Nutrition & Wellbeing Research
Michele Chevalley Hedge is a research-aholic. She loves evidence-based research and for good reason! She does not like pseudo science. Here are some links to research you will find referenced in her books, speaking engagements and The Science Of Workplace Wellbeing Workshops (CPD/CE courses).
Scroll down below the Science of Workplace Wellbeing to see other research.
Michele Chevalley Hedge is a research-aholic. She loves evidence-based research and for good reason! She does not like pseudo science. Here are some links to research you will find referenced in her books, speaking engagements and The Science Of Workplace Wellbeing Workshops (CPD/CE courses).
Scroll down below the Science of Workplace Wellbeing to see other research.
The Science of Workplace Wellbeing
The Science of Workplace Wellbeing
Click on the arrows below to see references.
Workplace conditions can affect employees at the physical, mental, or emotional level and enhance or harm their well-being. Studies have found differences among occupational groups in the prevalence of obesity, cardiovascular conditions (eg, elevated blood pressure and cholesterol), and other health indicators, including physical activity and diet quality. Work environment can also influence employees’ mental health and stress levels.
SOURCE
University of Oxford research links workplace wellbeing to business performance.
ResearchGate: IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE WELL BEING ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN WORKPLACE
Healthy eating patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet, are associated with better mental health than “unhealthy” eating patterns, such as the Western diet.
The effects of certain foods or dietary patterns on energy, glycaemia, immune activation, and the gut microbiome may play a role in the relationships between food and mood.
Firth J, Gangwisch JE, Borisini A, Wootton RE, Mayer EA. Food and mood: how do diet and nutrition affect mental wellbeing? BMJ. 2020 Jun 29;369:m2382. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m2382. Erratum in: BMJ. 2020 Nov 9;371:m4269. PMID: 32601102; PMCID: PMC7322666.
Poor nutrition may be a causal factor in the experience of low mood (low mental resilience) and improving diet may help to protect not only the physical health but also the mental health of the population.
Grajek M, Krupa-Kotara K, Białek-Dratwa A, Sobczyk K, Grot M, Kowalski O, Staśkiewicz W. Nutrition and mental health: A review of current knowledge about the impact of diet on mental health. Front Nutr. 2022 Aug 22;9:943998. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.943998. PMID: 36071944; PMCID: PMC9441951.
Work-related exhaustion and emotional impairment can lower the individual's tolerance to perceiving events as stressful as well as reinforce the stress response, and contribute to difficulties with productivity, effective communication, cognitive function and more. Workers employed in occupations with critical tasks may be more susceptible to exhaustion, emotional strain and poorer sleep due to increased and prolonged work pressure.
Sørengaard TA, Saksvik-Lehouillier I. Associations between burnout symptoms and sleep among workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sleep Med. 2022 Feb;90:199-203. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2022.01.022. Epub 2022 Feb 7. PMID: 35190319; PMCID: PMC8820088.
Poor sleep of employees has often induced many negative consequences, such as a decline in in-role performance, poor interpersonal relationships in the workplace, a decline in organizational citizenship behaviors, and an increase in unethical workshop behaviors, thereby further negatively affecting the routine work and orderly operation of various organizations.
Peng J, Zhang J, Wang B, He Y, Lin Q, Fang P, Wu S. The relationship between sleep quality and occupational well-being in employees: The mediating role of occupational self-efficacy. Front Psychol. 2023 Jan 27;14:1071232. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1071232. PMID: 36777224; PMCID: PMC9911531.
There is increasing evidence that the composition of the resident bacteria within the gastrointestinal tract can influence the brain and behavior, particularly with respect to cognitive function. Cognitive function encompasses the life-long process of learning, both long- and short-term processes.
Gareau MG. Cognitive Function and the Microbiome. Int Rev Neurobiol. 2016;131:227-246. doi: 10.1016/bs.irn.2016.08.001. Epub 2016 Sep 9. PMID: 27793221.
The number of individuals experiencing mental disorders (e.g., anxiety and depression) has significantly risen in recent years. Therefore, it is essential to seek prevention and treatment strategies for mental disorders. Several gut microbiota are demonstrated to affect mental health through microbiota–gut–brain axis, and the gut microbiota dysbiosis can be related to mental disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders.
Xiong RG, Li J, Cheng J, Zhou DD, Wu SX, Huang SY, Saimaiti A, Yang ZJ, Gan RY, Li HB. The Role of Gut Microbiota in Anxiety, Depression, and Other Mental Disorders as Well as the Protective Effects of Dietary Components. Nutrients. 2023 Jul 23;15(14):3258. doi: 10.3390/nu15143258. PMID: 37513676; PMCID: PMC10384867.
Other Research
Other Research
Click on the category to see information and useful links.
- Western diet and shrinking hippocampus
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4563885/ - Junk food shrinks the brain
https://blogs.biomedcentral.com/on-medicine/2015/09/17/can-much-junk-food-shrink-brains-qa-felice-jacka/ - Healthy dietary/depressive: a systematic review and meta-analysis
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-018-0237-8 - Gut brain axis-biome, mood and mental health
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6469458/
- Sugar and lower immunity
http://www.ghrnet.org/index.php/JT/article/view/1340/1795#:~:text=When%20we%20eat%20sugar%20it,system%20by%20decreasing%20WBCs%20reactivity - Sugar and cholesterol
https://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/sugar-and-cholesterol#:~:text=When%20you%20eat%20too%20much,role%20in%20your%20cholesterol%20health
- Mentally Healthy Workplace ROI
https://www.headsup.org.au/docs/default-source/resources/beyondblue_workplaceroi_finalreport_may-2014.pdf - Link between food and mental health
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/09/food-mental-health - Birth control use linked to depression
https://news.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Teen-birth-control-use-linked-to-depression-risk-in-adulthood.pdf - Exercise and depression
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/bjsports/56/23/1375.full.pdf - Antidepressant foods
https://www.wjgnet.com/2220-3206/full/v8/i3/97.htm - Processed food and depression 2023
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032723006092 - Effect of micro-breaks on wellbeing and performance
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36044424/
Michele is passionate about Mental Wellbeing.
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