Do You Flip Your Meals On Night Shift?

Have you been told health practitioners to “flip your meals” when working the night shift?

As in have a big meal around midnight?

I remember having to bite my tongue when one of my lecturers at University recommended to do this because instinctively I knew this was not the right thing to do.

And that’s waaaaaaaayyyyyy before I spent years diving down the rabbit hole learning all about chronobiology and circadian nutrition.

Why is it an issue?

Well, when we do this, it confuses the clocks in our gut, liver and kidneys that its daytime.

This can lead to gut pain, bloating, constipation, nausea, acid reflux and a whole host of other fun things that we’d much rather avoid!

It’s no wonder so many shift workers are prone to gut and digestive complaints, that actually have nothing to do with allergies or food intolerances.We need to get back to the basics.

Eat your main meal no later than 9pm (preferably earlier if you can), as this will help to minimise further disruption to your biological clock.

At the end of the day, just because we’re awake on shift during the night, doesn’t mean we’re supposed to eat.

Audra x

P.S: Want to learn more about this topic?
Check out my ‘21-Day Healthy Shift Worker Kickstart Program’ by CLICKING HERE.

Don’t Limit Your Calories, Limit Your Eating Window.

When we work 24/7, we tend to eat 24/7 which can lead us on a downward spiral of all sorts of health complaints over the long-term.

This is because our innate timing system, or circadian clock, is essentially switched to the ‘ON’ position for a very long time.

Have you ever considered what time you take your first bite of food in the day, and then your last bite of food at night?

For example, if you have sugar with your coffee at 4am and have a biscuit before bed at 8pm or later, your Eating Window would be 16 hours or longer.

This means your circadian clock is running for 16 or more hours.

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Gut Loving Energising Smoothie

Do you experience gut discomfort and lack energy?

Yeah I know. It’s a bit of a silly question as most shift workers do.

This is due mostly to something called circadian misalignment, which is just a fancy way to describe eating out of sync to our natural body clock.

That being said, it’s not just about food timing.

When we’re tired we don’t always make the healthiest of food choices because let’s face it. It’s really hard to muster up the strength to whip up a culinary delight when we can barely keep our eyes open from exhaustion!

This ends up being a bit of a Catch-22 because it contributes to an even further lack of energy due to insufficient nutrients needed for energy production on a cellular level. 

This leads to a disruption in the regulation of the nervous system. In other words, makes us feel even more tired, anxious and frazzled!

The good news is, I’ve got a “can’t-be-bothered-to-make-anything-fancy” smoothie recipe that is not only quick to make, but will supply your body with a wonderful assortment of nutrients to give you more zing.

The apple cider vinegar and ginger in this smoothie will also help to settle an anxious tummy.

What’s In It?

100g blueberries (preferably organic)
250ml almond milk (or milk of your choice)
1 orange – juice and zest
2cm piece of fresh ginger
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp coconut oil
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper

How To Make It?

Throw everything into a blender and blitz until smooth.

Drink immediately or pop into a chilled thermos to take into work and enjoy whilst on shift.

Note: you’ll need to give the smoothie a good shake once it’s been in the fridge for a while as the coconut oil will harden slightly.

Audra x

References:
.

Antunes, L, Levandovski, R, Dantas, G, Gaumo, W & Hidalgo, M 2010, ‘Obesity and shift work: Chronobiological aspects’, Nutrition Research Review, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 155-168.

Kanarek, R 1997, ‘Psychological effects of snacks and altered meal frequency’, British Journal of Nutrition, vol. 77, pp. S105-S120.

Nor, A, Norsham, J, Nur, T, Sahar, A, Srijit, D & Effendy N 2020, ‘Consequences of circadian disruption in shift workers on chrononutrition and their psychosocial well-being’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 1-17.

HSW 93 – Weight Loss Study for Shift Workers with Professor Maxine Bonham

Are you struggling to lose weight whilst working 24/7?  If so, this episode is for you!

Today I’m talking with Associate Professor Maxine Bonham who is a registered nutritionist and research academic at Monash University in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food here in Australia.  Maxine is currently involved in research examining some of the adverse health effects associated with sleep debt, poor dietary habits and misalignment of circadian rhythms in shift workers.  All super relevant for anyone working 24/7.

Maxine and I discuss how alternating our mealtime or food intake can conflict with our natural body clock or circadian rhythms, and how this can negatively impact on our health including our weight, along with her latest research – a world-first study trialling weight-loss interventions for those working night shift.

Links mentioned on the podcast:

The Swift Study open to night shift workers based in Melbourne or Adelaide – https://www.monash.edu/medicine/swiftstudy

Shifting the Risk – A study investigating meal timing and heart health in shift workers –
https://www.monash.edu/medicine/base/about/volunteer/shiftwork

HSW 91 – Chrononutrition with Dr Jonathan Johnston

In today’s podcast episode, we’re talking all things chrononutrition with Dr Jonathan Johnston from the University of Surrey, in the United Kingdom.  Dr Johnston is a world expert and researcher in the field of chrononutrition, and has led many studies looking at the links between circadian, metabolic and nutritional physiology including the analysis of timed meal effects on the human circadian system.

This topic of chrononutrition is particularly relevant for shift workers given when we work irregular hours or 24/7, we tend to eat 24/7 however the way in which your body digests and processes food, depends on what time of day that you eat it.