The impact of food choices.

Tara Woodcock, qualified Nutritionist with experience in the vet industry, talks with host Tania Gover on how food choices impact our work performance, mood, and overall wellbeing.

What we eat before, during, and after work plays a huge role in how we feel and function throughout the day. Planning meals and snacks helps us stay focused, maintain a positive mindset, and perform at our best—not just for ourselves, but for our teams and clients too. We’ll also explore why taking regular breaks, even short ones, is essential for sustained energy and how small, frequent meals can help avoid that dreaded afternoon slump. Plus, we’ll discuss the link between stress, cortisol levels, and food choices, including why a well-planned morning tea can make all the difference. And for all the coffee lovers out there—is your daily brew helping or hurting your stress levels? Stay tuned to find out how swapping coffee for tea could boost your wellbeing.

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Key Takeaways:

1. Planning is critical for what we eat before, during and after work. Being structured in what we eat means that we can perform, enjoy the benefits of increased positive mood, be our best at work for ourselves and teams, and of course deliver positive client experiences.
2. Leaders need to ensure that their staff are having their breaks and often, these do not need to be long – short breaks work too! Small amounts of food and water across the day instead of one big meal produce balanced blood sugar levels and better afternoon concentration to help manage the afternoon “slump”.
3. When our cortisol levels rise and we get stressed, we are more likely to react negatively to our team members or clients in difficult situations or scenarios. We might not be able to concentrate when we need to focus. This can be reduced by including a morning tea into your day with nuts, fruit, peanut butter, avocado or a protein rich yoghurt which will then keep us fuller and more productive for longer, until we reach lunch.
4. Coffee can significantly raise cortisol and make us more anxious, limiting your coffee intake and substituting coffee for tea can help to improve wellbeing.