As much as we all love a good 3 pm snack break to push us through the last few hours of our workday, not all snacks in the employee kitchen are created equal. Many snacks could easily leave you drooling on your keyboard before its time to leave. The next time you go to pick up a bag of Cheetos or Sun Chips, consider instead one of these five snacks that help boost concentration, assist brain power and will ultimately get you through your Friday afternoon meeting scheduled for 4:30 pm.
Low Fat Nuts
This category includes highly nutritious nuts, such as almonds and walnuts, while avoiding nuts with a high fat content, such as peanuts and cashews. If you are able to stick to a single portion size, 23 nuts (about a handful), almonds and walnuts are high in protein, fiber and essential fatty acids. These will fill you up quickly and give you a significant amount of energy that won’t burn out right away. Just make sure to go with the unsalted version!
Dried Edamame
Falling in a similar category as almonds and walnuts, lies their significantly less fatty cousin, dried edamame. These little green guys pack a punch with one serving giving you 14 grams of protein against 4 grams of fat. The fresh version are also easy to store in the freezer and microwaved when the craving strikes. Equally nutritious and delicious.
Blueberries
If you’re having problems remembering to follow up with accounting or water your desk plant, blueberries may be the snack for you. Many studies show that blueberries help with preventing short term memory loss as well as improving brain function.
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate can have several immediate and positive effects. In moderation, Flavanol rich bars have been known to increase cognitive functions. And perhaps most importantly, consuming chocolate will release endorphins, which I believe we all could use a bit more of towards the end of a long day.
Green Tea
Instead of reaching for that third cup of coffee in the late afternoon, try drinking a cup of green tea. While brewed green tea may contain less caffeine then a cup of coffee, it also contains L-Theanine which will release the caffeine to you over a longer period of time avoiding the jitters and subsequent crash you might get from a cup of coffee. In addition to waking you up, green tea is also known to improve heart health and blood pressure. This ultimately results in a calming effect and hopefully some much-needed stress release.
About the author
Rebecca Anapol is a Business Affairs Administrator at a Business and Entertainment Law Firm in New York. She has both prior legal and theatre design experience in the New York Area. She received her degree from SUNY New Paltz.
She has previously worked assisting opera designers and has a love for all things theatre.