HSW 51 – Sympathetic Dominance with Dr Wayne Todd.

Healthy Shift Worker Podcast:

Over the past 2 years or so of recording podcast episodes, I’ve occasionally mentioned the words ‘sympathetic dominance’, as it’s a condition that I quite often see in many of my patients who work 24/7, in particular those who struggle to get good quality sleep.

Otherwise known as the ‘fight or flight’ arm of our autonomic nervous system, sympathetic dominance is when our bodies become ‘stuck’ in this fight or flight stress response for long durations at a time.

Unfortunately for shift workers, ongoing sleep deprivation actually makes us quite prone to this overactive stimulation of our nervous system which can lead to a whole host of chronic health complaints from cardiovascular disease, diabetes and weight gain, along with the suppression of our reproductive and immune system.  In addition, it becomes a bit of a Catch-22, in that sympathetic dominance actually switches off our parasympathetic nervous system, which plays a fundamentally important role in our ability to rest and sleep.

To discuss this topic in greater detail, I’ve brought in Dr Wayne Todd who is a chiropractor based in Sale, Victoria, who has written an entire book on sympathetic dominance titled ‘SD Protocol – Achieve greater health by learning to balance your physical, chemical and emotional wellbeing‘.

Tune in to hear Dr Todd go into some of the physical, chemical and emotional causes behind sympathetic dominance, and what we can do as shift workers to help dampen down this stress response.  This will in turn, have a positive flow on effect of reducing some of our risks of developing these chronic health conditions, along with improving the quality of our sleep.

Links mentioned in the podcast:

http://www.sdprotocol.com.au

HSW 48 – Sleep Nutrition with Dr Libby Weaver.

Healthy Shift Worker Podcast:

Both sleep and nutrition are two of the biggest challenges for anyone working 24/7 so this week we chat with one of Australasia’s leading nutritional biochemists, Dr Libby Weaver on this important but often neglected topic – that being Sleep Nutrition.

Dr Libby Weaver is a respected international speaker, author of multiple books, and founder of the plant-based supplement range, Bio Blends, who embraces a unique three-pillared approach that explores the interplay between nutrition, emotions and the biochemistry of the body.

In this episode, Dr Libby talks about sleep-enhancing foods (and practices) that can help to enhance sleep, along with some of the biggest disruptors of sleep and why they’re not great for our stress-producing adrenal glands – particularly when working 24/7!

Links mentioned on the podcast:

To learn more about Dr Libby, visit her website by Clicking Here