An unhealthy abundance
The tech lifestyle doesn't have to be this way. Gigi
Acker, RD, MPH, founder of Los Altos, Calif.—based
NutritionInsights, works on-site with a number of
corporations and tech companies to boost the nutritional
value of employee diets. When she visits companies, she
notes the abundance of unhealthy snacks: M&Ms,
little chocolate candies, nuts in bowls, bubble gum, and
well-stocked vending machines. "There's a smorgasbord of
candy scattered around the office, and at around 3 or 4
in the afternoon, it's calling to the employees," she
says.
Yet your health may depend upon your
refusing to indulge office cravings. According to a
report from the American Institute for Cancer Research
and World Cancer Research Fund, many cancers could be
prevented by a healthy diet. What's more, Acker says,
junk food makes her clients feel like junk.
"They get tired and suffer from low energy
levels more often, and just don't feel good," she says.
Junk food may be going strong in techland
now, but that could be changing as more companies start
working with nutritionists and the population of tech
workers ages. Most individuals who have sought
professional advice from Acker, for example, are in
their 30s and 40s. Acker says that the ill effects of a
lifestyle fueled with junk food become apparent in the
world beyond age 29, and that in many cases parental
responsibilities lend a new perspective.
"A mom would bring in a different type of
food than the young Stanford business graduate," says Jo
Ann Hatner, spokesperson for the American
Dietetic Association.
Some
twenty-something tech workers have already seen the
light. Jim, 28, is a software developer who has worked
for a variety of companies over the last year and a
half. The food available at tech companies is rarely
healthy, he says, but that doesn't mean you have to eat
it. Developers are making $75,000 to $120,000 a year,
and eventually, some figure out that they don't have to
rely on free junk food to get by.
"It's
kind of like drugs, you know," Jim says. "Everybody does
them while they're in college. Some people, it sticks
with them, and some people get out of it."
Best to choose your workplace addictions
carefully. Sushi rolls may have less-disastrous
long-term effects than cake rolls.
High-tech Health
Desperate to transition from junk food to more
healthy noshing? Then put down your bag of cheese
doodles and take a minute between coding sessions to
visit the following health and nutrition information
Websites:
ThriveOnline
offers recipes, tips from a dietitian, and low-fat
cooking information. http://www.thriveonline.com/nutrition/
Nutrition Action Health
Letter , produced by the Center for Science in
the Public Interest, provides nutrition and exercise
information. www.cspinet.org/nah
Cyberdiet.com has a
section on diet and nutrition, including a daily food
planner and menus. http://www.cyberdiet.com/
Talk City provides a
health and wellness chat room. http://www.talkcity.com/
Oxygen offers a guide
listing the fat and calories in all kinds of junk food.
http://o2simplify.oxygen.com/health_fitness/nutrition/hf_nu_007.html
Tufts University has a
nutrition navigator that rates nutrition sites. http://www.navigator.tufts.edu/
Healthnews.com has recent
nutrition reports culled from publications around the
country. http://www.healthnews.com/
If you've had enough of healthy tips,
The Junk Food Mecca will help you find
whatever high-fat, sugar-loaded creation you crave. You
can also discuss junk food favorites on their message
board. http://www.whpress.com/mecca/
