Health Articles
Get off your food miles guilt trip, The Sunday Times
February 17th, 2008
Researchers are finding that food miles are far from the whole story when assessing the environmental impact of what we eat.
Instead of local goods - long-haul bad, researchers now prefer what they call the “life cycle assessment” (LCA) of food products. LCA tries to encapsulate the whole environmental impact of growing, transporting, selling and consuming a product - from farm to fork. Results would show tomatoes grown in the natural heat of Spain having less “global warming potential” (GWP) than out-of-season British tomatoes grown in heated greenhouses.
Fruit may reduce Alzheimer’s risk, Earthtimes.org
January 20th, 2008
Additional consumption of fresh fruits such as apples, bananas and oranges may be beneficial to improve effects in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Among the three fruits, apples contained the highest content of protective antioxidants, followed by bananas then oranges.
Four health changes can prolong life 14 years, Reuters
January 17th, 2008
“People who drink moderately, exercise, quit smoking and eat five servings of fruit and vegetables each day live on average 14 years longer than people who adopt none of these behaviours.”
Although its obvious that these things will contribute to healthier and longer lives, this is the first study that has quantified the effect.
The lifestyle change with the biggest benefit was giving up smoking, which led to an 80 percent improvement in health, the study found. This was followed by eating fruits and vegetables.
Attention of a monkey? Fresh Produce Journal
November 17th, 2007
“Office workers that battle through the working day without breakfast and workaholics that somehow manage to skip both breakfast and lunch are costing the UK economy a fortune with their monkey-like attention span.”
78% of workers snack throughout the day, predictably trying to make up for some of the lost energy. Crisps and biscuits are the inevitable favourites. However, these sugary and fatty snacks “have extremely limited nutritional value to support productivity”.
A powerful argument for providing fresh fruit to staff in the office!
Create engagement with wellbeing, Employee Benefits
November 17th, 2007
Providing employees with access to wellbeing benefits such as exercise classes, health checks, free fruit and information on nutrition and relaxation can reduce absence, improve staff morale and drive up productivity.
The article argues that gaining management and employee buy-in is essential for the success of any wellbeing programme. It also states “providing employees with free fruit” as a strategy that could be implemented by an organisation that finds nutrition is particularly poor across its workforce.
Which benefits help reduce sickness absence? Employee Benefits
July 11th, 2007
As the cost of healthcare benefits needs to be aligned to effectiveness, Stephanie Spicer asks which perks are most apt at reducing sickness absence levels for employers
Julie Waddington, healthcare consultant at Punter Southall, says that employees value an employer that cares about them and assists them to make positive changes that may affect their working and their personal life. Providing access to fruit is one way to make a positive enhancement to an employee’s working environment and therefore physical and mental wellbeing.
Adding value, Employee Benefits
April 17th, 2007
Devising a wellbeing strategy to complement standard employee healthcare benefits and employers’ workforce obligations is one thing, but the real key to the success of any such initiative is to add value.
The article states that, in terms of healthy eating options, having fresh fruit or juices available within departments is a cost-effective way of proffering some of the ‘five-a-day’ fruit and vegetable options which everyone is encouraged to have in their diets. We tend to agree!
Investing in staff’s health is good for business, Employee Benefits
March 10th, 2007
Research has shown that fitter, healthier staff have less time off work.
More than ever now, employees are a company’s greatest asset, as organisations slim down their workforces in order to remain competitive. As such, Dr Paul Kanas, head of occupational health at Cadbury Trebor Bassett, believes that part of the answer to business success lies in making sure that employees in any enterprise are fit enough to deliver outstanding performance on a regular and consistent basis.
Cancer Research UK
December 17th, 2006
“Britain warned that obesity epidemic will cause thousands more cases of cancer.”
Obesity presents a wide range of health problems of which cancer is one. Maintaining a healthy weight by eating a balanced diet (including at least five portions of vegetables and fruit a day) is the best way to tackle this increasing risk.
The charity also encourages people to exercise and lead active lifestyles.
Mandarins ‘cut liver cancer risk’, BBC News
September 17th, 2006
“Eating mandarins may cut the risk of developing liver cancer and other diseases, research suggests.”
It seems that the key is vitamin A compounds called “carotenoids” which give the fruit its orange colour!!
