Tag Archives: shift work health

Posted on

Is Your Caffeine Intake Leaving You Malnourished?

Do you rely on caffeine to get you through your shift … whether that’s in the form of a coffee, soda or energy drink? 

Perhaps you rely on two, three, or maybe even more for an energy hit to keep you going?

Whilst I’m partial to a 1/2 strength latte or mocha myself, did you know that habitual caffeine intake can contribute to malnutrition? 

It does so by depleting key vitamins and minerals such as:

  • Iron – a single cup of coffee can reduce iron absorption from a meal by as much as 75%!
  • Calcium and Magnesium – half a cup of caffeine (50mg) depletes the body of calcium and magnesium. Larger doses deplete even more.
  • Potassium – 300mg of caffeine increases potassium loss by one third.
(more…)
Posted on

Are You Scared of Eating Fat?

If your answer is yes to this question it’s not surprising given, for many years, we were lead to believe that fat and cholesterol causes heart disease.  

However, this diet-heart hypothesis was later discredited as fraudulent science when the real culprit was, and still is, sugar.

For a quick overview of this – watch this short video titled ‘Big Fat Lie’s.

If you want to learn even more about this topic, I recommend reading Coronary Heart Disease: The Dietary Sense and Nonsense by G, Mann who stated in his book “the public is being deceived by the greatest health scam of the century”.

Anyway, getting back to the facts on fat.

(more…)
Posted on

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.

Posted on

Are We Over-Complicating Our Health?

If there’s one thing that’s really hit home over the last 12-months it’s this.

Taken from an excerpt from the book ’Blue Zones – 9 Lessons for Living Longer, From The People Who Have Lived The Longest’ by Dan Buettner.

Without a shadow of a doubt, our lifestyles are the chief determinant in how long we live.

The daily, weekly, monthly and yearly accumulation of behaviours including what we eat, watch, read, whom we hang out with all the way to how much we move … all play an instrumental role in how healthy we are right now.

These things are pretty much common sense – yet astonishingly, have been completely missing from all public health care policies worldwide at a time when its been needed the most.

But let’s face it. There have been a truckload of inconsistencies over the last 11-months.

(more…)
Posted on

Is Your Waist Circumference Sabotaging Your Immune System?

This week I’m talking about something called Central Adiposity, or the more fancy term being “Belly Fat”.

Why is this important?  

Well, just like high blood pressure, obesity has an inflammatory component which means it can interfere with the immune response and vice versa.

In a review published in the Proceedings of the Nutrition Society (2012), researchers stated:

Obesity, like other states of malnutrition, is known to impair the immune function, altering leukocyte counts as well as cell-mediated immune responses. In addition, evidence has arisen that an altered immune function contributes to the pathogenesis of obesity. 

When we’re carrying extra weight, especially around the middle, it shifts our biology out of balance because fat cells release pro-inflammatory proteins called cytokines.

In other words, fat cells are a living breathing thing. They’re not stagnant that just sit there and do nothing!

They’re actually endocrine cells because of their ability to secrete hormones and influence cells in other parts of the body, that in many cases, can lead to further weight gain.

Sorry, not exactly the rosiest of scenarios but it’s important that I tell it as it is!

(more…)