Research Article Open Access

How does Food Affect Mood at Work?

Abstract

The importance of studying the effect of different types of food on mood, especially at work, has become greatly needed over recent years; this is in great part due to the link between positive mood and different types of organisational spontaneity (giving help to other colleagues, keeping an eye on the organisation’s safety, making valuable propositions, developing one’s own performance, and fostering goodwill). The present study addressed this need, by investigating whether consuming carb-based foods, protein-based foods, fat-based foods, and not consuming any food had different effects on the mood of working individuals. On the basis of the growing body of research, it was hypothesised that individuals who eat foods high in carbs will have a better mood than those who eat foods high in protein and those who do not consume any food. Due to the discrepancies in the literature findings, it was hypothesised that fats will have an effect on mood; however the direction of this relationship was yet to be assessed. 218 participants completed a food diary sheet, at midday (from 12 pm to 1:30 pm), which included questions about the type of food they had, their mood, their level of fatigue, and their caffeine consumption. Results showed that employees who didn’t have any food had a better overall mood than those who had carbs and those who had proteins. Those who had carbs reported better mood than those who had protein. Finally, participants who had fats reported better mood than those who had proteins, controlling for the effects of caffeine and fatigue on mood. There were no significant differences between no-food group and fat-based food group and between carb-based food and fatbased food on employees’ mood. In conclusion, no food resulted in the best mood, followed by fat-based foods and carb-based foods, with protein-based foods resulting in the worst reported mood.

Christina Riachi

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