This is actually a really interesting article. Just another reason why we should have our diet in check. Another way for you to improve your personal or business productivity is use your resources!

The technology era has tons of cool apps/web applications that involve music,tools, etc. Here's a cool article on how to improve your productivity and some recommendations:
http://grabblemarketing.com...

This follows the concept of z-factors, which were first introduced by some Scandinavian research earlier this year. In attempt to quantify the decrease in productivity, a team of Danish data scientists measured the impact of different foods on an employees productivity. Foods with higher Z-factor, like beef stew over cuban rice with sweet plantains, corresponded with a larger decrease in productivity. When considering bottom line impact, the report strongly supported providing employees with bottomless salads, available in an office kitchen that was only accessible via a 15 meter rope climb.

I just ate pizza and am crushing it. -Drew

Indian scriptures exactly spoke in details about the Food we Eat and it's huge impact on the energy levels and hence the productivity. "Sattva, Rajas and Tamas"

Well said, how about Indian ancient food habits

Agreed, plant-based whole foods is the key to both mental and bodily efficiency. It's a lifestyle of abundance and disease-free. Check out the work of Dr. John McDougall, Neal Barnard, Colin Campbell. https://www.drmcdougall.com...

Ummm no. He needs to read Grain Brain, "Renowned neurologist David Perlmutter, MD, blows the lid off a topic that’s been buried in medical literature for far too long: carbs are destroying your brain. And not just unhealthy carbs, but even healthy ones like whole grains can cause dementia, ADHD, anxiety, chronic headaches, depression, and much more. Dr. Perlmutter explains what happens when the brain encounters common ingredients in your daily bread and fruit bowls, why your brain thrives on fat and cholesterol, and how you can spur the growth of new brain cells at any age. He offers an in-depth look at how we can take control of our “smart genes” through specific dietary choices and lifestyle habits, demonstrating how to remedy our most feared maladies without drugs."
I wonder about business consultants writing on nutrition, it doesn't seem to be the area of expertise....

When will this anti-carb hysteria die?! If you want to pork out on fat and cholesterol, enjoy your gluttony but this breathless b.s. about dementia, ADHD and every other malady that quacks like that guy attribute to bread and pasta are just sheer nonsense. I LOVE grains and avoid meat. I eat fish maybe a couple times a week. Sure, man does not live by bread alone, but mankind has been sustained by grains for CENTURIES. Oh, and I have the best memory in my family and weigh what I did in high school.

Avoiding wheat products isn't "anti-carb hysteria." Avoiding starch at all cost is anti-carb hysteria. There are plenty of good reasons to avoid wheat products and few good reasons to eat them except for pleasure.

My girlfriend just asked me if I'm reading a current article on HBR, in her words "it sounds like it's 20 years old".

When I was studying for the bar exam, I prepared really healthy lunches thinking that the better I took care of myself, the more fit I would be to study for long stretches. This was not the case; the fruits and vegetables that I ate for lunch gave me gas and left me needing to get up and walk around throughout the afternoon. I was edgy. Meanwhile, I saw others in the library eating donuts, drinking coffee and remaining glued to their chairs. I wish that it weren't the case, but this experience taught me that if I need to sit down and get sh*t done, I should eat carbs, sugar and caffeine. It's not healthy, but being extremely productive also is not healthy. I find that eating vegetables during the day is probably good for us, but not so great for immediate stretches of intensive work.

Moderation. It's not all veggies vs. all donuts. Eat the donut, have some coffee, then have a fruit parfait. Get a bread roll with your salad for lunch. It's more about balance than anything else.

Sitting down was your mistake. Work, study and learn from a standing station. Pace to digest the unknown.

Coffee and cigarettes, anyone?

I did Paleo diet for about a year and after completely eliminating carbs and sugar at lunch and breakfast time my energy levels remained constant.

Carb & sugar intake causes peaks and troughs of energy (due to insulin removing excess glucose etc).

I also read in another study that snacking frequently over-works our digestive system (imagine, if we constantly snacking, we're not letting it rest, and this takes its toll after 60+ years), and that it's actually better to eat more, less frequently.

Who knows who is right; I just have a go and see what works for me. (BTW, now vegan, but still mostly no carb & sugar-free)

Theoretically, this sounds very good. But in practice, no sugar intake makes me feel tired and low on energy. How do you deal with that?

I replace sugar with protein as energy. If you eat meat, then eating the fat from meat is also good, it's a natural energy that keeps your energy constant. Fruit is also good, a natural sweet.

I have been on sugar free lifestyle for almost a year now. The first month in tough as your body adapts to switch energy sources from sugar to complex carbs / fat.

One on the other side, your energy levels will be better as you won't notice any fluctuations as you do when on sugary diets. no more cravings and very good general well being (no diabetes, weight gain, etc). In-fact it is so good, I will never go back to artificial sugar.

If you do decide to go sugar-free / carbs-free, give it a month before deciding on whether you like it or not - as you certainly won't like the transnational phase.

Absolutely! I quit eating anything with added sugar several weeks ago, and I feel amazing, no hunger pangs between meals. If anything, my ability to concentrate is more constant throughout the day, and I'm less prone to irritability. I also have a standing desk, which does wonders, especially since I have a moderate commute by car.

I'm not sure that carbs are all bad. I am convinced that fructose from added sugar (sucrose and HFCS) are the big problem. Americans ate a lot of carbs before the obesity epidemic, and there are a lot of carbs in the traditional Japanese diet (thought to be a paragon of healthfulness). Check out Dr. Robert Lustig's talk, entitled Sugar: The Bitter Truth on YouTube.

Why does no nutritionist article ever talk about msg, the nmda receptor, ATP drain making you sleep die to calcium flooding... What about the constipating effects of caffeine... Just more stuff other than the same old concepts.

It's not just a matter of blood sugar or digestion rate. It's actual chemicals that she up as neurotransmitters, messengers to the brain, ask kings of chemical feedback systems. Maybe some of them are more significant than the usual things we talk about.

Everyone knows about blood sugar. Everyone knows about fat protein carbs. Can we actually talk about something new instead of the same thing? It's like listening to morning news shows. It's like going to church. Same story day in day out.

My mantra is exercise,exercise, specially when you're having enough rest, and the problem is to get energy.

That's a motto, not a mantra. Words actually matter.

So do definitions, and yours is simply incorrect.

like you said, everyone probably knows better than to eat poorly, so i think your most important point is this - plan ahead for your meals and snacks, especially if eating out, and bring the food you want to your workplace.

Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper is the mantra of people who are healthy.

Apart from carbohydrates, it is good to have protein and vitamins in one's diet too... These nutrients can be added through well cooked (not fried) chicken, salads and flaxseeds. Also fish and Vitamin B12 capsules help to improve concentration... Not to forget regular exercise to stay in good shape...

Good info

Good info Ron, i tend to be slow thinker after lunch and super sleepy in a office and i hate meeting after lunch, cause normally i absorb little input and i take coffee to stay me awake. I end up feel uncomfortable with my stomach. I should have change my diet.

From the fact that everyone in the world is different, our theories have a degree of probability, like Evan Pham said comments below, we have to find our own perfect formula, that could impact in our productivity and could be a good ally in our development.

True, so the biggest take for everyone is to plan one's meals. Then you can definitively know what really works for you.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu...
A good complement to this article

The article contains good scientific insights. To my knowledge the eating should be inverted pyramid, means Heavy Breakfast, Medium lunch and light dinner. I agree fruits to be taken in Breakfast to get more dopamine, and curd or butter milk in lunch and milk in the dinner.

It certainly depends. If it works for you, Sudhakar, then go for the gold. However, for me personally, a heavy breakfast and any sugars (including natural and refined carbohydrates) in the morning will stage me for low productivity and effectiveness throughout the day. A breakfast full of fat will keep me productive and hungerless until 3-5pm. Sleep also affects hunger and energy. 8 hours of sleep will allow me to breeze through the afternoon lull easily. 7 hours will give be some sleepiness. Everyone should experiment to find their own perfect formula.

http://www.fastcompany.com/...

and reproductivity also

Since I've gone on a carbohydrate diet, I don't get the energy level drops caused by sugar level drops any more. I also feel much more focussed and energized throughout the day. I can only recommend to try it out at least to everyone who is looking for ways to improve their performance.

That's interesting. Do you mean you've gone "off" or "on"? Just wondering if there was a typo there.

When carbs are broken down they turn into glucose, which is what happens to sugar, too. It's actually excessive glucose in our blood that's the problem, not solely sugar.

Without daily glucose we will die, but we only need as little as 1 teaspoon a day. But the average consumption is nearly 20 teaspoons. Insulin immediately comes along to store away all the extra glucose in the liver (causing as much harm as alcohol), and then in fat cells. Hence the sudden drop in energy about an hour after eating. So what people tend to do is scarf down more carbs to get another spike in energy.

Hi, yes I meant I stopped consuming carbs entirely for a couple of weeks and now try not to exceed more than 50g/day. After some time the body switches into a state called Ketosis where he generates energy from fat and starts burning body fat once the glucose stores are depleted.

Thought so! Yep, powerful stuff and amazing how much weight you drop when you change your biochemistry. I used to run 10k a week and swim 1km a week and I couldn't shift any weight.

When I eliminated carbs & sugar and cut down my exercise by 2/3rds to only 3km run and 800 meters swimming weekly, plus added 20minute daily walks, I dropped over 1/2 a stone in 2 weeks!

I love this article! This is great advice! Easy to say, hard to do but well worth the effort to form new and healthy habits!

Fantastic topic, and article. Thanks for posting this.