Eating junk food to deal with work-related stress? Sleep is a better, healthier, more effective alternative!

New Delhi: We live in a competitive world where it is a cut-throat race to reach the top and job-related stress is evident.

But, the real question is, how do we cope with the stress? Everyone has their own ways of dealing with the situation, but most people resort to eating their way out and what they find solace in is far from what one can call healthy.

Stress-related junk food cravings is something we all go through, but is it really worth the calories? A study has found an easier way out, something that will compensate for your unhealthy choices – sleep!

The study, conducted in two parts, analysed the habits of 235 employees in China. The first part included workers from information technology who were under the pressure of regular high workloads and didn’t have enough time to complete their duties.

The second study involved call center workers who dealt with rude patrons.

Both groups of workers had stress-related moodiness at work, which was correlated with unhealthy eating habits at night.

The reason for these eating habits, researchers believe, is that food is percieved as a diversion to get rid of negative feelings and approach desired feelings. Furthermore, unhealthy eating results from diminished self-control, which often happens in stressful work environments, researchers said.

“We found that employees who have a stressful workday tend to bring their negative feelings from the workplace to the dinner table, as manifested in eating more than usual and opting for more junk food instead of healthy food,” Chu-Hsiang “Daisy” Chang, MSU associate professor of psychology and study co-author, told EurekAlert.

However, researchers found that after a good night's sleep, these negative habits were greatly reduced. “A good night’s sleep can make workers replenished and feel vigorous again, which may make them better able to deal with stress at work the next day and less vulnerable to unhealthy eating,” said Chang.

The researchers advise companies and organisations to address this issue through emphasising the importance of health management and conduct sleep awareness training, while also maintaining a more flexible scheduling.

As per a report in Yahoo, they also believe that food-related benefits could “serve as temporary mood-altering remedies for stressed employees,” said Chang. “And failure to address the sources of the work stress may have potential long-term detrimental effects on employee health.”

Chang also said that, “Failure to address the sources of the work stress may have potential long-term detrimental effects on employee health.”

Therefore, working on getting the requisite amount of sleep could offer you better results than bingeing on unhealthy food to deal with stress at work.