Work at a desk all day and feeling sluggish? A Naturopath’s guide to digestive health for office workers

Ever feel sluggish when you've been sat at your desk for a little while? Or do you experience that post-lunch slump? Well working at a desk can leave not only your brain, but your bowels a little sluggish too. There are a number of reasons for this and I want to help you get to the bottom of your symptoms (no pun intended!) Here are plenty of tips and tricks to get things regular, boost energy and get you back to feeling great!


Hydration, hydration, hydration!

I can't stress this enough. Too little water can lead to headaches, energy lows, poor concentration, grumpiness, poor digestion and constipation. Now there's no real recommended amount of water you should be drinking as it varies depending on your metabolism, what activities you're doing, what foods you're eating, your environment and so much more. The best advice is to sip water throughout the day and always drink when thirsty, that's your body's own gauge on hydration levels- listen to it!

For many, the prospect of drinking water all day can be quite daunting, so challenge yourself to make it interesting. Try adding a slice of lemon or lime and some mint, have a herbal tea or add ice or heat it to change it up a bit.

If you drink fruit and vegetable juices, add water to them to improve hydration- as a bonus, this also helps balance out the high fibre content they can contain making them easier to digest.

A tea or coffee is better than no drink at all, but preferably just water!

Get up, stand up!

Staying still can leave more than your brain feeling slow and sluggish, movement actually aids digestion. Too little movement can contribute to constipation, so try to move more throughout your working day. My top tips are to:

- Get up more often throughout the day. Find an excuse to get away from your desk, such as walking to speak to someone in the office in person instead of emailing or call.

- During a call, stand and pace around.

- Take the stairs instead of the lift wherever possible.

- Increase the amount of standing and walking in your commute. Get off the train/bus one stop early and walking part of the journey, park further away from your destination to increase your walk, go for a walk during your lunch break. Even if you only get a ten-minute walk each day, this will do wonders for your digestion,  overall fitness and mental health too!

Try to reduce caffeine intake.

Why are you drinking caffeine? If it’s for an energy boost then check why you need that energy boost... Do you need more sleep at night? Are you stressed and so not sleeping well? Perhaps you could exercise more to get the natural buzz of post-exercise endorphins. Find the cause and then address that! A common cause is poor nutrition giving an energy lull, particularly in the afternoon.

Don't be afraid to get to the root cause...

Often when we’re eating the wrong thing it can be because of emotional or stress eating. If this is the reason, then you need to address the thing that is causing stress and resolve it. If it’s something that cannot be resolved, or will take a long while to resolve, then finding ways to manage the stress can help ease physical symptoms that stress can cause. Some great things to try are:

- Counselling/therapy with a trained professional.

- Meditation (try the Headspace app on your phone)

- Yoga

- Deep breathing exercises or "progressive muscle relaxation"- YouTube has lots of free videos

- Talking with a trusted friend or colleague

- Exercise (get those endorphins going!)

- Spending time in the outdoors

- Find a hobby you enjoy and can get your mind lost in it

- Reading for fun

Other top tips:

- Eating late at night is bad for digestion. If you have to eat late at night, have a larger lunch with more nutrients in it and then keep dinner simple and light.

- Pay attention when you’re eating. This helps you realise when you are full, avoiding over eating and therefore reducing the risk of stomach bloating and constipation. Practise mindful eating by eating away from your desk at lunchtime and don't multitask- focus on the textures and flavours of the food.

- Have healthy snacks prepared to avoid reliance on unhealthy ‘fast food’. Ideas include nuts, seeds, orchard fruits, bananas, homemade granola bars, salads with lots of veggies, raw veg and dips such as humous.
- Try making some healthy breakfast items and snacks, I discussed this on a previous post.

It may seem obvious, but...

Always listen to your body- when you need to go, you need to go! This is important for bowel movements (risk of constipation and sluggish digestion) as well as the water works (risk of urinary tract infections). This is all part of the natural way our body gets rid of waste, so don’t hold onto the stuff longer than your body tells you to. Research suggests this can cause headaches, tiredness, mood swings and more!


Hopefully by introducing some of these tips into your working day, you'll notice quite drastic improvements to your overall health. As always, do get in touch to let me know how you get on!

Zoë Clark is an Osteopath and Naturopath trained at the British College of Osteopathic Medicine in London.

Practicing in Howe, near Norwich (01508 558373) and Burston, near Diss, Norfolk (07543 557746).