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.
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
Nice post! I have often wondered why more people don't embrace the "Caveman diet". Our bodies weren't meant to eat refined foods at every meal.
I am over 40 (but I will continue to deny this fact to friends and acquaintances), and have never had a weight issue. I am allergic to work outs , but do garden and swim quite a bit. I eat protein in the morning-boiled eggs or salmon mixed with walnuts, and eat veggies with lean meat or fish for dinner. I would say 3-4 nights I serve fish for dinner. I typically eat only twice a day; I am rarely hungry since I eat mostly protein.
I have to give my parents most of the credit here-they did not have junk food in our household while we were growing up. We never knew what we were missing. We were not allowed to play in the house during the summer, and as a result were VERY active kids. We did have a pool in our backyard, and we LIVED in the pool.
Nobody in my family has ever had a weight issue either, so it may just be genetics. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to work out every once in a while to tone up...ummm, nevermind!
Great reading for those who want to eat more healthy. Thanks for the info, OP!
canesdukegirl, BSN, RN
1 Article; 2,543 Posts
Nice post! I have often wondered why more people don't embrace the "Caveman diet". Our bodies weren't meant to eat refined foods at every meal.
I am over 40 (but I will continue to deny this fact to friends and acquaintances), and have never had a weight issue. I am allergic to work outs
, but do garden and swim quite a bit. I eat protein in the morning-boiled eggs or salmon mixed with walnuts, and eat veggies with lean meat or fish for dinner. I would say 3-4 nights I serve fish for dinner. I typically eat only twice a day; I am rarely hungry since I eat mostly protein.
I have to give my parents most of the credit here-they did not have junk food in our household while we were growing up. We never knew what we were missing. We were not allowed to play in the house during the summer, and as a result were VERY active kids. We did have a pool in our backyard, and we LIVED in the pool.
Nobody in my family has ever had a weight issue either, so it may just be genetics. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to work out every once in a while to tone up...ummm, nevermind!
Great reading for those who want to eat more healthy. Thanks for the info, OP!