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.
