Health: Employee Wellbeing Ideas

If there has been a chocolate overload in the office the last few weeks, you might be wanting to drive the changes towards a healthier workplace. These are the latest diet and exercise trends ideal for implementation.

Diet 

If you have any responsibility for the canteen, meal planning or advising, then you may want to consider a low fat, vegan option for employees. Whilst you may not want to label it as such, a small push, such as a 9 week ‘trial’ could have good benefits for the wellbeing of your employees.

A Physicians Committee study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, American Journal of Health Promotion, Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, and Public Health Nutrition found that companies that offer employees a low-fat plant-based diet in the office can help workers lose weight and improve diabetes.

The 292 employees from 10 Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) sites across the country were randomly selected to either adopt a low-fat vegan diet with weekly group support or make no diet changes for 18 weeks. The participants at the intervention sites agreed to follow a low-fat vegan diet, which consisted of whole grains, vegetables, legumes, and fruits, with no caloric or serving size restrictions. The cafeterias at intervention GEICO sites added at least one low-fat vegan menu option to every meal, and participants were provided with weekly lunch hour classes held at their worksite for the extent of the study. These participants were also instructed not to stray from their normal exercise patterns in order to strictly focus the study on dietary modifications. The individuals at control GEICO sites had no dietary changes, no guidance, and no additional options were served in their workplace cafeterias.

Those who followed a low-fat vegan diet lost an average of 9.5 pounds, significantly decreased total and LDL cholesterol, and, in individuals with diabetes, decreased hemoglobin A1c by an average of 0.7 percentage points. (Source: PCRM.org)

Exercise App – Sworkit 

Featured on SharkTank – the American Dragon’s Den, Sworkit has been raved about as the fitness app that delivers results. Simply select the part of your body you want to work out by choosing from over 20 pre-built workouts, or create your own workout. As a business, you may wish to offer a premium version, which seems more inclusive. The features of the paid for option include ad-free workouts and exclusive low impact exercises for beginners and older adults, as well as the ability to save unlimited custom workouts and ‘ask a trainer’.

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