All quotes by Anauã Franco were translated from Portuguese to English by the author.
Lunchtime has different meanings around the world. In many European countries, workers take a nap, and businesses close between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. In Brazil, people take long breaks and hang out with co-workers. Some even carpool to restaurants in other neighborhoods. Something about the Brazilian culture makes it important for professionals to 1- leave their desks, 2- use proper dishes and utensils, and 3-connect with others.
Things are different in the U.S., where, for efficiency’s sake, it is common to eat at the desk and during meetings. But as companies increase their investment in food to attract employees to the office, especially Gen Z, specialists say employers should think not only about the type of food they offer but also how they offer it.
The solution to helping employees eat more mindfully might not be buying porcelain plates or arranging trips to faraway restaurants like in Brazil. But somewhere in the middle. We asked researchers and dietitians what workers can do to make healthy eating compatible with a demanding routine.
Get the Science
Whenever we eat, our stomach produces hormones that tell our brains how full we are. According to Chicago-based nutrition coach Anauã Franco, it takes about 20 minutes for our brains to understand we’ve had enough.
When we pay attention to other activities while we eat – TV, work or even a conversation – our brains get less sensitive to the signs sent by those hormones, and we end up eating more than necessary, Franco, who was born and grew up in Brazil, said. It also makes us chew less and swallow larger food particles, harming our intestinal transit. That is why we should, ideally, avoid distractions while we eat.
According to David Levitsky, a professor at the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, ingesting more calories than we need, even a little, can cause conditions like obesity in the long run. He recommends people learn to eat less and pay attention to how the environment affects their eating. “We have to build our own resistance,” he said.
A 2023 report by ezCater, a provider of corporate food solutions, shows that Gen Z is more likely to neglect meals at work and they are twice as likely to fear judgment from their bosses for taking a lunch break. They also view free food as a motivation to go to the office: 83% of Gen Z respondents said free lunch impacts their decision to work onsite.
In another report, “Feeding the Workplace,” launched last May, ezCater found that the number of companies reporting they order recurring meals has increased 32% year over year.
Precisely because young people fear taking a break and are attracted to the idea of a free meal—a trend that has become more common among companies in recent years—whenever there is food available in the office, the chances are high that they’ll work over lunch.
The damage of eating at our desks while we work goes beyond satiety and chewing issues. Factors like the stress of a deadline can cause the release of hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which can result in gastric problems and decrease our body’s capacity to absorb nutrients, Franco said.
The benefits are clear. So why is it so hard for some people to implement the habit of pausing to eat?
Lunch Culture
For Shayna Oshita, PhD, the Director of the Coordinated Program in Dietetics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the answer is in how people in America see food as “just another thing you have to do.” People work over lunch so they can leave earlier, work out and spend time with family. “Lunch is something you need to fit in,” she said.
Franco, who was born and raised in Brazil and lives in Chicago, said taking a break is essential for our overall well-being in the long run. “People spend most of their day at work, so having a moment of pause will impact a lot throughout their lives,” she said.
How to Start
Franco explained that, besides favoring digestion, taking a break for lunch decreases anxiety, strengthens the immune system and increases productivity. Even a 20-minute pause can make a difference.
- Break the cycle
If you work from home at the same table where you eat, choose a different seat. Changing settings makes our brains more prone to detecting the signs sent by satiety hormones.
If you go to the office, leave your place of work during lunch. Oshita said it is easier when the work environment encourages pause and has a lunchroom, for example. Still, creating a new culture around us is possible if we know what we want and if we have company, which leads us to the second tip.
- Coordinate lunchtime with co-workers
Tina Lam, an instructor at the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said it can be helpful to plan to eat together with colleagues a few times a week.
Eating at your desk deprives you of social interaction with co-workers, which can harm teamwork. When you eat with your colleagues, you increase your empathy and start seeing those colleagues as humans, not merely as parts of an engine.
- Seek health and pleasure
Dietitian Nina Cassetta suggested first finding healthy foods you like. It’s easier to pause if we have a good reason to do so.
Then, make sure you have variety in your diet. According to Franco, the problem with eating “easy” things at work, like sandwiches, salads or smoothies is that people end up going for the same options every day. This habit makes their brain seek unhealthy compensations later on, and they start seeing “everyday” food as boring. And what’s the point of interrupting work to eat a boring meal?
Franco explained that your diet can be practical, healthy, tasty and varied. She suggested that employees replace bread with other carbs like potato, corn, yuca and oats and balance their meals. For example, instead of eating pasta with only tomato sauce, include a source of protein and fiber. She advises her clients to buy cooked chicken and tuna, opt for frozen, canned and washed vegetables, and cook at least one protein and one side during the weekend and freeze portions.
“We complain we don’t have time to do it, but we spend 30 minutes on social media,” she said. If you don’t like to cook, she suggests that you bring pleasure to that moment, like listening to music or a podcast.
“The main motivation is to think you are taking care of yourself,” Franco said. “And to know that only you can do that.”
