December 18, 2025 • 26 mins
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We break down how shift work disrupts circadian rhythms and why that drives metabolic, cardiovascular, gut, immune and mental health risks. Then we lay out practical, evidence-based steps for sleep timing, light control, meal timing, movement and routines that protect your body.
• Circadian disruption as the root driver of health risks
• Metabolic strain, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
• Cardiovascular load, elevated blood pressure and resting heart rate
• Gut issues, poor nutrient absorption and late heavy meals
• Immune suppression from short or broken sleep
• Mental health effects, fatigue and decision fatigue
• Unhelpful coping tools like alcohol, nicotine and energy drinks
• Core strategies: sleep timing, light exposure, caffeine cut-off
• Meal timing with earlier calories and lighter dinners
• Simple movement targets and daily walking
• Routines that anchor the body across seven days
If this episode helped you, can you do me a favor? Could you please share it with another shift worker? Share it to your wall. Share it to your Instagram story. Share it everywhere so they know.
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealthyshift.com.
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ANNOUNCING
"The Shift Workers Collective"
https://join.ahealthyshift.com/the-shift-workers-collective
Click the link to learn all about it
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YOU CAN FIND ME AT
_____________________
Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.
_______________________
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (03:17):
Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to
be.
Welcome to a healthy shift.
My name is Roger Sutherland,certified nutritionist, veteran
law enforcement officer and 24-7shift worker for almost four
decades.
Through this podcast, I aim toeducate shift workers using
evidence-based methods to notonly survive the rigors of shift
(03:40):
work, but thrive.
My goal is to empower shiftworkers to improve their health
and well-being so they have moreenergy to do the things they
love.
Enjoy today's show.
And welcome back to anotherepisode of a healthy shift
podcast.
My name, I'm your guide, RogerSutherland, and I'm here to help
(04:03):
you to navigate the impacts ofshift work.
Now, what I wanted to say is ifyou work shifts, then this
episode really matters, okay?
I know we're in a stage where atthe moment it seems like all I'm
talking about is the doom,gloom, the severe impacts of
shift work.
(04:23):
But if you really listen to whatI'm doing, what I'm actually
doing is educating you to showyou how much certain things are
impacting on your shift worklong term, on your health.
And then I give you strategieson how to combat it because I
honestly and sincerely feel thatthe more I flag these issues
(04:46):
with you so that you understand,then the more informed you are
that you can turn around andmake a big decision as to how
you can go about combating that.
Now, I'm not for a moment sayingthat night shift is something
(05:09):
that's healthy for our systembecause the exposure to
artificial light at night andbeing awake at night when we
should be asleep as a diurnalcreature is extremely unhealthy
on us.
But what we do as shift workersis through lack of education, we
are actually sabotaging our ownhealth.
(05:29):
And I'm here to change that.
I'm here to educate you on theway you can actually go about
doing shift work so that you canunderstand how to closely align
your circadian rhythm wheneverpossible.
Because all research in the pasthas been done on shift workers
that without any education atall.
(05:51):
And there is some unbelievablescientists and researchers out
there at the moment that aredoing an awful lot of work to
try and help you, the shiftworker.
Now, all of that research willliterally just sit on the
shelves in journals gatheringdust if you don't have someone
like me on this platformhighlighting to you the
(06:12):
debilitating effects of shiftwork.
But how are they actually sayingthat it's optimal way for us to
go about doing it?
So, what I can do is I can readthe research and then I can
distill it into an operationalenvironment to actually help you
the best possible way to goabout doing shift work.
(06:33):
So, today, this is the reasonwhy I've released this episode
and it's shift work health risksand how long-term shift work
impacts your body and what youcan do about it.
I want to be quite clear aboutthis.
Where you're at today in yourshift working life, if you don't
do more, you are going to findthat shift work is going to
(06:54):
really take hold of you.
And if there's one thing that Ido know for an absolute fact, is
majority of people only evercome to me and approach me at
the end when they are absolutelyat the bottom of the pit.
And then it seems sooverwhelming that for a way to
find a way out of it that itcauses them all sorts of
(07:17):
problems.
Mentally, they're alreadycompletely beaten.
And I don't want to see shiftworkers in that space.
My goal is to actually get intothe education side of shift work
so that I can help corporatesand help shift working
environments as to the best wayto go about navigating shift
(07:39):
work before it actually getshold of you.
So you can actually do somethingabout it and put things in
place.
I want to see healthy andthriving shift work environments
where people are strong, theyhave great lives outside of
their shift working life so thatwhen they do eventually end up
at work, then they actually feelfantastic about what they're
(08:02):
doing.
And then you get a thriving anda really high morale workplace.
It makes me really sad that Ilook at today and that there's
not any money or not enoughmoney that's actually being
spent in the health andwell-being area in shift working
environments.
They're just not seeing thevalue of it.
(08:23):
You heard me talk about this onthe radio a few weeks uh last
week, and I spoke about thisthat one of the biggest problems
is they're hemorrhaging staffleft, right, and center, and
they think the way out of thisis to actually re-recruit.
What about if you actuallystarted looking after the people
that were working in theworkplace and looking after them
(08:45):
so that you're you're keepingand retaining that staff?
I'm gonna be quite clear, and Isaid this in a big statement on
the radio the other night, andthat is that fatigue and
burnout, burnout do not wait fora budget allocation, and they're
not going to.
So, shift work environments, youneed to be looking at these
things.
You need to be looking at theeducation.
(09:07):
Reach out to me and I will helpyou the best possible way that I
can.
Got a new platform coming soon,which is really exciting for the
corporates.
Um, I can't talk about it yet,but it's getting finalized.
I'm presenting it for the firsttime this week, and I'm really
excited to be presenting whatwe're actually doing.
And you are it's going to blowyour mind.
(09:29):
So let's get on with thisepisode of the show.
That was a bit of a rant at thestart there, but I want to say
this quite clearly.
(09:52):
20% of the world population,right?
That's that's one in five.
(11:18):
But it also puts such a stresson the body that most people
just never see.
You working it, sometimes youfeel a bit tired, sometimes you
feel a bit blah, you get thecold, you get the sniffles, and
you think, oh yeah, anyway, andyou just put it down to shift
work.
But today, I want to talk aboutthe long-term health risks of
(11:39):
shift work.
Not to scare you, and I'vespoken about that, but to help
you to understand what'shappening and what there is that
you can actually do about it.
Because once you understand therisks, then, as I've said
before, a bit earlier, it givesyou the opportunity to make an
informed decision and you canactually reduce them, which is
my goal moving forward.
(11:59):
So, why does shift work actuallyaffect our long-term health?
It's that simple.
It is this simple.
This simple.
Shift work disrupts a circadianrhythm.
There you are, there's the endof the episode.
Joking.
Shift work disrupts ourbiological clock, and that
biological clock is actuallycontrolling our sleep, our
(12:20):
hormones, our digestion, ourmetabolism, immune function,
mental health, and the list justgoes on and on and on.
That biological clock that isseated in the supracosmatic
nucleus in our brain iscontrolling so much.
And when your schedule keepschanging, your body can't keep
up and it never fully adapts.
(12:42):
And this creates an ongoinginternal stress in our body.
Now, over time, that stressstarts to show up as health
problems in shift workers.
And I'm just going to walk youthrough some of the main ones so
that you are actually aware.
Metabolic health and weight gainis number one.
(13:02):
Shift workers are at a muchhigher risk of weight gain and
metabolic problems.
And here's why.
When we eat at night, itactually goes against our
biology.
Insulin sensitivity drops duringthe biological night.
And this is how your bodyhandles sugar and carbohydrates,
and it runs really poorly atthat time.
(13:23):
And yet, what do we eat?
Highly palatable carbohydratesand fats, and that's what causes
us all sorts of problems.
Then, on top of that, what we dois we add in poor sleep,
fatigue, and our hunger hormonesget disrupted.
You, you feel hungrier, you getyour cravings, those cravings
increase, energy drops.
We then start craving highlypalatable carbohydrates and
(13:46):
fats.
Just so you know, this isn'tabout willpower.
It's actually about the timing.
And over time, this increasesthe risk of insulin resistance
and wait for it.
Type 2 diabetes is incrediblyprevalent in our shift working
community.
And this is something that wereally need to be aware of.
(14:07):
Because type 2 diabetes is notsomething you go, oh, I've got
type 2 diabetes, I'll just takesome shots.
The problem that you have thereis you're gonna have to prick
your finger every couple oftimes a day, you're gonna have
to monitor your blood sugar.
It means that you run the riskof all the complications that go
with type 2 diabetes as well,and there are many scary in
(14:31):
itself.
Number two is our cardiovascularhealth, nothing important, just
that long-term shift workincreases the risk of heart
disease.
Heart?
Do we need that?
Yeah, we kind of do.
It sort of keeps us going, ourheart.
Sleep loss raises our bloodpressure and it causes us
massive problems there.
Circadian disruption alsoincreases inflammation and our
(14:55):
stress hormones start stayelevated.
Now, when these systems areconstantly switched on, our
heart takes a hit.
It's beating faster.
Some of the data that I seecoming through from clients in
relation to their resting heartrate is terrifying.
When you consider that myresting heart rate since I've
(15:17):
given up shift work, even as a61-year-old, hovers around the
50 beats per minute.
I think that's pretty good.
And it's not bad for someone myage.
It could be better, but it's notbad.
I've got clients coming to mewith heart rates around 70 as a
resting.
That's 20 beats per minute more.
20 beats per minute.
(15:39):
Have a think about that.
And that's the impact that shiftwork has.
And they think they're healthyor they think they're doing
well.
The strain that that is puttingon their bodies is incredible.
So we need to be working hard onthis area.
This is something that we needto really get on top of it.
So irregular eating, poorrecovery, and limited movement
(16:02):
all add to our cardiovascularload.
And this is one of the mostwell-documented long-term risks
of shift work.
Okay.
The next one is digestive healthand gut issues.
So many of our shift workerslive with gut problems.
And when you understand thebiology of it all, particularly
for you females, you canunderstand why.
(16:25):
Bloating, reflux, constipation,diarrhea, irritable bowel
syndromes, it all is a massiveissue.
Gas, it's all massive issuesaround shift working health, gut
health.
Your gut also is running on acircadian rhythm.
It is also your second brain.
(16:46):
So when meals come at randomtimes and you're awake when you
should be asleep, and you'reasleep when you should be awake,
is it any wonder that your gutfunction suffers?
Now, late heavy meals slow downdigestion.
Poor sleep, it affects our gutbacteria.
And stress reduces our digestiveefficiency because the last
(17:06):
thing our body wants to be doingis digesting when it is
stressed, when it's in fight orflight.
It makes sense when you thinkabout it.
And over time, this actuallyimpacts on our nutrient
absorption and our overallhealth suffers.
Think about that.
Stress.
If it's not absorbing thecorrect nutrients from our food,
(17:27):
we're going to have long-termhealth problems.
Number four is the immune systemsuppression.
Shift workers, without anydoubt, it's well documented, get
sick more often.
The reason?
Sleep is when your immune systemresets.
When sleep is short or broken,we have massive issues with our
(17:48):
immune cells not working aswell.
And circadian disruption alsoaffects how your body responds
to viruses and inflammation.
Inflammation.
Now, this means that slowerrecovery equals higher illness
risk.
It's it just goes withoutsaying.
And we don't put sleep as apriority.
(18:08):
We slam down caffeine drinks, wedon't sleep properly, we get the
car serviced on days, we're onnight shift, we're running kids
around.
You've got to think about it.
Sleep is so important.
It's also when our braindetoxifies.
While we are sleeping as well,melatonin is elevated, it is
attacking the free radicals inour system, which are the cancer
(18:29):
cells running around.
We need to be focusing a lotmore on sleep.
And I did an episode last weekin relation to mental health.
And the mental health andcognitive decline is very
prevalent in shift workers.
We often see separate physicaland mental health.
Sorry, we often separatephysical and mental health, but
(18:50):
our body does not.
The long-term circadiandisruption increases a much
higher risk of anxiety anddepression in shift workers.
Our focus drops, our memoryweakens, decision making becomes
a lot harder.
And chronic fatigue changesliterally how our brain
(19:10):
functions and performs.
Our mood becomes less stable,our stress tolerance drops.
How short are we when we'retired and fatigued?
Again, this is biology.
It's not weakness.
This is the thing that we haveto remember.
And then to top it off, ournumber six is we have an
(19:32):
increased reliance on unhealthycoping tools.
Struggling to sleep.
Fatigue pushes people towardsquick fixes, right?
Reaching for supplement bottles,opening another stubby, opening
another can, smoking anotherdart.
Fatigue pushes people towardsthese quick fixes.
Ultra-processed food.
I can't be bothered.
(19:53):
I'll just get Uber Eats.
Sugary snacks.
Those goddamn energy drinks,alcohol, nicotine, drugs.
These help short term, but theyactually harm you long term.
They worsen your sleep, theyincrease inflammation, they
disrupt your blood sugar, andthey amplify your mental health
issues.
It numbs it for a while, but itjust exacerbates it down the
(20:16):
track.
So the key point is shift workis literally increasing your
health risks, but it doesn'tguarantee poor health.
The difference actually comesdown to a strategy, and this is
what I want to talk about now.
So let's talk about how we canactually reduce the damage.
Now, strategies to reduce ourlong-term health risks, and I
(20:40):
need you to keep this in mind.
You don't have to be perfect.
All you need is consistency andintention.
Have a plan and maintainconsistency with it.
Number one is to protect sleepas number one.
Protect it first.
Sleep is not optional for yourhealth.
(21:00):
Aim for enough sleep.
Get the timing of your sleepright.
That is more important.
Don't go to bed thinking I'vegot to get eight hours.
I must get eight hours.
So therefore, I'll takemedications to get eight hours
because you're not asleep onmedication.
Focus on timing.
Your body is a diurnal creature.
(21:21):
It wants to be awake during theday.
So make sure that you're awakeduring the day and getting up as
early as you can and creating asmuch light as you can.
And at night, we want to createa pitch black, cool sleep space.
I've said it again.
Hold your arm out in front ofyour face, turn your hand to
face you.
(21:42):
If you can see your hand in yoursleep environment on an
outstretched arm, then it is toolight.
You need a sleep mask.
Block light after your nightshifts and limit caffeine after
12 o'clock.
In fact, no caffeine after 12o'clock.
What about we use the 12 o'clockrule, which I've spoken about?
(22:03):
No caffeine after 12 on dayshift or afternoon shift.
No caffeine after 12 on nightshift.
It's a simple rule, it's easy tostick to.
And the one thing you need toremember is the less caffeine
you have, the less you need it.
Sleep is the foundation of everyother system in our body.
All right.
Number two is to control ourlight exposure.
(22:26):
Light is literally what tellsyour brain what time it is, it
tells it where it is at in timeand space.
Really important.
As soon as you wake up, you needto get daylight.
Not light in your house, notlying in bed looking at your
phone.
It's not enough.
You need to get daylight.
Avoid bright light when you needto wind down.
(22:47):
We need to avoid artificiallight at night.
No artificial light after thesun's gone down.
I know it's easy to say, butit's even better when you do it.
And on your way home from yournight shift, block that light
with blue light blockingglasses.
(23:07):
Not something from a pharmacythat says it's got blue light in
it, because it's not blockingthe blue that needs to be
blocked.
They need to be those orangecolored lens, those orangey
ones.
Because that's what's blockingthe blue.
Now this helps to reset yourbody clock.
It supports your hormones, yourmood, and your metabolism.
(23:28):
It will absolutely help you withsleep.
Number three is to beintentional with your meal
timing.
Let me simplify this.
Eat at breakfast, lunch, anddinner time of a normal day
walker.
Front load your calories tobreakfast and to lunch and
lighten it up at dinner time,and you watch the difference
(23:51):
that it makes to not only weightbut also to how you're actually
feeling.
We must avoid heavy meals duringthe biological night, which is
from 9 pm until 6 a.m.
Eat your main meals when yourbody is better prepared to
handle food, which is in theearlier part of the day.
And when we focus on protein,fibre, and whole foods, we
(24:15):
actually feel fuller for longerand we don't get those blood
sugar spikes and crashes.
Plan your meals to avoid beingdrawn to the vending machine.
And consistency matters morethan perfection.
So just try and get.
The right things.
Pick a meal.
Pick the most difficult meal ina day and get that one right.
(24:37):
It will make a huge difference.
The next one, move your bodyregularly.
Exercise improves insulinsensitivity.
That's what we want.
This is what shuttles theglucose into the muscle and
helps us to burn it.
It reduces stress hormones.
It supports heart health and itsupports your mood.
Now you don't have to have longsessions.
(24:57):
You don't have to go into thegym and do massive, great long
sessions.
Just short and regular movementis enough.
My biggest bang for buckmovement is to get out and do a
walk.
And you every day should be ableto do a minimum of 8 to 10,000
steps.
I get 10,000 steps by accidentwithout even trying.
(25:19):
I average around 15,000.
So I think you should be able toget a minimum of 8 to 10,000
steps a day, and the benefits ofthat are enormous.
Number five is to reduce alcoholand nicotine.
Both disrupt sleep and worsencircadian disruption, like you
would not believe.
(25:40):
Less is better, none is best.
There is no safe level ofalcohol, there is no safe level
of nicotine.
And that includes those nicotinegums as well.
No, just no.
And this alone will improve yourenergy, your mood, and your
recovery as well.
Number six is to build simpleroutines.
(26:00):
Routines calm our nervoussystem, our body doesn't have to
make decisions.
It's a simple routine.
This is what I do.
Have a wake-up ritual, have apre-sleep ritual, have regular
meal patterns on workdays andweekends.
Stick to it for the whole sevendays.
Because these anchors help yourbody to feel safer and much more
(26:21):
stable.
Now, let's just wrap this oneup.
All right.
I've told you the debilitatingeffects.
I've given you some strategies.
Pick one, go back through thispodcast, have a listen back, and
pick those simple routines,moving your body, getting
intentional with your mealtiming, and it makes a big
(26:42):
difference to you.
Shift work is demanding.
I make no secret of it.
I've done it for 40 years.
But understanding the healthrisks, understanding the health
risks and what causes themactually puts you back in the
driver's seat.
You can't change your roster.
That's out of your hands.
But what you can do is changehow your body responds to it.
(27:03):
Sleep, daylight, food, movement,routines, and habits.
These are not extras.
What these are is actuallyprotective tools for your body.
Thanks for listening to today.
If this episode helped you, canyou do me a favor?
Could you please share it withanother shift worker?
(27:26):
Share it to your wall.
Share it to your Instagramstory.
Share it everywhere so theyknow.
And if you want to go deeper,you can follow
ahealthyshift.com.
Thank you for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure to subscribe so you get
notified whenever a new episodeis released.
(27:48):
It would also be ever so helpfulif you could leave a rating and
review on the app you'recurrently listening on.
If you want to know more aboutme or work with me, you can go
to ahealthyshift.com.
I'll catch you on the next one.
Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to
be.
Welcome to a healthy shift.
My name is Roger Sutherland,certified nutritionist, veteran
law enforcement officer and 24-7shift worker for almost four
decades.
Through this podcast, I aim toeducate shift workers using
evidence-based methods to notonly survive the rigors of shift
(03:40):
work, but thrive.
My goal is to empower shiftworkers to improve their health
and well-being so they have moreenergy to do the things they
love.
Enjoy today's show.
And welcome back to anotherepisode of a healthy shift
podcast.
My name, I'm your guide, RogerSutherland, and I'm here to help
(04:03):
you to navigate the impacts ofshift work.
Now, what I wanted to say is ifyou work shifts, then this
episode really matters, okay?
I know we're in a stage where atthe moment it seems like all I'm
talking about is the doom,gloom, the severe impacts of
shift work.
(04:23):
But if you really listen to whatI'm doing, what I'm actually
doing is educating you to showyou how much certain things are
impacting on your shift worklong term, on your health.
And then I give you strategieson how to combat it because I
honestly and sincerely feel thatthe more I flag these issues
(04:46):
with you so that you understand,then the more informed you are
that you can turn around andmake a big decision as to how
you can go about combating that.
Now, I'm not for a moment sayingthat night shift is something
(05:09):
that's healthy for our systembecause the exposure to
artificial light at night andbeing awake at night when we
should be asleep as a diurnalcreature is extremely unhealthy
on us.
But what we do as shift workersis through lack of education, we
are actually sabotaging our ownhealth.
(05:29):
And I'm here to change that.
I'm here to educate you on theway you can actually go about
doing shift work so that you canunderstand how to closely align
your circadian rhythm wheneverpossible.
Because all research in the pasthas been done on shift workers
that without any education atall.
(05:51):
And there is some unbelievablescientists and researchers out
there at the moment that aredoing an awful lot of work to
try and help you, the shiftworker.
Now, all of that research willliterally just sit on the
shelves in journals gatheringdust if you don't have someone
like me on this platformhighlighting to you the
(06:12):
debilitating effects of shiftwork.
But how are they actually sayingthat it's optimal way for us to
go about doing it?
So, what I can do is I can readthe research and then I can
distill it into an operationalenvironment to actually help you
the best possible way to goabout doing shift work.
(06:33):
So, today, this is the reasonwhy I've released this episode
and it's shift work health risksand how long-term shift work
impacts your body and what youcan do about it.
I want to be quite clear aboutthis.
Where you're at today in yourshift working life, if you don't
do more, you are going to findthat shift work is going to
(06:54):
really take hold of you.
And if there's one thing that Ido know for an absolute fact, is
majority of people only evercome to me and approach me at
the end when they are absolutelyat the bottom of the pit.
And then it seems sooverwhelming that for a way to
find a way out of it that itcauses them all sorts of
(07:17):
problems.
Mentally, they're alreadycompletely beaten.
And I don't want to see shiftworkers in that space.
My goal is to actually get intothe education side of shift work
so that I can help corporatesand help shift working
environments as to the best wayto go about navigating shift
(07:39):
work before it actually getshold of you.
So you can actually do somethingabout it and put things in
place.
I want to see healthy andthriving shift work environments
where people are strong, theyhave great lives outside of
their shift working life so thatwhen they do eventually end up
at work, then they actually feelfantastic about what they're
(08:02):
doing.
And then you get a thriving anda really high morale workplace.
It makes me really sad that Ilook at today and that there's
not any money or not enoughmoney that's actually being
spent in the health andwell-being area in shift working
environments.
They're just not seeing thevalue of it.
(08:23):
You heard me talk about this onthe radio a few weeks uh last
week, and I spoke about thisthat one of the biggest problems
is they're hemorrhaging staffleft, right, and center, and
they think the way out of thisis to actually re-recruit.
What about if you actuallystarted looking after the people
that were working in theworkplace and looking after them
(08:45):
so that you're you're keepingand retaining that staff?
I'm gonna be quite clear, and Isaid this in a big statement on
the radio the other night, andthat is that fatigue and
burnout, burnout do not wait fora budget allocation, and they're
not going to.
So, shift work environments, youneed to be looking at these
things.
You need to be looking at theeducation.
(09:07):
Reach out to me and I will helpyou the best possible way that I
can.
Got a new platform coming soon,which is really exciting for the
corporates.
Um, I can't talk about it yet,but it's getting finalized.
I'm presenting it for the firsttime this week, and I'm really
excited to be presenting whatwe're actually doing.
And you are it's going to blowyour mind.
(09:29):
So let's get on with thisepisode of the show.
That was a bit of a rant at thestart there, but I want to say
this quite clearly.
(09:52):
20% of the world population,right?
That's that's one in five.
(11:18):
But it also puts such a stresson the body that most people
just never see.
You working it, sometimes youfeel a bit tired, sometimes you
feel a bit blah, you get thecold, you get the sniffles, and
you think, oh yeah, anyway, andyou just put it down to shift
work.
But today, I want to talk aboutthe long-term health risks of
(11:39):
shift work.
Not to scare you, and I'vespoken about that, but to help
you to understand what'shappening and what there is that
you can actually do about it.
Because once you understand therisks, then, as I've said
before, a bit earlier, it givesyou the opportunity to make an
informed decision and you canactually reduce them, which is
my goal moving forward.
(11:59):
So, why does shift work actuallyaffect our long-term health?
It's that simple.
It is this simple.
This simple.
Shift work disrupts a circadianrhythm.
There you are, there's the endof the episode.
Joking.
Shift work disrupts ourbiological clock, and that
biological clock is actuallycontrolling our sleep, our
(12:20):
hormones, our digestion, ourmetabolism, immune function,
mental health, and the list justgoes on and on and on.
That biological clock that isseated in the supracosmatic
nucleus in our brain iscontrolling so much.
And when your schedule keepschanging, your body can't keep
up and it never fully adapts.
(12:42):
And this creates an ongoinginternal stress in our body.
Now, over time, that stressstarts to show up as health
problems in shift workers.
And I'm just going to walk youthrough some of the main ones so
that you are actually aware.
Metabolic health and weight gainis number one.
(13:02):
Shift workers are at a muchhigher risk of weight gain and
metabolic problems.
And here's why.
When we eat at night, itactually goes against our
biology.
Insulin sensitivity drops duringthe biological night.
And this is how your bodyhandles sugar and carbohydrates,
and it runs really poorly atthat time.
(13:23):
And yet, what do we eat?
Highly palatable carbohydratesand fats, and that's what causes
us all sorts of problems.
Then, on top of that, what we dois we add in poor sleep,
fatigue, and our hunger hormonesget disrupted.
You, you feel hungrier, you getyour cravings, those cravings
increase, energy drops.
We then start craving highlypalatable carbohydrates and
(13:46):
fats.
Just so you know, this isn'tabout willpower.
It's actually about the timing.
And over time, this increasesthe risk of insulin resistance
and wait for it.
Type 2 diabetes is incrediblyprevalent in our shift working
community.
And this is something that wereally need to be aware of.
(14:07):
Because type 2 diabetes is notsomething you go, oh, I've got
type 2 diabetes, I'll just takesome shots.
The problem that you have thereis you're gonna have to prick
your finger every couple oftimes a day, you're gonna have
to monitor your blood sugar.
It means that you run the riskof all the complications that go
with type 2 diabetes as well,and there are many scary in
(14:31):
itself.
Number two is our cardiovascularhealth, nothing important, just
that long-term shift workincreases the risk of heart
disease.
Heart?
Do we need that?
Yeah, we kind of do.
It sort of keeps us going, ourheart.
Sleep loss raises our bloodpressure and it causes us
massive problems there.
Circadian disruption alsoincreases inflammation and our
(14:55):
stress hormones start stayelevated.
Now, when these systems areconstantly switched on, our
heart takes a hit.
It's beating faster.
Some of the data that I seecoming through from clients in
relation to their resting heartrate is terrifying.
When you consider that myresting heart rate since I've
(15:17):
given up shift work, even as a61-year-old, hovers around the
50 beats per minute.
I think that's pretty good.
And it's not bad for someone myage.
It could be better, but it's notbad.
I've got clients coming to mewith heart rates around 70 as a
resting.
That's 20 beats per minute more.
20 beats per minute.
(15:39):
Have a think about that.
And that's the impact that shiftwork has.
And they think they're healthyor they think they're doing
well.
The strain that that is puttingon their bodies is incredible.
So we need to be working hard onthis area.
This is something that we needto really get on top of it.
So irregular eating, poorrecovery, and limited movement
(16:02):
all add to our cardiovascularload.
And this is one of the mostwell-documented long-term risks
of shift work.
Okay.
The next one is digestive healthand gut issues.
So many of our shift workerslive with gut problems.
And when you understand thebiology of it all, particularly
for you females, you canunderstand why.
(16:25):
Bloating, reflux, constipation,diarrhea, irritable bowel
syndromes, it all is a massiveissue.
Gas, it's all massive issuesaround shift working health, gut
health.
Your gut also is running on acircadian rhythm.
It is also your second brain.
(16:46):
So when meals come at randomtimes and you're awake when you
should be asleep, and you'reasleep when you should be awake,
is it any wonder that your gutfunction suffers?
Now, late heavy meals slow downdigestion.
Poor sleep, it affects our gutbacteria.
And stress reduces our digestiveefficiency because the last
(17:06):
thing our body wants to be doingis digesting when it is
stressed, when it's in fight orflight.
It makes sense when you thinkabout it.
And over time, this actuallyimpacts on our nutrient
absorption and our overallhealth suffers.
Think about that.
Stress.
If it's not absorbing thecorrect nutrients from our food,
(17:27):
we're going to have long-termhealth problems.
Number four is the immune systemsuppression.
Shift workers, without anydoubt, it's well documented, get
sick more often.
The reason?
Sleep is when your immune systemresets.
When sleep is short or broken,we have massive issues with our
(17:48):
immune cells not working aswell.
And circadian disruption alsoaffects how your body responds
to viruses and inflammation.
Inflammation.
Now, this means that slowerrecovery equals higher illness
risk.
It's it just goes withoutsaying.
And we don't put sleep as apriority.
(18:08):
We slam down caffeine drinks, wedon't sleep properly, we get the
car serviced on days, we're onnight shift, we're running kids
around.
You've got to think about it.
Sleep is so important.
It's also when our braindetoxifies.
While we are sleeping as well,melatonin is elevated, it is
attacking the free radicals inour system, which are the cancer
(18:29):
cells running around.
We need to be focusing a lotmore on sleep.
And I did an episode last weekin relation to mental health.
And the mental health andcognitive decline is very
prevalent in shift workers.
We often see separate physicaland mental health.
Sorry, we often separatephysical and mental health, but
(18:50):
our body does not.
The long-term circadiandisruption increases a much
higher risk of anxiety anddepression in shift workers.
Our focus drops, our memoryweakens, decision making becomes
a lot harder.
And chronic fatigue changesliterally how our brain
(19:10):
functions and performs.
Our mood becomes less stable,our stress tolerance drops.
How short are we when we'retired and fatigued?
Again, this is biology.
It's not weakness.
This is the thing that we haveto remember.
And then to top it off, ournumber six is we have an
(19:32):
increased reliance on unhealthycoping tools.
Struggling to sleep.
Fatigue pushes people towardsquick fixes, right?
Reaching for supplement bottles,opening another stubby, opening
another can, smoking anotherdart.
Fatigue pushes people towardsthese quick fixes.
Ultra-processed food.
I can't be bothered.
(19:53):
I'll just get Uber Eats.
Sugary snacks.
Those goddamn energy drinks,alcohol, nicotine, drugs.
These help short term, but theyactually harm you long term.
They worsen your sleep, theyincrease inflammation, they
disrupt your blood sugar, andthey amplify your mental health
issues.
It numbs it for a while, but itjust exacerbates it down the
(20:16):
track.
So the key point is shift workis literally increasing your
health risks, but it doesn'tguarantee poor health.
The difference actually comesdown to a strategy, and this is
what I want to talk about now.
So let's talk about how we canactually reduce the damage.
Now, strategies to reduce ourlong-term health risks, and I
(20:40):
need you to keep this in mind.
You don't have to be perfect.
All you need is consistency andintention.
Have a plan and maintainconsistency with it.
Number one is to protect sleepas number one.
Protect it first.
Sleep is not optional for yourhealth.
(21:00):
Aim for enough sleep.
Get the timing of your sleepright.
That is more important.
Don't go to bed thinking I'vegot to get eight hours.
I must get eight hours.
So therefore, I'll takemedications to get eight hours
because you're not asleep onmedication.
Focus on timing.
Your body is a diurnal creature.
(21:21):
It wants to be awake during theday.
So make sure that you're awakeduring the day and getting up as
early as you can and creating asmuch light as you can.
And at night, we want to createa pitch black, cool sleep space.
I've said it again.
Hold your arm out in front ofyour face, turn your hand to
face you.
(21:42):
If you can see your hand in yoursleep environment on an
outstretched arm, then it is toolight.
You need a sleep mask.
Block light after your nightshifts and limit caffeine after
12 o'clock.
In fact, no caffeine after 12o'clock.
What about we use the 12 o'clockrule, which I've spoken about?
(22:03):
No caffeine after 12 on dayshift or afternoon shift.
No caffeine after 12 on nightshift.
It's a simple rule, it's easy tostick to.
And the one thing you need toremember is the less caffeine
you have, the less you need it.
Sleep is the foundation of everyother system in our body.
All right.
Number two is to control ourlight exposure.
(22:26):
Light is literally what tellsyour brain what time it is, it
tells it where it is at in timeand space.
Really important.
As soon as you wake up, you needto get daylight.
Not light in your house, notlying in bed looking at your
phone.
It's not enough.
You need to get daylight.
Avoid bright light when you needto wind down.
(22:47):
We need to avoid artificiallight at night.
No artificial light after thesun's gone down.
I know it's easy to say, butit's even better when you do it.
And on your way home from yournight shift, block that light
with blue light blockingglasses.
(23:07):
Not something from a pharmacythat says it's got blue light in
it, because it's not blockingthe blue that needs to be
blocked.
They need to be those orangecolored lens, those orangey
ones.
Because that's what's blockingthe blue.
Now this helps to reset yourbody clock.
It supports your hormones, yourmood, and your metabolism.
(23:28):
It will absolutely help you withsleep.
Number three is to beintentional with your meal
timing.
Let me simplify this.
Eat at breakfast, lunch, anddinner time of a normal day
walker.
Front load your calories tobreakfast and to lunch and
lighten it up at dinner time,and you watch the difference
(23:51):
that it makes to not only weightbut also to how you're actually
feeling.
We must avoid heavy meals duringthe biological night, which is
from 9 pm until 6 a.m.
Eat your main meals when yourbody is better prepared to
handle food, which is in theearlier part of the day.
And when we focus on protein,fibre, and whole foods, we
(24:15):
actually feel fuller for longerand we don't get those blood
sugar spikes and crashes.
Plan your meals to avoid beingdrawn to the vending machine.
And consistency matters morethan perfection.
So just try and get.
The right things.
Pick a meal.
Pick the most difficult meal ina day and get that one right.
(24:37):
It will make a huge difference.
The next one, move your bodyregularly.
Exercise improves insulinsensitivity.
That's what we want.
This is what shuttles theglucose into the muscle and
helps us to burn it.
It reduces stress hormones.
It supports heart health and itsupports your mood.
Now you don't have to have longsessions.
(24:57):
You don't have to go into thegym and do massive, great long
sessions.
Just short and regular movementis enough.
My biggest bang for buckmovement is to get out and do a
walk.
And you every day should be ableto do a minimum of 8 to 10,000
steps.
I get 10,000 steps by accidentwithout even trying.
(25:19):
I average around 15,000.
So I think you should be able toget a minimum of 8 to 10,000
steps a day, and the benefits ofthat are enormous.
Number five is to reduce alcoholand nicotine.
Both disrupt sleep and worsencircadian disruption, like you
would not believe.
(25:40):
Less is better, none is best.
There is no safe level ofalcohol, there is no safe level
of nicotine.
And that includes those nicotinegums as well.
No, just no.
And this alone will improve yourenergy, your mood, and your
recovery as well.
Number six is to build simpleroutines.
(26:00):
Routines calm our nervoussystem, our body doesn't have to
make decisions.
It's a simple routine.
This is what I do.
Have a wake-up ritual, have apre-sleep ritual, have regular
meal patterns on workdays andweekends.
Stick to it for the whole sevendays.
Because these anchors help yourbody to feel safer and much more
(26:21):
stable.
Now, let's just wrap this oneup.
All right.
I've told you the debilitatingeffects.
I've given you some strategies.
Pick one, go back through thispodcast, have a listen back, and
pick those simple routines,moving your body, getting
intentional with your mealtiming, and it makes a big
(26:42):
difference to you.
Shift work is demanding.
I make no secret of it.
I've done it for 40 years.
But understanding the healthrisks, understanding the health
risks and what causes themactually puts you back in the
driver's seat.
You can't change your roster.
That's out of your hands.
But what you can do is changehow your body responds to it.
(27:03):
Sleep, daylight, food, movement,routines, and habits.
These are not extras.
What these are is actuallyprotective tools for your body.
Thanks for listening to today.
If this episode helped you, canyou do me a favor?
Could you please share it withanother shift worker?
(27:26):
Share it to your wall.
Share it to your Instagramstory.
Share it everywhere so theyknow.
And if you want to go deeper,you can follow
ahealthyshift.com.
Thank you for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure to subscribe so you get
notified whenever a new episodeis released.
(27:48):
It would also be ever so helpfulif you could leave a rating and
review on the app you'recurrently listening on.
If you want to know more aboutme or work with me, you can go
to ahealthyshift.com.
I'll catch you on the next one.
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