An average person spends about half of their waking hours at work. So, this is why developing great workplace habits is so important. These good habits include best practices such as good time and stress management. The modern workplace is usually stressful, so poor workplace habits can not only kill your career but also harm your health. Workplace stress depends not only on your type of work, but also your office culture, the management style, and the level of control that you have over your workload.
Although stress can be a great motivator, after a certain point it becomes draining. Being constantly under pressure to meet all your work requirements can be exhausting. If you are also overwhelmed by negative emotions like resentment and fear, this will drain your energy and may lead to adrenal fatigue. Let’s explore more details about workplace habits that can be fatal.
The workplace habits that you develop will depend on your work environment, and also your attitude to work. Here are five bad workplace habits that can harm your health:
Unhealthy eating habitsInflammation is often associated with pain and discomfort, but it can be good for your health. This is because it is through an inflammatory process that your body's immune system is activated. So, inflammation is a sign that your body is trying to heal itself and repair the damaged cells.
But, if unaddressed, inflammation can become a chronic condition that can lead to some very serious health problems. These include cancer, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and adrenal fatigue.
Unmanaged chronic inflammation causes adrenals to produce cortisol non-stop. If this goes on for a long time, adrenals will one day simply exhaust themselves. Common contributors to an inflammatory response and adrenal fatigue are poor nutrition, stress, poor sleep, hormonal imbalances, gut disorders, and certain chronic conditions. So, poor workplace habits only exacerbate these problems.
Today, long-term stress is usually associated with the workplace. Three workplace habits that directly contribute to inflammation and adrenal fatigue are:
In the face of pervasive stress, you should take care of your adrenals to be able to cope. Your adrenal glands help you stay alive, by producing cortisol that helps prepare you for the fight-or-flight response. The temporary surge of energy enables you to be ready to attack, receive a blow, or flee. In other words, cortisol prepares you to react to stress in the way you see fit.
Although the rush of cortisol inhibits insulin production, if this happens only occasionally, it is not a problem. However, if due to stress or bad working habits, cortisol is pumped into your blood continuously. So, if you are always chronically stressed, your adrenals will get depleted. This, in turn, creates the ideal conditions for adrenal fatigue. When this happens, your adrenals may be unable to produce enough cortisol and other hormones. You may then begin to experience some, or all, of the adrenal fatigue symptoms. These include muscle weakness, constant fatigue, low blood pressure, loss of appetite, and excessive sweating.
Learning, or improving, your stress-management techniques is very important to maintain your health. But, your diet is equally important. What you eat is closely linked with your stress levels, as certain nutrients help relieve stress. On the other hand, stress affects your eating habits. This is because when you are stressed, you often don't have enough energy to prepare a healthy meal. Or you may try to relax with alcohol or comfort foods.
According to the NeuroEndoMetabolic (NEM) stress response model, the foods you eat can be your medicine or your poison. We know there is a link between inflammation and stress-related disorders, so avoiding inflammatory foods is best. These inflammatory foods include sugars, cooking oils, trans fats, dairy products, commercially produced meat, processed meats, alcohol, refined grains, and artificial food additives. Avoiding these foods will help to offset the development of adrenal fatigue symptoms.
To keep your adrenal glands healthy and strong, adopt a diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods. These include fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, poultry, whole grains, and healthy fats. So, it is possible to recover from many debilitating conditions without medications and expensive treatments. How can a healthy lifestyle help you improve your workplace habits?
Many workplace habits can wreak havoc on your health. It is important to break these bad habits and adopt ones that support a better work-life balance. You should also note that it’s important to eat a balanced diet. This will ensure that you get all the necessary nutrients to not only improve your health. You will also give you the energy you need to successfully cope with your workplace.
© Copyright 2020 Michael Lam, M.D. All Rights Reserved.
Poor workplace habits are the main cause of stress and we know there is a direct link between stress-related disorders and inflammation. Improving your stress-management and avoiding inflammatory foods is the easiest way to avoid or reverse chronic inflammatory conditions.
