Tidbit Tuesday - Shift Work

Hello,

Welcome to another Tidbit Tuesday where we aim to teach you something new about health, nutrition, lifestyle, training, and so much more, every week!

Today we are talking about the unintended consequences of shift work!

In Canada there are over 1.8 million people working shift work.

That is over 12% of the population!

Working when you are supposed to be sleeping comes with some harsh consequences.

Negative health effects and poor health practices seem to be more prevalent with those who constantly work the night shift, compared with their day shift counterparts.

Issues that may lead to serious negative health consequences are sleep deprivation, increased levels of stress, family and social disturbances, unhealthy coping mechanisms, limited exercise, and perceived personal health.

I think something worth repeating is the "poor health practices" mentioned above.

Shift work does not need to result in such a harsh effect on us.

However, the constantly changing schedule can make it exceedingly difficult to focus on anything except the long hours and limited sleep you already get.

While there are plenty of jobs that work overnight, broken up into multiple shifts over 24 hours, and/or longer than 12 hours per shift, hospitals employ more of these workers than any other industry.

A concerning issue that has been shown by limited studies to be correlated with night shift work, by nurses alone, is weight gain and obesity.

Obesity is quickly becoming a global, serious public health problem.

Do not underestimate the risks of both physical and mental fatigue on shift workers.

Other adverse effects can include reduced productivity, fatigue-related accidents, mood swings, depression, insomnia, and a slower reaction speed.

All these factors put you at greater risk in your day-to-day lives. For example, shift workers have a higher probability of getting into a car accident on the way home from work, due to the longer hours and fatigue.

If you remain in shift work for a long period of time you are put at an increased risk for several other adverse health effects.

Some more serious health effects could include cardiovascular disease, putting you at a greater risk of experiencing a heart attack. Diabetes and metabolic syndrome are another serious concern for those working shift work or 12+ hours per shift.

A combination of health problems like high blood pressure, high blood sugar, obesity, and unhealthy cholesterol levels. It's a serious risk factor for diabetes, heart attacks, stroke, and cancer!

Other issues include serious gastrointestinal problems, issues with fertility and pregnancy, and it is believed that the disturbances in regular sleep put you at a great risk of dementia as well.

Other stressors can also include finding childcare and a lack of time spent with family, friends, or even just pursuing personal goals.

Some of the serious risks associated with shift work seem to develop gradually over decades, but others develop more quickly.

It is hard to perform a proper study on shift workers. It's also possible that some of these health effects might improve as people get used to shift work. On the other hand, it's also possible that these effects would just worsen over time. For now, we don't know.

It's important to keep the risks in perspective. Even if performing shift work is a risk factor for some diseases, it's only one of many - just like not getting enough sleep or eating too many sweets. If you're in good health to begin with, the overall risks to any given person performing shift work remain low.

So how do you mitigate some of the potential adverse effects?

Some simple to offer, tougher to implement, strategies include eating well and exercising, getting enough sleep, and prioritizing time with loved ones outside of work.

The goal here is PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION!

If you stress yourself out over trying to find the "perfect schedule" you will likely end up stalling and making little to no progress.

So, knowing that every little bit will make a difference, let's start by adding in one or two steps at a time.

A few easy to add suggestions include drinking more water, we often fall short of this goal as it is, but water is vital to our health. Bring a water bottle and keep it near you, drinking more water helps improve your skin, your sleep, your gastrointestinal tract and associated issues.

Walk more! I know that seems simple and you probably already spend a lot of time on your feet but getting in more than 10K steps per day will greatly reduce your risk for several adverse health effects. Simply, park farther away, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and go for a short walk outside on your break.

To improve your nutrition start doing some food prep on your days off, that way you are prepared for your shifts and don't have to scramble between shifts. Planning your meals ahead of time will prevent you from just getting whatever convenient packaged food is around.

Another great option for food is a meal delivery company. There are tons of options available depending on your price and what you are looking for.

I personally use a company called Nutri-Go, they deliver prepared meals every weekend that hit my macro and Calorie goals. This makes staying on track so much easier when I don't have to worry about grocery shopping, cooking a variety of meals, and no dishes!

If you want to try Nutri-Go, and get 20% off, visit https://www.nutri-go.ca/ and use code DONTSWEATIT at checkout!

As for your sleep, this can be tough to improve as a busy shift work. But there are little things you can do every day to improve your quality of sleep. Here are 5 tips to improve sleep:

·       Do your best to keep a regular schedule. If you do rotating shift work where you switch between days, evenings, nights. Have a routine in place for each shift and do your best to stick to it!

·       Keep alcohol and caffeine intake moderate, both are known to interfere with sleep. Try to avoid caffeine about 8-9 hours before your bedtime.

·       Turn off electronics about 1 hour before bed. The blue light from screens will prevent you from getting high quality sleep.

·       Do a brain dump! Sometimes we just have too many racing thoughts from our day. Take some time to write down your thoughts about your day, or simply share them with a partner and allow each other to vent about your day.

·       Keep the room dark and cool. Light tells our brain to stop producing Melatonin and to start producing Cortisol. This can be extra relevant for those working at night and sleeping during the day. Blackout curtains or a sleep mask can be incredibly helpful!

Start to include these tips regularly into your hectic and ever-changing schedule and you may just save yourself in the long run.

Shift workers are incredibly important to our modern lifestyle and deserve more care and attention than the odd appreciation week.

Take care of yourself by putting those little daily habits into practice. They make a bigger difference than you realize!

Happy working!

Your friend in health & fitness,

Coach Sean