If you're a night worker, your shifts throw off your body's circadian rhythm. This rhythm is like an internal clock that naturally makes mental, behavioral and physical adjustments in response to factors such as light and dark, according to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. With this rhythm, your body's digestive processes slow down as the evening and midnight hours approach. You can improve your body's digestion by regulating what and when you eat on the job.
Preparation
Make pre-work meal prep easier on yourself by creating a meal plan each week and buying ready-to-use foods such as pre-washed mixed salads and canned beans, recommends Women's College Hospital. Cook multiple-serving meals whenever you have a day off and split extras up into sealed plastic containers so you won't be apt to rely on vending machines or frozen meals at work. If you do enjoy the occasional frozen meal, look for one that is low in sodium and pair it with some fresh veggies or fruit and a side of low-fat yogurt.
Timing
Eat meals and snacks in regular intervals rather than trying to squeeze food around your work shift. To ensure that you start off your shift with plenty of energy, eat your main meal around 5 to 7 p.m. right before your shift starts, recommends Eat Right Ontario. Keep your energy up by squeezing snacks in the late night hours of your shift. Eat a light breakfast before you hit the hay in the morning after work; if you're too hungry or too full, your quality of sleep may take a hit. If you find that you wake up hungry in the middle of your sleep cycle, place a non-perishable snack and some water by your bed so you won't have to get out of bed.
Nutrients
Include protein, vegetables, fruit and starch in every meal to make your diet as well balanced as possible. Make your late-night snacks rich in protein and carbohydrates for sustained energy. Some string cheese and an apple, cottage cheese and pineapple, or half of a whole-grain bagel topped with peanut butter should do the trick. Although your pre-sleep meal should also be light and well balanced, emphasize fiber -- such as whole-grain toast with your yogurt and fresh fruit -- to stay as satiated as possible during sleep. Your bedside snack should also be rich in fiber, so make it something like whole-grain crackers.
Limits
Foods that are spicy and greasy can cause particularly nasty indigestion when you're working the night shift, warns Women's College Hospital. Sugary products such as candy and fruit-flavored drinks can also cause a rapid spike and dip in your blood sugar, which may end up leaving you feeling more sluggish than energetic. And although caffeine can give you a good dose of energy on a day when you're running low on sleep, keep it to a minimum, within about six hours of your morning bedtime, to prevent the vicious cycle of not getting enough sleep and needing caffeine to fix it. Caffeine is in drinks such as coffee and soda, but it also lurks in foods such as chocolate and coffee-flavored ice cream.
References
- Nutrition Counseling Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; It Can Be a Hard Day's Night For Weight-Watchers on the Late Shift; Nov. 2006
- Women's College Hospital: Surviving the Night Shift
- Eat Right Ontario: Nutrition Tips for Shift Workers
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences: Circadian Rhythms Fact Sheets
Member Comments