Tag Archives: nightshift

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Struggling With Fatigue? Read This BEFORE Seeing A Health Care Practitioner.

There are a myriad of reasons that can contribute to fatigue.

Some of which include low iron and an under-active thyroid.

However, before spending a fortune 💰 on exhaustive testing, have you considered the real reason for your fatigue?

As in – could it be because you’re just trying to juggle “life”, whilst being a full-time shift worker?

I’m mentioning this because I had a client reach out to me after a 3am early shift (yup, that’s not a typo… â°ïžđŸ˜łđŸ˜”â€đŸ’«), whilst juggling full-time shift work AND being a mum to 3 young children.

Long story cut short, she was running on about 3-4 hours sleep EVERY night.

I could have run some tests and prescribed some pills, but that wouldn’t have addressed the root cause of her fatigue.

All it would have done is artificially suppress her body’s overwhelming feeling’s of fatigue, and possibly delay the onset of a chronic disease later in life.

So my question to you is this.

Have you created a life that doesn’t allow your body sufficient time to rest and sleep?

Because no amount of pills can fix a lifestyle that not only involves burning the candle at both ends… but sets fire đŸ”„ to the bit in the middle as well.

Just something to ponder if your health care practitioner is quick to “diagnose and prescribe”, without taking into consideration your lifestyle first.

Audra x

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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.

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HSW 70: Split Sleep with Dr Melinda Jackson

“Can splitting the timing of sleep reduce the adverse effects of night shift work?”

It’s an interesting question, and one which was put forward by Dr Melinda Jackson who I met at the recent Sleep Down Under Conference here in Brisbane a few weeks ago.  Melinda is a researcher and registered psychologist, specialising in sleep disorders based at RMIT University in Melbourne, and has undertaken a lot of research in this area both here in Australia and overseas.

Given many shift workers often experience various degrees of broken and/or disrupted sleep depending on their location and occupation, this episode has been dedicated to discussing all things to do with alertness, productivity, performance and health when it comes to split sleep.

What you’re going to learn:

  • What exactly is split or segmented sleep?
  • The two processes of sleep, and why we need to have both in order to sleep well
  • Does undertaking split sleep pose any additional risks on our level of alertness or health?
  • What are some of the benefits to splitting in two segments?
  • Naps before nightshift – are they a good thing?
  • Are we putting too much pressure on ourselves to sleep in one chunk?

Links mentioned on the podcast:
Australasian Sleep Association
RMIT University

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