Tips for night shift workers

[texan2011]

i ran across this article regarding coping with the night shift. the author advocates the primal/paleo diet. the excerpt is from mark'sdailyapple.com.

what can a shift worker do?

embrace your situation

for all intents and purposes, this is your life. it may change down the road, but you are a shift worker for now. accept it. it's not ideal, but it will be a lot worse if you go about your days (er, nights) lamenting your situation. even just looking in the mirror every day and verbally reminding yourself that "i am a shift worker and i'm going to get through this" will help. fighting or avoiding the reality of a situation, instead of accepting and working with it, will only heap more stress and cortisol on your shoulders (and more fat on your belly).

be strict about your diet

hew as closely as you can to the primal eating plan. don't give in to vending machine wares and stale day-old donuts lurking in greasy pink boxes leftover from the dayshift. get even more serious about putting quality fuel in your body than ever before. if that means cooking your own food exclusively to avoid gluten and seed oils, so be it. in your perpetually stressed state, your sensitivity to bad food will be heightened.

train wisely

you are starting from behind. lifestyle stressors beset you on all sides. your body's abilities to recover and perform are dampened, and the last thing you want to do is add another couple heaping tablespoons of stress to the mix. as such, you must choose your workouts wisely. if it were me working night shifts for an extended period of time i'd mostly skip metabolic conditioning. no long crossfit wods, no extended tabata sessions, no half marathons, nothing that spikes cortisol and leaves you breathless and on the verge of puking. once a week sprints with full recovery? sure. long walks? great. heavy lifting? go for it, but keep it heavy and intense and keep the volume low. if you're doing pbf style bodyweight exercises, consider adding resistance and keeping the reps low. two days a week of lifting is perfect; three may be too much. keep an eye on how you feel. if you stall on the same weight twice, drop the weight or the volume. if you can't recover in between sprints, make them shorter by ten yards until you can.

trick your body

this is probably the most important strategy. your body expects light when awake and darkness when asleep. you can't totally replace sunlight and nighttime, but you can get pretty close. when you're at work, keep the lights on. if you work outdoors at night - say, as a cop, a security guard, or in the military - consider light therapy. once you're off work, don a pair of dark/orange safety glasses before you venture out into the light and don't remove them until you're ready for bed. keep your bedroom shades drawn, block out any light sources, and keep your bedroom as dark as possible. the trick is to mimic daytime light conditions during your waking hours and nighttime light conditions during your "evening" and sleeping hours to the best of your ability.

supplement smartly

supplements can help fill in the gaps between the reality of our modern lifestyles (stuck in the office all day with limited exposure to sun, poor and inadequate sleep, regular dietary compromises, sucking down smog to and from work, etc.) and an imaginary ideal lifestyle (just the right amount of sun time and shuteye, perfect primal food at every meal, limited exposure to environmental toxins, etc.). so, what are some supplements to consider for a late night shift worker? well, make sure you cover the basics (omega-3s, vitamin d, various minerals, etc). these are nutrients that everyone needs, but you have less room for error so make sure you supplement if you're not able to obtain what you need through food.

also, melatonin has been shown to improve shift workers' sleep and wakefulness patterns. in one study, compared to placebo and no treatment at all, 5 mg melatonin taken at "desired bedtime" improved the sleep and alertness of cops working a night shift. they got better sleep when they wanted it and felt more alert at night while on the beat. a later study had similar findings. increasing dosages of melatonin (up to 3 mg) in patients undergoing simulated late shift work was actually able to shift their circadian phases (as evidenced by changes in body temperature and melatonin secretion). sleep and alertness (at the right times) also improved. they took fewer naps. note that 0.5 mg was not as effective as 3 mg. take at least 3 mg melatonin at your desired bedtime, and be consistent with it.

avoid coffee and embrace black tea

give up coffee, especially if you display the hallmarks of cortisol problems: belly fat accumulation and poor performance in the gym. or, at least cut way back. consider going for black tea instead, which has been shown to normalize cortisol. if you keep drinking coffee (let's face it, it's delicious), try not to rely on it. have a cup at the start of your shift - since it's "morning" for you - but no more.

[ann_08RN]

thank you .. .ill try this. im a night nurse:nurse:

[JRP1120, RN]

Thank you for posting this! Great info!

[breezy7, BSN, RN]

Has anyone on here tried the Paleo diet? I have Celiac to begin with, so I stay away from wheat, barley, and rye, but if eliminating the rest of the grains will help fuel me through NS then I'm all about trying it... though I have an aversion to beef and pork.

[texan2011]

You are very welcome. Beyond the few basic tips, if you have more interest in the diet, it's the basic Paleo Diet/Caveman diet that many progressive docs are advocating. There are books out and lots of websites. Pretty much staying away from refined carbs. My daughter is a family practice doc, and she is starting to use the paleo diet with her diabetes and metabolic disordered patients -- well suggest it, that is. We are pretty much in charge of what we eat.

I try to stay on the diet and find the science behind it very interesting as well as the fact that studies keep coming out backing it up. I like Mark's Daily Apple website because he goes beyond diet to keeping our health and sanity in the crazy modern world.

[texan2011]

Yes, I have been gluten-free and paleo for about 15 years. I am not celiac, but gluten-intolerant (confirmed by Enterolab's DNA testing). I try to eat as close to paleo as I can without removing myself from the real world. I feel great and if I keep my portion sizes reasonable, I don't gain weight. Of course, I also work out fairly regularly, but I really do have a lot of energy and so far, no major health issues. The diet is really just a healthy version of the old Atkins diet. It's similar to the old Hunter-Gatherer diet that was popular about 20 years ago.

My daughter is a family practice doc, and she keeps the Paleo Diet and similar ones in her waiting room. My girlfriend is a vegetarian, and her doctor also gave her the book. She eats fish and eggs and lots of veggies. He would like her to eat some meat, but she is having a hard time with it. I don't eat a lot of meat (maybe 2X a week), but I stay away from rice and other grains, except in very small amounts. I'm really not over-the-top with it, but it's a great diet.

[breezy7, BSN, RN]

I may check it out, then, and tweak it a bit to eliminate beef and pork. Bought a salad with chicken in it today, gluten-free dressing, thought I was safe, then found out that their definition of gluten-free SOMEHOW included flour as a dressing thickener (aka NOT gluten-free)... needless to say, I am in pain. I'd be much better off cooking everything - especially on the night shift!

I was diagnosed by my doctor about six months ago, so a diet with guidelines like this is incredibly helpful. I don't have any problems with weight, but I like the idea of cooking with whole foods where there's no chance of cross-contamination.

[texan2011]

[sorry: I posted that last one twice - sort of before I was done with it.]

I have a hard time adhering to strict gluten free although it is so much easier in the last few years. When I first started it, people looked at me like I was crazy. Lots of gluten free food now in the restaurants.

I am gluten intolerant, but I can't imagine being truly celiac -- how careful you have to be. I pretty much take my own food with me everywhere: work, travel etc. -- as much as for economy as health. I prefer my homemade oil and vinegar combos to the processed dressings anyway. It is a lot of work, but taking care of yourself pays off in the long run. If I am still going strong an extra two hours a day, then that pays me back for all the food prep time.

Hope you feel better soon!!!

[nnl erRN]

Some good reads... Pale solution by Robb wolf and everyday paleo.com

[Katie5]

i ran across this article regarding coping with the night shift. the author advocates the primal/paleo diet. the excerpt is from mark'sdailyapple.com.

avoid coffee and embrace black tea

give up coffee, especially if you display the hallmarks of cortisol problems: belly fat accumulation and poor performance in the gym. or, at least cut way back. consider going for black tea instead, which has been shown to normalize cortisol. if you keep drinking coffee (let’s face it, it’s delicious), try not to rely on it. have a cup at the start of your shift – since it’s “morning” for you – but no more.

well i'll be darned!

[CCRNDiva, BSN, RN]

Thanks so much for posting this. I've worked 12hr nights for about 7yrs and I've been having trouble sleeping and being tired during the day when I'm off. It kind of sucks because it's summer and my kids want to be out and about during the day but I'm exhausted. I've also noticed some belly weight gain, :mad:!

Thanks again for the post!!

[AngelicDarkness]

Thank you for this post. I'm a night charge nurse, but I love my energy drinks. I will take a few ideas from this post, but I can't give up on the one thing that keeps me running!:)