Speaker 1 0:01

Welcome to another episode of A Healthy Shift , where we dive into evidence-based strategies to help shift workers not just survive but thrive in their demanding environments . Now my goal is to give you more energy to do the things that you love more outside of your shift working environment . I'm your host , roger Sutherland , and today , on the back of a new piece of research , we're going to be tackling the crucial topic that affects many of us , and that is night eating . 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 24-7 Shift Worker for almost four decades . Through this podcast , I aim to educate shift workers , using evidence-based methods , to not only survive the rigours of shift work , but thrive . My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and well-being so they have more energy to do the things they love .

Speaker 1 1:09

Enjoy today's show . It gives me great pleasure to welcome you and thank you for listening to this show . This is your podcast , our podcast . It's the podcast where we stick to evidence-based strategies for thriving in shift working environments . I'm your host , roger Sutherland , and today I would just like to talk to you about the biggest trap that we all fall into , and that is night eating . Now , we've all done it , and because we don't get any education at all around how to function or how to go about shift work , one of the biggest problems that we have is we think , oh okay , so I'm awake overnight , but I'm sleeping during the day , so what I'm going to do is just flip my meals , and then what we end up doing is having one of our biggest meals at three o'clock in the morning and we just flip them all around , and this is diabolical to our health and something that we really , really must avoid , particularly now with more research that's around .

Speaker 1 2:17

Now , we've all done this and we have , and we also all fall into the trap where , overnight , we get incredibly hungry or we seem to get incredibly hungry . But one of the biggest things that happens to us as a shift worker is we get chronically fatigued . We don't sleep well , so what actually happens is our hunger and satiety hormones all become completely out of balance . Our ghrelin , which is our hunger hormone , is elevated , and this causes us to go searching for those highly palatable carbs and fats . Now we all know and we've all seen it If you look around , everybody is reaching for chips , chocolates , lollies and goddamn Jenny's cake . Now , the problem that we have here is these are all highly palatable , nutrient-dense carbohydrates and fats . Sure , we get a glucose hit from them , and that glucose hit builds us right up , but the next thing that ends up happening is we crash and we crash bad , and because we are so insulin-resistant , overnight , this , what we are eating , is going straight to our hips and thighs or our gut , and this is a massive problem . So what we want to do is , today , we just want to talk about this particular topic .

Speaker 1 3:35

Now , today , I'm going to explore the findings from what is a recent and very , very fascinating study , which is titled Night Eating in Timing , frequency and Food Quality and the Risks of All-Cause Cancer and Diabetes Mortality . Now , this sounds diabolical , and there's a reason for that . It is actually diabolical for us Now . This study was conducted by Peng Wang and colleagues and offers some eye-opening insights into how our nighttime eating habits can impact on our health . So let's grab a healthy snack and let's just jump right on in to what it is . The first thing I want to cover is the overview of the study . Now , the study actually analyzed data from almost 42,000 participants from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey , which spanned from 2002 to 2018 . Now what the researchers did was they looked at the timing , the frequency and the food quality of night eating and its association with all-cause cancer and diabetes mortality .

Speaker 1 4:50

Now you might be wondering why does this matter to me ? Well , if you are a shift worker , you know that our eating patterns can get really quite irregular , and it's important that we understand the risks associated with night eating , because this gives us information that can help us to make better choices and support our long-time health . We have a choice here and it will actually catch up with us . It's not good enough for us to wake up the next day and go oh well , I'm a shift worker , I was awake , so it doesn't matter . It does matter and I can promise you that this is really going to catch up with you over time . If you've worked shift work for any extended period of time , you will notice there's a little bit of fat creeping around the middle , that bum's getting a little bit bigger , we're getting the thighs are getting a bit on it , we're getting heavier and we are having this major problem by eating overnight , and this is our biggest problem .

Speaker 1 5:53

So one of the key findings of this study was the impact of the timing of night eating on mortality risks . Now , the study found that eating after 10 pm was linked to higher risks of all-cause and diabetes mortality . Specifically , eating between midnight and 1am increased the risk of all cause mortality by wait for it 38% , and then eating between 11pm and midnight nearly doubled the risk of diabetes mortality . Wow . So the takeaway here is clear . So what we've got to try and do from the research is actually finish your meals before 10 pm wherever is possible .

Speaker 1 6:43

Now , it might be tempting for us to snack late at night , and especially during long shifts or busy shifts , but pushing that last meal earlier and making it a good , substantial meal , balanced of carbohydrates , proteins and fats , can significantly impact on your health . Now , what sort of frequency of night eating Next up ? Let's talk about that frequency . The study revealed that eating late at night , even just once , was associated with high risk of all cause and diabetes mortality . So just doing that once . So that one night where you just go ah , to hell with it , I'll just have that pizza , or scoff those donuts , or Jenny's got goddamn Jenny and her cake , or scoff those donuts , or Jenny's got goddamn Jenny and her cake . Just doing that one night is actually associated with higher risk of all cause and diabetes mortality . So for us working that graveyard shift , this is a really , really tough pill for us to swallow , but it does underscore the importance of planning our meals and our snacks very , very carefully , and we must , must , must try to avoid making night eating a regular habit . In fact , we need to start practicing to get around not eating overnight at all .

Speaker 1 8:09

Now , food quality matters as well . Quality really matters . The study differentiated between high dietary energy density foods , which we think of as chips , chocolate , lollies , sugary snacks and those uber eats that are being delivered to us , and low dietary energy density foods like fruits and vegetables , and you won't be shocked to hear it found that the high energy density foods consumed at night were linked even higher to that increase all cause and diabetes mortality . So if you must eat late , choose it wisely . Opt for foods that are nutrient-dense but lower in calories , and when we think of this , just think of fresh fruits , think of veggies or even a handful of nuts . Now we can think of things like hummus with some vegetable sticks , or we can have a couple of pieces of fruit . Don't demonize the sugar . The nutrients are good , the fiber is good . This is really , really important . These choices can actually help to mitigate some of those risks associated with night eating , and there's a correlation with eating at night and our blood sugar levels .

Speaker 1 9:24

The study also found very , very positive associations between night eating and higher levels of glycohemoglobin , which is fasting glucose , and OGTT , which are key indicators of our blood sugar control . Now you will remember , if you've listened to this podcast over any length of time , I have already told you that eating overnight our body is very , very insulin resistant . So by eating overnight the foods that we're consuming and we have higher levels of glucose in our bloodstream or sugars in our bloodstream , we also have higher levels of triglycerides in our bloodstream or sugars in our bloodstream . We also have higher levels of triglycerides in our bloodstream by eating overnight . So why would you go and put more food in there and create more problems ? Because that's literally what it's doing . It's causing more problems because there is nowhere for it to go . Our pancreas doesn't secrete as much insulin overnight as it does during the biological day , and that's just a recipe for disaster for us . Now , this is particularly concerning for the shift workers , who are already at a higher risk of metabolic issues . So keeping an eye on when and what we eat can play a critical role in maintaining those healthy blood sugar levels .

Speaker 1 10:43

And in conclusion , let's just have a look at some really simple and practical takeaways that can actually help to mitigate these risks . And here are some of my practical tips you must finish eating , and I say by 9pm . The research here says make sure your main meal is completed by 10pmm and try to have your last meal or snack before 10 pm . To lower that risk of all-cause and diabetes mortality , we need to limit night eating frequency , avoid making late night eating a regular habit and choose low energy density foods . So opt for those healthier , nutrient dense snacks . If you must eat late fruits , veggie sticks , et cetera and keep an eye on that blood sugar , all right . Be really , really careful high protein , lower carbohydrate and fat foods .

Speaker 1 11:41

If you must eat overnight Now , the idea that I would highly suggest here is if you must eat overnight Now , the idea that I would highly suggest here is , if you must eat overnight is just to sip on something like a nutrient-dense vegetable soup that's been highly blitzed up . That will make a big difference to you If you can do something like that or just drink water and then , around three or four o'clock , before we know that , those hunger pangs are really gonna hit us . What about if you have yourself something like a Yopro yogurt and just a handful of blueberries , which will provide you with sweetness , it will provide you with protein , it's something that's super easy for us to digest and it will just slip through our system , and it will also give you something into your stomach before you get to that 5am where you're ready to eat absolutely anything . Now , if you would really like help with how to structure the overnight fast , if you go into the show notes of this podcast and scroll down to the bottom , you'll notice that I've actually got there a link to my circadian fast ebook . This is a free download . You can download this book and it will teach you what to eat and when . It will also teach you how to go about eating over that 24-hour cycle and it will help you enormously . It's free . All you got to do is follow the link , download the book and then you can structure your own overnight fast , and you can . I assure you , you can condition yourself to do this , and I've even thrown in a few cheeky little recipes in there which will definitely help you to get through your night shift .

Speaker 1 13:18

Now remember , the goal is to thrive and not just survive . So by being mindful of our eating habits , we can make a significant difference in our overall health and longevity . So thank you so much for tuning into this episode of A Healthy Shift . If you found this information helpful , please can you do me a favour . Share it with your fellow shift workers . Give it a rating or review , as it helps the show enormously , and together we can create a healthier , more informed shift working community . I'll catch you on the next one . Thank you for listening . 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 ahealthyshiftcom . I'll catch you on the next one .