amount of oil (especially deep-fried). If you bring lunches from home, you can brine a piece of trout or salmon and then put it on a sandwich instead of roast beef or chicken. And please don't eat sausage, even if you really want it. As soon as possible.

About sweets

Alesya Syasina

Leading traffic management specialist at VimpelCom OJSC

“Not a single birthday or any other holiday is complete without a cake, and I can eat a piece. In general, I really love sweets (this is probably something I can never deny myself), so there is always a chocolate bar on my table. I usually eat it when I need to quickly “recharge” and don’t want coffee anymore.”

Excess sweets “burns” the remnants of B vitamins, which we talked about earlier: they are spent on the body’s utilization of simple carbohydrates. So if possible, it is better to do without sweets. You can sometimes allow yourself dessert, but only very rarely. It’s better to replace chocolates with fruits or dried fruits.

About coffee

The classic drink of an office worker is coffee. But its invigorating effect is greatly exaggerated: coffee only “stimulates” the brain receptors and by the second half of the day depletes their resource. Most often, if your diet is balanced and enriched with a variety of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, you may not need coffee - you will already feel alert and full of energy.

About organizing meals

Properly organizing food in the workplace is just as important as choosing what you will eat. If you have the opportunity to cook something at home and bring it with you, great. If this is not possible, use during snacks healthy foods: nuts, dried fruits, kefir, juices with pulp without sugar, vegetable juices, vegetable or fruit chips, grain buns.

About choosing a place for lunch

Maxim Berezkin

Head of the virtual data center "KROK"

“Lunch time is a real holiday. And all because lunches in the KROK cafeteria are varied. I prefer Italian cuisine, so I try to have lasagna bolognese, pasta carbonara or pasta with shrimp. It’s less common to eat pilaf, vegetables and fish. Every Friday we prepare delicious rich borscht, and everyone looks forward to it all week. Including me. As for dinner, it usually passes me by. I’m probably lucky - after lunch I don’t feel like eating at all.”

Unless you bring food from home, of course. the best option- go eat in a cafe or canteen, but under no circumstances starve. In order not to make a mistake with your choice, you need to remember that cheap and “fast” cafes will not have the best impact on your health, but junk food will not saturate you with energy, but on the contrary, it will take away the strength to absorb it. So a full business lunch with vegetable salad, first and second courses at an affordable price is the best solution. But you shouldn't skip dinners.

Doshirak, coffee and a hamburger are typical components of the menu of an office worker, as the common man imagines him. In reality, white-collar workers are much more selective in food than it seems at first glance.Healthy eating in offices large companies is the rule rather than the exception, but many stereotypes remain around it. Most of them are the result of an uncritical approach to information, so we have debunked the most common ones.

Only homemade food is healthy. This is true if the office worker has an additional specialty as a nutritionist. Most people eat irrationally, buying or preparing what is tasty rather than healthy - and these are not always synonymous. Rarely does anyone think about the correct ratio of proteins, fats, amino acids, vitamins, the quality of products, and their origin. In large companiescorporate catering organizationsthe food is prepared under the supervision of nutritionists and sanitary doctors, so it turns out to be more balanced, and the risk of contracting an infection from it is much less than from a stew made from one’s own but poorly cooked meat.

The menu should contain a lot of fruit. A common myth abouthealthy office food, which has a rational grain behind it. Fruits are certainly important as a supplier of vitamins and carbohydrates to the body. But they contain a large amount of fructose, which, with frequent snacks, is not completely absorbed into the blood and causes flatulence, an extremely unpleasant phenomenon, especially inOpen Space. In addition, eating fruits can cause allergies - from mild redness on the skin to severe anaphylactic shock.

Raw vegetable salads are our everything! There is some truth in this statement too. Heat treatment vegetables destroys part of the beneficial substances they contain, mainly water-soluble vitamins. But it promotes the release of those compounds that are more difficult to absorb in their raw form. For example, boiled carrots provides more antioxidants, and tomatoes in the form of paste or ketchup provide healthy lycopene. The idea is to combine raw and processed vegetables, complementing each other.

At work you need to eat low-calorie foods. A common stereotype tells us that sedentary office work is not compatible with rich, dense food. They say that since a person moves little, excess energy will be deposited in the form big belly. But white-collar work is intellectual, and the brain is the most energy-consuming organ. If it is not supplied with enough energy, it will perform worse. Moreover, such “healthy office food“does not cause a feeling of long-term satiety, a person feels the need to eat more often and a lot. The resulting imbalance of consumed substances leads to the appearance of unwanted fat reserves.

Sweet means harmful. In general, for an office worker, sugar is the best and true friend. This carbohydrate is a source of fast energy, which (as it turned out above) is consumed in huge quantities by the brain. It’s not very easy to sit in the office even during normal hours, and in conditions of daily rush, you simply cannot do without a supply of energy. Therefore, you can and even need to eat sweets, but in moderation: its excess can lead to atherosclerosis, stress on the pancreas, and obesity. To burn off excess carbohydrates consumed, the offices of large companies today provide fitness rooms, ping-pong tables and other amenities for active recreation.

To the question how to eat healthy in the office, there is no single answer by definition - there are only loose recommendations. Everything is determined individual characteristics person, so it is better to consult a nutritionist and work out your working menu with him.