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Overnutrition In Shift Work – Is There Such A Thing?

Overnutrition – is there really such a thing?  Can you really have too much of a good thing?  You bet and it’s when you eat so much food that your body has no choice but to store the excess in your tissues as FAT. 

You see as much as you would like to think so, no amount of exercise can undo a bad diet – it’s just not physically possible.  And the harsh reality is if you continue down this path of overeating, obesity will eventually catch up with you – no question. 

Quite simply, obesity is a disease of affluence and extravagance and unfortunately many shift workers are now becoming part of these rather grim statistics thanks to a predominantly fast food diet.  If you suffer from obesity it means you’re more prone to developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, liver disease, osteoarthritis and a whole heap of other serious health conditions.

Not to forget sleep apnea, which for someone who is already struggling to get enough sleep thanks to a 24/7 roster, is not a good situation to be in.

So back to the food.  Burgers, fries, soft drinks – your body doesn’t even know what these ‘foods’ are which is why it struggles so much to try and digest them, using up a whole lot of your precious energy reserves in the process.

You need to eat to give yourself energy – not the other way around.

And even if you think you are eating ‘healthy’, many of us are eating portion sizes which are double, sometimes three times more than what our body actually requires.

As John Last describes in his book – Public Health and Human Ecology, “Obese people are rarely seen in the crowded, predominantly rural agrarian nations of the developing world”. 

Yep, totally agree with that one.

So at the end of the day, you don’t want to become an obesity statistic. 

Now some of you might be reading this article and saying “well this doesn’t apply to me – I’m not obese”.  Well that’s really good, because I sincerely hope you are know where near becoming obese.  However even if you are ‘just overweight’, then it too comes with it’s own set of health issues which can eventually lead to obesity.

So despite what you may think, you cannot blame shift work for your weight gain.  It’s just easier to eat junk and other fast foods when you work shift work.

It all comes down to what you are (or are not) putting inside your mouth – and how much of it.

So start to think and apply nutrition – instead of overnutrition and your shift work health, (and waistline) will thank you for it.

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