Unhealthy late night eating behaviors make people less productive at work the next day, according to a new study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology – but only if you feel guilty or ashamed that you eat junk food.
For the study, 97 participants with full-time jobs completed surveys three times a day – at 8 in the morning, at 6 pm and before bed at 9:30 pm – for 10 days. The survey included questions about their physical and mental health, what they ate and drank and what they achieved at work.
The researchers classified “unhealthy eating” behaviors as times when participants: “ate too many unhealthy foods after work,” “had too many unhealthy snacks after work,” “ate and drank excessively after work,” and “had too many snacks late at night before going to bed “.
Using the results of the participants’ diary, they “tested the delayed effects of the previous night’s unhealthy diet on the next day’s performance,” the study authors wrote.
Those who have fallen into so-called “unhealthy eating” habits at night have spent less time doing “helpful behaviors” at work, for example, assisting a co-worker with a task that is not your responsibility. They also had several “withdrawal behaviors”, which basically means avoiding work-related situations while it’s time.
Why?
As we might expect, the researchers found that the group experienced some physical pain in the morning, such as headaches, stomach aches and diarrhea.
But the group also reported more emotional stress, such as guilt or shame about eating habits – and that made a difference.
The findings “suggest that performance at work is compromised only when you experience emotional and physical strains,” Seonghee Cho, study author and assistant professor of psychology at North Carolina State University, told CNBC Make It. In other words, some people did not think twice about their snack the day before, so it had no effect on their work result.
“This means that if you can intervene early to avoid these strains, you may not necessarily suffer from poor performance,” she says.
For example, you may remember that a “bad food choice” in the evening is not the end of the world, Cho suggests. “It can be sporadic or it can help relieve the stress of that day, which is actually a good strategy for dealing with stress,” she says.
Indeed, other research has shown that there is a time and place for comfortable foods: “Unhealthy eating behavior can serve as a short-term coping strategy to meet work-related demands,” the authors wrote.
Finally, people have very nuanced relationships with food. It’s important to “be more forgiving and relaxed about your suboptimal choice of eating, given that we can’t always support the best and healthiest diet,” says Cho.
If you’re looking for habits that make you feel sharp, rested, and ready to go beyond and work, it’s best to prioritize habits that help you relax and detach from work, such as physical activity, good sleep and healthy eating behaviors, says Cho.
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