You can look after your gut health at work by focusing on what you eat during the day, staying hydrated and making time for breaks.
Some keys to good gut health are eating plenty of different fibre-rich plant foods, limiting the amount of ultra-processed foods in your diet and looking after yourself with exercise and good sleep.
Work can make it tricky to do these things. Your working environment, the amount of time it takes up and stressful to-do lists can all have an impact.
Speaking of stress, finding healthy ways to manage it can support your gut health. At the same time, having good gut health can affect how your body responds to stress.
This relationship is known as the gut-brain connection, and it provides some insight into how looking after your digestive health at work may help with your 9-to-5.
Read on to learn more about how you can support your gut health at work, including actionable tips. You’ll also see how looking after your gut (and the microbes that call it home) can provide benefits in the workplace.
1. Take a packed lunch
If you’re working away from home, it can be easy to opt for convenience on your lunch break.
But this can leave you at the mercy of the staff canteen or whatever meal deals are available nearby. In any case, the options for gut-healthy foods can be limited.
If you’re able to make some lunch to bring from home, you’ll have much more say in what you’re feeding your gut. You can make sure you’re basing your lunch around plant-based foods. These are packed with fibre and different plant chemicals, such as polyphenols, which your gut microbes will love.
If you don’t have time to make yourself a lunch from scratch, you could try prepping some ingredients in advance or cooking extra dinner the night before and taking in some leftovers.
For inspiration, check out our article on eight gut-friendly lunch recipes.
2. Limit ultra-processed foods
Workplaces can be minefields of tempting treats. Well-meaning colleagues may bring in shop-bought baked goods, and vending machines tend to be packed with ultra-processed foods (UPFs) that are big on taste but high in salt, fat and sugar.
While these snacks can be delicious, they’re not ideal for your gut. They’re typically low in nutrients, and there’s some evidence linking UPFs with inflammation. Too much of this in the long term could play a role in chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease.
Meanwhile, opting for different snacks gives you more opportunities to fuel your gut with fibre and other nutrients. Whether you have a sweet tooth or you’re a fiend for savoury things, there are plenty of gut-friendly options to try.
Here are some minimally processed snacks that can support your gut health:
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vegetable sticks (sliced carrots, cucumbers or bell peppers, for example) with hummus
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a handful of nuts, like cashews or almonds
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olives with a chunk of hard cheese, like cheddar or manchego
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Greek yoghurt with a handful of berries
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dates stuffed with dark chocolate and nut butter
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popcorn
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dried fruit
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homemade flapjacks
We also have three easy snack recipes and three plant-based dips you could try making to bring to work.
3. Keep hydrated
When you’re wrapped up in a task, it can be easy to forget to drink. But keeping topped up with fluids is important for both your work and your gut.
Not drinking enough fluids can make you feel tired and have difficulty concentrating. You also need to be hydrated for your gut to work properly and to avoid constipation.
It’s not just plain water that helps – most drinks will do the job, including:
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fizzy water
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fruit or herbal teas
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milk
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black tea
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coffee
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fruit juice
With some of these drinks, it’s best not to have too much. Try to limit black tea to no more than 6 cups a day, coffee to no more than 4 cups and fruit juice to 1 glass a day.
If you find it difficult to remember to stay hydrated, you could try setting timers or reminders on your phone. It could also help to have a large bottle of water within reach while you’re working.
4. Get away from your workspace
It’s not just food and drink that support your gut health, it’s what you do with your body, too.
Whether a break lasts 10 minutes or an hour, it’s an opportunity to get away from your work – a chance to relax, move about and maybe even get outside.
Meanwhile, stress management can support your gut health. Stress can cause gut symptoms like diarrhoea, which can be awkward to deal with while you’re at work.
Taking some time away from tasks can help you relax. You could read a book, have a chat with a co-worker or do some breathing exercises.
If you have the time and are able to, getting out and about on a break can be extra beneficial as a form of exercise.
Evidence suggests that exercise can have a positive impact on the diversity of the microbes in your gut. Scientists believe that having a diverse range of ‘good’ bacteria is one sign of a healthy gut microbiome – the community of microbes living in your digestive tract.
On top of this, exercise can help relieve constipation, which can be another symptom of stress. So try not to take your lunch at your desk if you’ve got the chance to walk somewhere else for it.
5. Stop or cut back on smoking
Going outside for a cigarette might feel like a break, but smoking won’t do your gut health any favours.
Smoking can increase your risk of gut conditions like acid reflux and stomach cancer. It can also encourage the growth of harmful microbes, which can disrupt the balance of your gut microbiome.
And while some people smoke to relieve stress, it can actually make things worse. Although nicotine initially raises dopamine levels in your body, withdrawal symptoms like irritability and anxiety occur as it leaves your body.
Cutting back on smoking can be easier said than done. If this is something you’re finding difficult, there are many helpful resources on the NHS smoking support page.
6. Be sensible with sleep
Of course, we’re not suggesting that you sleep on the job. But how well you sleep can affect your gut health – both in and out of work.
Studies suggest that getting enough quality sleep is associated with having a more diverse gut microbiome. As we mentioned earlier, scientists associate having a diverse range of ‘good’ bacteria in your gut with good gut health.
At the same time, a poor night’s sleep can challenge your efforts to support your digestive health at work the next day. Not sleeping enough can change the levels of hormones that control your appetite.
This change in hormones can lead you to crave sugary foods, which can make it harder for you to resist the pull of highly processed snacks.
Here are some steps you can take to improve your sleep:
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Limit the amount of caffeine you drink after lunchtime.
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Try to stick to the same bedtime every day through the week.
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Keep your bedroom dark, cool and quiet – with good ventilation to stop it from getting stuffy.
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Leave a few hours between your last meal and bedtime.
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Avoid using screens (on phones, laptops or TVs, for example) too close to bedtime.
For other science-backed strategies, check out our article on tips for better sleep.
How gut health helps with workplace performance
Looking after your gut health means looking after you. It can also support your mental health and your overall well-being at work.
The steps we’ve outlined above all play a part in stress management thanks to the gut-brain connection.
By relieving and reducing stress, you can minimise the risk of these stress symptoms which could hold you back from doing your best work:
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fatigue
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lack of concentration
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difficulty making decisions
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difficulty remembering things
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irritability
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reduced interest in routine activities
Taking the steps we’ve looked at could help with energy levels, mood and focus, if these are things that you’re having trouble with.
You can discover more helpful tips in our article on self-care.
Summary
Work tends to take up a large proportion of our lives. So, if you want to support your gut health, you’ll likely need to bring some gut-friendly strategies to your workplace.
You’ll find that every technique for taking charge of your gut health will end up benefiting your work in the long run.
When it comes to improving your gut health, try to eat lots of different plant foods while limiting the amount of UPFs in your diet.
Be sure to keep hydrated and be physically active when you can. Cut back on smoking and do what you can to support your sleep.
These steps all feed into a culture of wellness in the workplace. Doing these things will hopefully make your gut bacteria happy, your bosses happy and (most importantly) you happy.
To learn more about other gut health topics, visit Symprove’s Gut Hub.
Sources
5 lifestyle tips for a healthy tummy. (2022). Link.
Chronic inflammation in the etiology of disease across the life span. Nature Medicine. (2019). Link.
Constipation. (2023). Link.
Exercise alters gut microbiota composition and function in lean and obese humans. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. (2018). Link.
Gut microbiome diversity is associated with sleep physiology in humans. PLoS One. (2019). Link.
Hydration. (n.d.). Link.
Low-grade inflammation and ultra-processed foods consumption: A review. Nutrients. (2023). Link.
Stress & the gut-brain axis: Regulation by the microbiome. Neurobiology of Stress. (2017). Link.
Symptoms of stress. (2025). Link.
The interaction between smoking, alcohol and the gut microbiome. Best Practice & Research: Clinical Gastroenterology. (2017). Link.
The truth about smoking, stress and mental health. (n.d.). Link.
