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00:12
Hey everyone, it's Mikki here. You're listening to Mini Mikkipedia on a Monday. And this Monday, I wanna chat about shift work. This is an unavoidable reality for over 40% of us. And in part, the shift work itself can bring about obviously issues with energy, with poor nutrition, with irregular exercise habits.

00:39
But all of these things can also contribute, conversely, to the health risks associated with shift work. Now, I've talked about the WHO classifications before in the Aspartame episode, so to do with artificial sweeteners and how the WHO would classify that. And it's probably not news to you, or at least people who do shift work, that the WHO also categorize shift work as a probable carcinogen.

01:09
Now, this doesn't mean that the shift work itself is detrimental to health necessarily, although there is certainly some evidence to suggest that the what we term circadian misalignment does contribute to poorer overall health. But a lot of what you do with diet and exercise and light exposure can really impact on how detrimental shift work can be. Because let's face it, for

01:38
those of us where it is an unavoidable reality and there's not much you can do about it, then appreciating that you can still be really healthy and do shift work I think is really well worth remembering because it can feel a little bit unmotivating or can instill a little bit of fear if you like. If you go down that route of I have to work shift work, it's terrible for my health, there's nothing I can do about it and the stress of that itself can also of course bring about unhealthy.

02:08
or unwanted sort of health behaviors. So I'm just gonna address just a few of the sort of issues that we know in literature impact our health due to shift work, but also the things that we can do or potentially could think about putting into our overall sort of routine to help mitigate some of those risks. Because a lot of it isn't necessarily the shift work itself, it's those behaviors and the.

02:36
patterns associated with exercise that contribute to this health risk. And the health risk itself are things like risk of heart disease, susceptibility to diabetes, asthma, increased cancer risk in some cancers, and also of course a tendency towards excess body fat gain that is unhealthy leading to a lot of these metabolic issues. And it can be a real balancing act.

03:05
whether or not you work sort of all night shift or you sort of swing between different shifts you are sort of going against what evolutionarily we're supposed to do as humans where we sort of like live by the sun and then we rest at night and in fact it might even be better if you were someone who always worked night shift or always did like an afternoon shift so you didn't have that sort of swing shift going on that sort of leaves your body

03:31
confused as to, you know, the circadian rhythm aspect and things like that. And some of the things I'm going to be talking about are not going to be possible for some people. And so again, I don't want you to go, oh, well, it's all right for these people because xyz, I may as well not do anything at all because there's no point. Think about some of these things and how they may be able to fit into your sort of lifestyle and whether or not these are going to help you overall just feel better.

03:58
Because one of the biggest complaints that I hear from clients who do night shift is just their energy is lacking. And then when their energy is lacking, they're not able to train as effectively or exercise as much. And that's really inconsistent for them. Or it's that their diet isn't great during those shift work hours because of the availability of these nutrient poor choices at work. And they feel they need them to help sort of prop the energy levels up.

04:28
across the night because of lack of sleep. And ultimately, that's one of the, I guess, the prevailing issues is that you're unable to get that sort of seven and a half or seven to eight hours sleep that we know is really important for health. However, one of the first things I would recommend and that people talk about is acceptance of your reality. You know, like recognize that this is your situation and that at least right in the here and now, night shift is what you have to do.

04:57
So you sort of have to just embrace that regardless of how ideal or otherwise it is, but this will help you sort of reduce that additional stress that you cannot change. So whilst you might not be able to change the fact that you work night shift, what are some of the things that you can do to help mitigate some of the risk? And then take ownership of the things you're doing to help there and build your confidence from the fact that you're doing some of these things which I suggest.

05:27
that then shifts your mindset into being more resilient. Human beings are resilient. This is something that we know. Like in these unideal situations, we can still be strong, we can still be lean, we can still be healthy, if you have the right mindset and framework around that. Because if you go into it with that mindset, then that is going to drive the behaviors and stuff that you undertake whilst during night shift. So first let's talk about diet.

05:56
So I think it's really important to prioritize your diet in and around this time. And we know that we metabolize and digest food much better during the day, that is how our sort of digestive system and all of the related hormones are set up to work most effectively in the day. And that's the same with our liver and our kidneys and our stomach. We metabolize nutrients much better. And research does show that

06:24
particularly carbohydrate and refined carbohydrate, we don't metabolize that as well in the nighttime. So the other thing around diet, which just from a sort of big picture scenario is that routine is really key. And particularly if you've got a weight loss goal, which not everyone does, and this isn't just about weight loss, but it's good to sort of remember this is that your body does like routine and it likes to have your meals around the certain

06:53
or the same time of day. So if you can, I would try to have meals at a similar time regardless of whether you're on night shift or you're on day shift or on your off shifts. And I know this can feel a little tricky and challenging, particularly if you're used to eating in the evening or across in your night shift as well. So some of the suggestions are to, when you have dinner before going into work to your night shift,

07:23
It's not a big deal actually to shift your dinner by say an hour to 90 minutes and have it as almost it's still dinner but that's like your first meal if you like and then try to go across the night without actually eating anything. Definitely stay hydrated, staring clear of caffeine. I would say like limit yourself to a coffee and don't try to have multiple coffees to sort of stay awake or energy drinks.

07:51
regardless of whether they're sugar free or otherwise, and try to just get in water, get in electrolytes, like element, mineral, MNRL, relight is another one, and try as much as you can to avoid some of the other things that you would get in work. Now I know that there are places, workplaces, clients report that they go into the tea room and there is like white bread and jam, and it's specifically there.

08:20
to help people with their flagging energy at work during night shift and to try and keep them awake. Or there might be leftovers from the morning tea through the day shift, like from a morning tea shout or a birthday shout that might be sort of just getting old and a bit crusty but still in that tea room. And when your energy drops and you're looking for something to perk you up, sugar is absolutely going to do it, but it's going to have...

08:46
it's not great for your metabolic health to have a lot of that refined carbs in the evening time. So you've got your dinner meal first and foremost and then ideally, and I'll talk about what to eat if you do need to eat during your shift, but ideally you would finish your shift, you would come home and you'd have a light sort of breakfast and then you would go to bed and then you would get up ideally eight hours later and then have another meal there.

09:14
With the second meal, it will be a little bit lighter because you're just about to go to bed. So things like your sort of standard sort of breakfast meal like maybe an omelet, scrambled eggs, like a protein sort of smoothie or a protein bowl. That might be something that you would try to have or even meat and a few veg, but try to keep it a little bit lower in fat so you are able to digest it quicker to then be able to sleep. I will talk about sleep strategies in a minute.

09:43
And then of course you get up and then that next meal might be like your lunch meal, like your standard salad and vegetables and no problems with fiber there, no problems with fat there. And then if you're about to work out, you can pop a bit of carb in that lunch meal. Carbs do help your body produce serotonin, which helps initiate sleep because that will then sort of convert to melatonin. So putting carbs in your breakfast meal upon getting home from shift and going to bed,

10:12
can be a really good idea as well, particularly if you struggle with sleep. So you've got your three meals and they're not gonna be that different from what they might be if you were just working a standard day shift or you were just off during the day. But they can vary sort of by about an hour in terms of timing for each meal, but try to keep them as consistent as possible because your body does like that routine. Across the evening, as I said, ideally you wouldn't eat, you would just remain hydrated. But if you do need to eat,

10:41
Try to eat foods that don't elicit that insulin response. Because carbohydrate, particularly at night, is not well metabolized by the body, so it's going to elevate your blood sugar more so than if you have it during the daytime hours. So if you do have to eat, I would stick to things like hard boiled eggs, leftover meat, maybe like some fiber like carrot sticks or a salad or something like that. But do try to keep it light and try to keep it minimal.

11:11
Now, the other thing to be mindful of is of course exercise. So what I would say is that if your sleep is really disrupted by shift work, then to my mind, your priority is not that ball-still-the-wall type training, you know, like the F45 or the CrossFit or a super hard training program that then leaves it really hard for you to recover because lack of sleep does increase that cortisol response.

11:38
and that does place an additional stress on the body that can be really difficult to overcome if it is a consistent stress. So things like getting in your incidental activity, steps, walking, things to help sort of reduce that cortisol response, engage that parasympathetic nervous system response, I think would be a better option. And then also when you do get into the gym, keep it short and sharp, do that heavy strength based work. And I say heavy, that's sort of quote unquote,

12:07
I don't mean you have to necessarily lift heavy weights, but you wanna place, you wanna do the type of work that places load on your system, but then it's, you know, you back off. So it's not like a super high intensity circuit for 60 minutes. It's more about that progressive overload strength training type model. Now.

12:29
This is not to say that you can't train for an Ironman or do a marathon or train for an Ultra because you're doing a shift work. And clearly we know so many people that do these events and have shift work. And indeed people who do shift work overnight probably are better suited to something like an Ultra where it does extend beyond daylight hours. But I guess my point is understand and manage your stress response to it.

12:55
and know when to back off and take recovery and when to schedule your sort of training sessions so you're not just loading stress upon stress upon stress. And if you do go through a period where you're unable to get the amount of sleep that you need in order to recover, I would probably dial back the training, particularly if you can't change your work environment, you do need to change something else. So I would probably dial back that training and reevaluate some of your goals around your training.

13:25
particularly around events if life and work is getting on top of you. Also, you know, when you are during that sleep, sorry, during your shift work, have a think about the movement that's happening in that shift. So schedule movement breaks every hour, walk during slow periods, take the stairs, you can do push-ups and squats and things like that anywhere. So, you know, maybe this is the thing that you do when you know that you can't

13:55
you can't do that sort of structured activity because we have to prioritize sleep in your sort of days off. So that's something to be mindful of as well. Another thing around sleep is to, or in particularly around sleep and light, because this is a thing, it is of course sleep is really important, but it's your exposure to light that then sort of impacts on all of these things that we're talking about, like the way that your body metabolizes nutrients.

14:22
the stress load that's placed on the body and things like that. So try to mimic daylight patterns as much as you can. So illuminate your workspace as much as possible. So make sure you've got really bright lights at night because that's when you want it. So you're sort of tricking your brain into being awake. But of course, as you shift near its ends, if you've got some blue light blocking glasses, I would put them on so your brain starts to...

14:50
dampen and dim down that light. So it sort of thinks that now it's nighttime. So you're sort of tricking your brain a little bit. I wonder if now is a really good time to tell you that if you have blue light blocking lenses in your everyday glasses, I would try to swap them out so you don't have that. And you do get exposure to that natural light when you should have it. This is for anyone, not night shift workers, but just for anyone.

15:17
the real thing right now that a lot of the prescription glasses are actually coming automatically with blue light blocking lenses. So just talk to your, talk to the manufacturer of your glasses or the shop that you're buying them from about that. But anyway, blue light blocking glasses though, are actually going to be good for you in those sort of couple of hours leading up to the end of your shift. And then on your way home, you might want to wear sunglasses or something like that, that'll cut out that blue light.

15:47
and you get home, try as much as possible to sort of block any of the light that's really coming in, that natural light, because you want to try and simulate the fact that it's night time and you're about to go to bed. So have the light meal as I talked about that's easy to digest, potentially add in those carbs if you struggle with sleep, be it rice, be it potatoes, sweet potato, rolled oats, something like that. You don't need a ton, but include them in your meal.

16:16
And then in your actual bedroom, you do want those to try and block out as much natural light as possible. Ideally, you'll have the air temperature will be cool and wear an eye mask and ideally earplugs if you can handle anything in your ear. I mean, it would be amazing if you could get eight hours sleep, but I don't know many people that can or at least clients and friends of mine who do night shift. So try to allow for eight hours in bed.

16:43
and do as much as you can to get that sleep that you need. Try not to engage with devices in the sort of couple of hours leading up to the end of your shift as much as possible. I mean, I know some people can't avoid the computer but that's where the blue light blocking sort of glasses come in and don't sort of engage in video games or on your phone or TV as a way to relax and get to sleep. Like try these other things.

17:13
could be really helpful. Also, taking a ZMA supplement can help you relax and that's easy to find in a supplement shop. And ZMA is a nutrition supplement that contains zinc, magnesium, and vitamin B6. Now, the magnesium I like, if it wasn't a ZMA supplement, would be the magnesium powder from Mega Magnesium, which has magnesium,

17:42
Glycinate also helps cool the body temperature and gets your brain sort of ready for sleep. It also has B6 in it along with taurine. And I do know one that is quite popular at the minute, it's the Pillars brand of supplements. So they've got a really good magnesium also. So taking something like that can also help your brain wind down, help you relax and sort of prepare yourself for sleep. Now

18:09
We can't get melatonin across the counter here in New Zealand. There are studies to say that three milligrams of melatonin, obviously, can help initiate sleep. It does more than that as well. Melatonin is an antioxidant, actually, so it can be super beneficial for health and reducing free radical damage and oxidative stress. But three milligrams is actually quite a lot.

18:35
given it's probably about 10 times the amount that we naturally sort of produce. So I would be mindful of that if you are asking your doctor for prescription melatonin to help with sleep or anything like that, be really mindful of the dose. And then when you get up, get as much natural light in as possible. And when you get up, that's sort of the time where you're ideally you're outside, getting fresh air, getting your exercise in.

19:01
And across the evening time before you go to work, make sure you've got that artificial light really bright to help you wake up. And during sort of winter days where there's not a lot of sunlight, where the sun sort of goes down at, you know, four or five o'clock, this is when getting the sort of the seasonal light devices like the sun box can be really helpful. And even having that in your peripheral vision when you eat your lunch or eat your dinner or something like that.

19:31
can really help with getting your brain alert and active for the evening to come. So overall with diet, exercise, and your sleep patterns, you can really mitigate a lot of the risk factors associated with engaging in shift work over a long period of time. Because a lot of the implications of shift work really do stem from these metabolic problems that occur through to

19:59
blood sugar mismanagement or dysregulation and inability to exercise and gaining weight because of the lack of exercise and the poor nutrition habits that occur overnight. So a lot of this is within your control, even if the shift work isn't. So in summary then, diet, you want it to be routine and consistent. You want it to be high protein.

20:29
carbohydrate in the meal before you go to sleep. You want to ideally fast overnight but remain hydrated. Yet if you are eating, make sure it's sort of protein and a bit of fiber and not like high fat or not high carbohydrate. With your exercise, you wanna listen to your body's cues so you're not overstressing the system. And if you are overstressing the system, make sure that you're doing that.

20:55
You know, you're getting a lot of that incidental activity. You're doing some of the sort of strength-based training stuff and that's your priority. But of course, absolutely train the way that you can for your event if you need to, but just monitor your recovery from that and understand when you might need to sort of pull back or when it's okay to go sort of full throttle. And of course, your sleep is absolutely key and really setting up your

21:22
sort of sleep hygiene to simulate nighttime in the morning is going to be your best bet to helping your body recover and helping sort of mitigate a lot of the issues that we see with shift work. And I went through a number of the things that you can do that can help support you with that. And I mean, I did mention caffeine and I will say again, try as much as you can to steer clear of it across your night shift.

21:48
and limit it to just before you go to work rather than across the shift. And look, all of this is the ideal situation. And ideally, you would have all of these things in place, but there is no such thing as, oh no, there is. There is excellence and there is perfect. And no one is perfect, but you can sort of aim to be excellent in a few of these areas. So hopefully for those people who do do shift work, there are some tips here that either you're doing, you're like, oh cool, the research supports what I'm doing.

22:18
I might try that actually that doesn't sound like a bad idea. So that's shift work for you. We are resilient. You know, it's not ideal for our long term health to be doing shift work, but you can manage your situation with some of these strategies and just be that awesome person. All right, team, have a great week. You can catch me on threads, Instagram and Twitter @mikkiwilliden.

22:47
over on Facebook @mikkiwillidennutrition. Head to my website, mikkiwilliden.com, book a one-on-one call with me or sign up to one of my fat loss plans. All right, team, see you later.