Introduction to Women's Shift Work Challenges

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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 wellbeing so they have more energy to do the things they love .

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Enjoy today's show and hey there , and welcome back to a Healthy Shift podcast . My name , you know it , it's Roger Sutherland . I'm a veteran shift worker , health and wellbeing coach and someone who has worked with hundreds of women one-to-one working 24-7 roles . And today we're going to talk about something that needs to be said clearly , and I'm going to say it right now Shift work really is harder for women , and it's not a mindset thing . There are real and biological reasons as to why . Now , before anyone rolls their eyes and thinks this is about complaining , I want you to stick with me . This is about awareness , support and giving our women legends that are doing this job what they need to do it and to stay well doing it . I want to put a disclaimer on this as I very first start To those of you listening . It is very apparent that I am not female . I am a male . But I do want to say this , and that is I've coached hundreds of women shift workers and I've had quite in-depth conversations with them around the impacts of shift work and some of the things that they've raised with me . I've gone off and had to research to work out why certain things occur , how and what , and the more I read , the more I understand just how difficult shift work is , and at the end of this podcast , I've got something that will really

Hormones and Conflicting Biological Rhythms

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help you females and females in a shift working environment . So stay with me and let's get this show on the road .

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Now . Let's talk hormones . Just to start off with all right Now , female biology is actually built around rhythms . Now , unlike us males , females have not only they have sorry , unlike us males , females have a circadian rhythm , which we've got , but they also have an infradian rhythm , which is the menstrual cycle . Now , this works on a roughly 28-day pattern . Males , we don't have this , so we don't have to deal with it .

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Now , shift work is working on a 24-hour clock , often in our rotating rosters , which can be a variety of morning and afternoons and nights , or a mix of all of the same in the one week . So , right out of the gate , women are trying to sync two completely different systems at once the 28-day cycle with the 24-hour cycle . We don't have to do that . Females do , and the end result of this is irregular periods . Some females suffer from heavy bleeding , they get worse PMS symptoms . Shift work definitely impacts on PMS Mood swings , low energy and sometimes even amenorrhea , which is the complete loss of a period altogether . And why does this happen ? Because the body doesn't feel safe . And if the body doesn't feel safe , why would it be in a childbearing state ? Keep that in mind . Now . I've coached hundreds of female shift workers . I've said this and this pattern comes up over and over again .

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And what most thought was , oh , it's just stress or it's just part of the job , is actually the body screaming out of sync with its own natural rhythm . Now let's talk about the digestion side of things . Let's talk about the digestion side of things . So many women in shift work struggle with bloating , constipation , nausea or just feeling off after meals . Now we know that estrogen and progesterone both impact gut motility and how well food moves through the gut . So let's add that to poor sleep , disrupted eating windows , night shifts , caffeine reliance , which impacts on our gut , and then often eating far too little during the day , and it's a perfect storm for gut issues , because what happens ? Restrict , restrict all day . I'm trying to diet because this is how I should look , this is how I should wear my clothes , this is everything . And then , all of a sudden , we get to the stage where we get to the nighttime and we're looking for highly palatable carbohydrates and fats . Now , when your gut's off you know as well as I do your brain is off , your mood's off and your performance suffers badly , and the last thing you're going to be feeling low is intimacy , and the last thing you're going to be feeling low is intimacy . So it impacts greatly .

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I think it's really important that females know more about themselves so that they can then understand why it is that they actually feel the way that they

Digestion Differences and Challenges

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do . Those are perfectly legitimate reasons . If I go back into talking about the digestion just for one minute , females are biologically different internally than males are . It takes food on average 14 hours longer to transit from time of consumption to time of evacuation in a female body compared to a male . Now , this is significant . 14 hours is a long time , so is it any wonder that that food sits there and goes through and then they end up with gas and bloating ? The stomach in a female is less acidic , so therefore it takes longer to break . It also empties slower and the colon is longer and it evacuates slower and we also have a longer digestive tract . And I want you to think about where the female sexual organs are compared to where the male sexual organs are . Male sexual organs all external doesn't impact in any way whatsoever . Female you've got your colon wrapped basically around your uterus in , occupying the same space in your abdominal cavity . Is it any wonder that , with food that takes longer than 14 hours to transit , is it any wonder that during the luteal phase of your infradian rhythm that you're suffering with highly agitated uterus and ovaries and fallopian tubes , and all of that with a highly agitated bowel which is taking longer to evacuate as well ? Hello , gas , bloating , constipation , diarrhea , all sorts of problems , and this is literally what happens , and that's why a lot of women really suffer with this .

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So let's now talk about fatigue as well , because women in shift work don't just feel tired , they feel wiped , exhausted , struggling to concentrate , running on fumes , and part of this is sleep disruption , of course , but there is more to it . There are sex differences in sleep architecture as well . Women tend to get more slow wave sleep that deep , restorative sleep , but they're also more vulnerable to insomnia and sleep fragmentation when the sleep timing is off . You can't just catch up on sleep the next day and expect it to fix everything . And also , we've got to keep remembering that the females generally are the household runners . It's not being sexist , it's literally what it is . The women are the ones that are thinking about what's got to be done and how and where , and the kids and what's happening with that . It's natural . This is what happens .

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Now let's not forget recovery , because most women aren't just shift workers , they're carers , they're mums , they're partners , they're organisers , and the load doesn't end when the shift ends , and that means less recovery time between shifts . Females are under more pressure and they've often got a deeper sense of burnout as well . And the worst part , they're always made to feel like they're failing , when in reality , they've just never been shown how to work with their biology in a job that literally goes against their biology .

Fatigue and Recovery Barriers

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But here's the good news , because this can be changed and it's about awareness and there are strategies for females that work . I've helped hundreds of shift workers and I've got fantastic feedback from them .

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We don't focus on nutrition . We focus on everything else around it to get everything else right , and this helps you to take back control over your energy , over your cycle , over your gut health and , more importantly for you as well , your sleep . Now we use simple , evidence-based tools that align with how women's bodies actually work , not the tools built for blokes in the 70s . That's just no good . It's practical , it's personalized and it actually works in real world 24-7 rosters . The testimonies are on the website for the females that I've coached . If you go to ahealthyshiftcom and go up the top and then go to coaching and under testimonials , you'll see testimonials from females that I've worked with , and majority of them will tell you I don't work on nutrition because we work on everything else sitting over the top of that , and nutrition takes care of itself . We don't realize just how much pressure females are under and also , every single day that we go to put a uniform on , you are constantly reminded of either gaining weight , losing weight

Solutions and Workshop Opportunities

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or whatever . It is a massive problem and that's why I've gone down the line of building this .

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As part of the Shiftwork seminar experience , I now offer a dedicated women and Shiftwork workshop , which is an optional add-on to this , and this goes deep into how female physiology clashes with ShiftWork and what there is that we can do about it . The impact of sleep disruption on hormones and mood , how to support gut health and manage digestion on and off shift , what the research says about supplements like creatine and omega-3s and vitamin D , especially for female performance , recovery and their well-being . And what's an optimal way to eat , move and recover differently . As a female working 24-7 shifts , now I just love to stand on stage and deliver this , and I know it comes from a male perspective , but I've got to tell you I'm incredibly passionate about this . I thoroughly enjoy delivering female-specific workshops because of the impact that it actually has on the female shift working population .

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Once women feel seen and understood and supported , the difference in them is massive , and if you are a manager or a team leader or you work in the health and wellbeing space and you're listening to this podcast , you need to look after your female shift workers more than you need to look . I mean , we need to look after both , but there has to be considerations for female shift workers . End of rant . If you're a leader , a manager , or you're someone in HR or health and wellbeing and you are looking better to support your female staff , or if you are a female shift worker who just wants to understand your body better , go into the show notes and in there is to just click the seminar experience link which is down there . Now you will get access to that landing page . You can read about what the seminar experience includes and what optional add-ons there actually are , and then you can download the e-brochure , which explains absolutely everything , and you can attach it to an application and put it up the line to your health and wellness team .

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This is what needs to happen . We need to get education into our shift working environments because without it , no one's got a clue , and if you don't make them aware that someone like me exists that can support you , then we've got a big problem . They can clue , and if you don't make them aware that someone like me exists that can support you , then we've got a big problem . They can't possibly know if you don't make them aware . Once you've downloaded the e-brochure , I'll reach out and we can chat about how I can tailor a workshop for your team , and it's time that we stopped expecting women to just push through shift work and provide strategies that suit them , not strategies for males , or just generic shift working strategies . It doesn't work . Let's support them properly . Let's give them what they need to thrive .

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Thanks for tuning into A Healthy Shift . I'll catch you , ladies and you guys , in 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 .