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A Healthy Shift
A Healthy Shift Podcast with Roger Sutherland
Welcome to A Healthy Shift, the podcast dedicated to helping shift workers and night shift workers take control of their health, wellbeing, and performance.
I’m Roger Sutherland, a veteran of over 40 years in shift work. I know firsthand the unique challenges that come with working irregular hours, long nights, and around-the-clock schedules. I combine my lived experience with the latest science to help shift workers and night shift workers not just get through the job—but truly thrive.
In each episode, you’ll learn practical, evidence-based strategies to improve your sleep, nutrition, movement, stress management, and overall health. Shift work and night shift don’t have to mean poor health, fatigue, and burnout. With the right knowledge and tools, you can live well and perform at your best.
If you’re working shifts or nights and want to feel better, sleep better, and take back control—this podcast is for you.
A Healthy Shift
[283] - Protect your melatonin like your life depends on it, because it does
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In this episode, I explore why melatonin is much more than a “sleep hormone.” It’s a powerful antioxidant that protects your body from free radicals and even cancer—and as shift workers, many of us don’t realise how much late-night screen use interferes with this vital process.
Blue light from phones, tablets, and TVs doesn’t just delay your sleep by a few minutes—it can actually shift your circadian rhythm by up to 90 minutes. And even if you fall asleep quickly, that’s not proof you’re unaffected—it’s simply exhaustion taking over. The truth is, looking at a phone just inches from your face before bed signals to your brain that it’s daytime, shutting down melatonin production when you need it most.
I also share simple strategies to protect melatonin, like using red or orange lighting after dark, avoiding screens before bed, and choosing products that support better sleep. Protecting this hormone means protecting your health, energy, and resilience as a shift worker.
👉 Visit ahealthyshift.com
for resources, blue-light-free product recommendations, and extra sleep support.
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ANNOUNCING
"The Shift Workers Collective"
https://join.ahealthyshift.com/the-shift-workers-collective
Click the link to learn all about it
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YOU CAN FIND ME AT
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Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional. Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.
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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. Enjoy today's show. Hi everyone, and welcome back to a healthy shift podcast.
Speaker 1:Today I'm going to be talking about something that you've probably heard a lot about, especially if you're working shifts, and that is melatonin and sleep. But today I'm going to get into the nitty-gritty of why it's so much more than a so-called sleep hormone and it's really, really important. This is short and sweet, this one, because I want you to get the impact Now. As a veteran shift worker of almost over 40 years, I've actually seen it all and I know how much that you, the shift worker, are juggling. You're a shift worker. You're probably married to a non-shift worker. That has its complications. You've got a few kids they're in different schools, a mortgage and you've got barely any time for yourself at all. You're running on caffeine and you're grabbing what you can from work out of the vending machine and you are literally just plain exhausted and you've probably thought, god, I'm tired, I'll fall asleep no matter what. And that is where we need to clear things up for you because this is important. So sit down and listen up or write, or whatever you're doing right Now.
Speaker 1:Lately I've seen some videos going around on social media, which are from quite reputed people, no doubt about it, that are claiming that that screen time or that blue light from the screen doesn't affect the sleep onset as much as we first thought. Now, I've always said this right, because people say, oh, I can scroll on my phone right up until I close my eyes and then I'm out like a light. Is that you? Because it is true, and for some people, that is literally what happens. And when they talk about blue light and screens, be very careful and listen very carefully to what they're saying, because what they are saying is they're saying to you it doesn't impact on sleep onset, not sleep. They don't tell you that it doesn't impact on sleep onset, not sleep. They don't tell you that it doesn't impact on sleep because it absolutely does. What they say to you is it doesn't impact on sleep onset. Now, there's a big difference there. All right, and the reason being is because all research that's been done around screens and for people going to sleep or that sleep onset, it says it only pushes our sleep onset back by about seven to nine minutes and that is not statistically significant. You might think, well, that doesn't matter, I'd rather scroll and put my sleep off for seven to nine minutes. I'm not really fussed by it. And put my sleep off for seven to nine minutes, I'm not really fussed by it. But there is a massive issue with this and I want you to be very, very aware and listen carefully to when these experts are telling you that it doesn't impact on sleep onset, because there's a difference between sleep onset and quality of sleep.
Speaker 1:Are you someone that can scroll on your phone, jump into bed and you tell me that you need your phone to relax because it's your only time that you get to catch up? Listen up, because this is true for a lot of people. Sheer exhaustion is what will put you to sleep right, and that is what's called your sleep homeostat. It is your sleep homeostat kicking in your sleep homeostat is adenosine has built up in your system to the extreme that it is going to force you to go to sleep. And most of you will be listening to this and going. I lie in bed and I look at my phone and as soon as I put it down, I'm out like a light. Good for you, no problems. But that's sleep pressure. That's put you to sleep. That's not it's because you're tired. It's putting you to sleep.
Speaker 1:But here is the crucial part, and this is the part that you must be aware of Just because you're falling asleep doesn't mean you're getting quality sleep. Keep that in mind, because that blue light that is coming from your phone, and even using filters on your phone, don't make a difference. It's still blue light that is coming from your phone, and even using filters on your phone don't make a difference. It's still blue light that's hitting the one sensor in your eye that only registers blue. What you've got to remember is it's not just looking at light, this one sensor in your eye and I'm not going to go into detail around it but this one sensor in your eye is looking for blue light all the time. And when you hold your phone six inches away from your face while you scroll TikTok and social media.
Speaker 1:You are actually cuing your brain that it is daytime and what it does is it postpones your circadian rhythm, which counts on that to release melatonin. Now, your eyes are registering that light and, even though you feel tired, your body still thinks it's daylight. Your body is registering through those sensors. Now what this does is it phase shifts your circadian rhythm, which is your internal clock, by about 90 minutes. All right, until you go to sleep and then it catches up. 90 minutes is significant for your circadian rhythm, because this is where we need to be getting the quality sleep. This is where we go into that deep sleep. Now, this is a big deal, because your circadian rhythm is what is telling your body okay, it's dark, it's now time to start producing melatonin. Okay, it's dark, it's now time to start producing melatonin. And melatonin is our body's superhero, which comes and signals darkness to the rest of our body. It's commonly referred to as a sleep hormone. Technically, it is a sleep hormone. It's not putting us to sleep, it is notifying our body of darkness and therefore rest. All right. Now this is where I need you to listen very carefully, because melatonin doesn't just make you sleepy, right, it is not something that just makes you go to sleep, because it signaled darkness to the rest of your body and shut it down.
Speaker 1:Melatonin is an extremely powerful antioxidant that helps your body to fight off free radicals, which are those unstable atoms that can damage cells and lead to serious health issues like cancer. Make no secret of this. There is a clear link between blue light and cancer. All right, because it inhibits melatonin. So when you're lying in bed and you're on your phone because you've gone, this is my time I'm going to get into bed. I'm going to be looking at my phone.
Speaker 1:Now you might fall asleep from exhaustion, but your melatonin production has been pushed back. Let me liken it no-transcript, and the mess is still there, but the cleanup's nowhere near as effective, because it's been left too long and you're missing out on the protective work that melatonin does. While you are sleeping, you are personally leaving yourself vulnerable. This is why a lot of women suffer from breast cancer. A lot of men are suffering from prostate cancer. It's the exposure to that blue light inhibiting melatonin which is our free radical eradicator.
Speaker 1:Now I've coached hundreds of shift workers who are all going through this exact thing and you're trying to unwind. I totally understand it and all you want to do is just catch up on a little social media see what everyone's up to. Or you want to watch another Netflix show because it's the only quiet time that you personally get. But I want to be clear with you so that you understand, so that you can make an informed choice. That simple act is having a massive impact on your health. You might be going okay at the moment, but it will catch up on you. It is a false sense of security. The fact that you can lie in bed, look at your phone and roll over and go to sleep doesn't mean that blue light doesn't impact on you. I'm going to be very clear on that. It is absolutely impacting on you in a big way, because what you're doing is you are confusing falling asleep from being completely wiped out with getting that good, solid, restorative, health-protecting sleep that your body desperately needs.
Speaker 1:I know I am the sleep police. I understand it, but the more I learn, the more I learn and the more terrified I get around the exposure that we are all having to this blue light at night, after dark. Our body's not designed for this, folks. Our body is designed to be in darkness once the sun's gone down and this is the problem that we've got these LED lights and all these lights. Now I want to be clear with you and this is not a plug for you to buy products but on my website, ahealthyshiftcom, if you go to the website and you look up the top of the website, you'll see a link there that says resources and under there is recommended products.
Speaker 1:Recommended products for me are products that I've tested and that I actually use. Every single one of them I use, and the reason why I use them is because of the benefits that they bring. And there's blue light zero blue light lights. We have them in our bedside tables, we have them in our lounge room. We don't use the lights overhead after dark at all. In fact, our house is like orange and red at night, and the reason being is because we want to protect our melatonin onset and we want to get good, solid, restorative sleep and give that melatonin a chance to do its job in our body.
Speaker 1:Now we think melatonin, yeah, it's our sleep hormone. It's not actually a sleep hormone. It signals darkness to the body, but what it does do is we are learning more and more and more about the role that melatonin plays in our body at night, and we need to be protecting it at all costs, because it is literally what is protecting us. So next time you're about to grab your phone in bed, I want you to remember you are not just risking a bad night's sleep. What you're actually doing is you're compromising your body's ability to repair and protect itself. Protect your melatonin production at all costs. It's one of the best things that you can do for your long-term health.
Speaker 1:That's it for today's episode. If you are struggling with sleep and you need some help, reach out. Head over to the website ahealthyshiftcom. Reach out. I'm happy to help you. 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 a healthy shiftcom. I'll catch you on the next one.