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 rigors 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. Enjoy today's show. And welcome to the Healthy Shift Podcast. I'm your host, Roger Sutherland, longtime shift worker, and now I'm a shift work health and well-being coach after retiring after 40 years and the four days. Don't forget the four days in the front line of the police here in Melbourne, Australia. Now, today I want to dive into a topic that could honestly change the way you feel and function on Shift. Now, this is important because it's going to combine a number of podcasts into one, but it's going to condense it all down to around about 15 minutes. So listen carefully because this is going to make a big difference to you. It's called the Low GI Advantage for Shift Workers. Now, I'm going to explain how eating smarter and not less can actually help you to manage your weight, improve your energy, and chase that all elusive sleep that we're all after as well. If you've ever been tired, craving sugar, or struggling to control your eating during your night shifts, you're going to get a lot out of this one. So sit down, grab a cup of tea, or if you're out walking, enjoy the sunshine. Hope you got your shoulders out, getting some vitamin D. And if you have, listen up. So why does all this matter? So let's start start with something that I hear from almost every shift worker that I talk to. And I mean this. Rog, I'm eating okay, but I always feel tired and I can never seem to lose weight. Does this sound familiar? You might not be overeating, but you might be eating at the wrong times or choosing foods that don't actually work in with your body clock. See, our bodies run on a 24-hour rhythm, and that is our circadian rhythm. Now you've heard me talk about this over and over again. It controls when we feel awake, when we feel sleepy, when we're hungry, when we're alert. It even dictates how well we digest food depending on the time of the day. Keep that one in mind. That's important. And here's the important part as well. Our metabolism slows down at night, even if we're wide awake at work. And this is important for people to understand. So think of it this way: your body's internal clock still expects to rest at night. When the sun goes down, melatonin starts to rise within our body. Now, melatonin is a signaler of darkness to the rest of the body. Obviously, the body can't see, the eyes can. When it doesn't detect blue light anymore, it allows melatonin. This is important to understand. And what it does is melatonin rises in our body, and when it does, it literally slows down our digestion and also changes how we metabolize and store the nutrients that we're consuming. So if you're eating at 11 p.m., 1 a.m. 3 a.m., your body simply is not ready for it. And instead of burning that food efficiently, it's most likely being stored as fat. And this is why we gain weight as a shift worker. And that's why eating between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., and you've heard me speak about this a lot, can be a really big problem. The body does just does not metabolize food the same way it does during the day. Now, this is one of the main reasons that so many shift workers are gaining weight, even when they don't feel like they are actually overeating. Now, let's talk about what actually happens on night shift. And if this hurts, I'm talking to you. You're tired, you're bored, you're just sitting there or you're working and you're out and about feeling really fatigued, and you are looking, or your body is dictating, I need a quick pick-me-up. So you wander into the mess room, the tea room, whatever you have, and there it is. The vending machine. Whoa, and it's actually calling you. Jenny, come over here. And over you go, and you stand there looking at it. And what's in the vending machine? Chocolate, lollies, chips. And if you turn around and have a look at the bench, you'll notice Jenny's cake is there. And have you ever noticed, and I want to say this, Jenny never eats the cake. She brings it in, but she doesn't eat it. She's an enabler. So you gotta watch out for Jenny and that goddamn cake. Okay. We've all been there. These foods are comforting, no doubt about it. In the middle of the night, you feel like a bit of a chocolate bar. Ah, this won't hurt, I'll just have this chocolate bar. And they're comforting. And they give you a quick hit of energy, and there's no doubt about it. But this is the problem. Because what they do is they cause a blood sugar spike. And what happens after that? We crash. And when you crash, what do you do? You crave another hit. And this is an endless cycle of spikes and crashes that go on all night long. And because these foods are very calorically dense, you can easily eat hundreds of calories without ever feeling full. And over time, that all adds up in energy swings, fatigue, and actually unwanted weight gain because it's going to change our um energy balance. Remember, energy balance. We eat more than we actually move, we gain weight. So why does the timing actually matter? Because there's got to be a solution to this. Well, the first step, and it's important to understand, is timing. Now we know from research that time-restricted feeding, as in, eating in an 8 to 10 hour window during the biological day can be really powerful. Now, for shift workers, that might mean having your first meal after you wake up and finishing your last one before you go to bed, even if that's in the afternoon. So try to avoid and keep this in mind. Try to avoid eating between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. whenever you can. No matter what you're doing, what shift you're on, try and avoid eating. Don't come at me and say to me, Oh, but I work overnight and I I've slept all day. It doesn't make any difference. Your body is still functioning in that night mode. And it is really, really important that you understand that your body goes into a rest and digest, even though you're awake. So if you don't eat and don't consume between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., this is a point of time when our pancreas is asleep because of the melatonin hitting it. And it doesn't secrete as much insulin, which means those highly palatable carbohydrates that we're eating can't get transported to the muscles, which on night shift are insulin resistant. So whatever we're eating gets carried around the bloodstream and gets parked on our hips, butt, thighs, wherever, as body fat. And this is important to understand. When you don't eat between that time, particularly as a female, you're giving your digestive system time to rest and actually reset. It then improves how your body utilizes food. It helps to support weight control and it can even help you to sleep better because your body's rested. Water after midnight, caffeine cuttered at midnight. No more, just water or herbal teas or something like that. But we don't want to be eating anything because it just doesn't get metabolized and stored the same. So let's talk about another option here. Let's talk about low GI foods because this is where the real magic actually happens. Now, GI stands for the glycemic index. What it does is these foods have been put into a scale as to how quickly a food raises your blood sugar and then how long it stabilizes for. High GI foods, things like white bread, confectionery, sugary cereals, they send your blood sugar up fast, and then it crashes down again very quickly. Chocolate, chips, lollies, damn Jenny, and that cake. Low GI foods like oats, whole grains, even fruit, yogurt, and nuts all release energy slowly. And these are the type of foods that we should be eating. Let me repeat that. Things like oats, whole grains, fruit, yogurt, and nuts. Now this means that you stay fuller for longer and your energy is more stable. And when this happens, your cravings drop right off. Put your hand up if you get cravings. You're getting cravings because you are eating higher GI foods that are actually spiking your blood sugar and then you're crashing. So you therefore crave it again. When you eat lower GI foods, it actually stabilizes that blood sugar and you don't get those crashes, those cravings. Now, this is especially helpful later in the day or for small snacks overnight. So instead of reaching for that chocolate or those chips, think about something like some Greek yogurt with berries or a handful of nuts or a piece of fruit. It's not about being perfect. It's literally just about making better swaps, and you will find that you feel so much better off. These benefits all add up because when you start combining time-restricted eating with lower GI foods, these benefits start to add up really fast, and you start to really chip away at that weight gain. You'll have more stable energy throughout your shifts. You won't be reaching for sugary snacks every couple of hours, and you'll find it so much easier to maintain your weight. And most importantly, you'll just feel better mentally and physically. It is incredible just how much clearer your head feels when your blood sugar is stable and your body isn't constantly playing catch up. So, how do we put this in practice? And this is what I would like you to try next week. Start on Monday and avoid eating between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. wherever possible. Now, some people can't do that. And I want to be quite clear too. I don't want you to fast from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. So when you get home from that night shift, you open the pantry and the fridge and eat everything inside. We're much better off going with those lower GI foods, remember what they are overnight, that are just that those oats, those whole grains, some fruit, some yogurt, some nuts, something like that will help to help you absolutely no doubt. Set number two is setting an eating window. Go for about eight to ten hours during the day and stick to it. And I always say if you were to eat at normal day walker times, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, breakfast between six and eight, lunch between eleven and one, dinner between five and seven, you will find that that is will not only set your circadian rhythm, but you'll find that you can restrict your foods into that time really easily and really well. And that would really help. And then what I want you to do is from after lunch, everything that you eat, choose lower GI foods, especially once you get to the evening, once that melatonin is raised, once it gets dark, keep that in mind. Lower GI foods, especially later in your shift or overnight. Now listen, and I want you to listen carefully. You don't need to overhaul all of this at once. Just make a small change and then like swap a chocolate bar out for a uh for a yogurt and fruit. Just a Yo Pro yogurt with a handful of berries in it will make a massive difference over time. Trust me, it'll be more stable, you won't be craving that chocolate all the time, and you will feel so much better. I want you to remember this always. It's about progress, it's not about um perfection. Because when you aim for perfection, if you have a slip up somewhere, you feel like a complete failure, and then you'll end up throwing in the towel. Now, the next thing I want you to remember is what your next step is. If you were listening to this and you're thinking, Rog, I get it. But fitting all this in around my shifts, my family, my social life, this all feels completely impossible. And this is where I help clients. This is what I do every single day. I work one-on-one with shift workers just like you nurses, police, paramedics, aviation, flight attendants, people just trying to juggle irregular rosters, long hours, and real life. And together, you and me, we can build a plan that actually fits your life. We'll look at your roster, your eating habits, your sleep, and your lifestyle. And then what we'll do is we'll create a strategy that works for you. I don't do generic plans. There is no guessing, and there's nothing that just one size fits all here. It's just real practical support weekly that is tailored to your own perfect situation. So if you're ready to stop juggling through the shifts and start feeling better, if you go back into the show notes and have a look down the bottom, there is a link to book a free 15-minute assessment call with me where you and I will have a conversation and I will tell you, show you how I can actually help you in your shift working life to arrest that weight gain, to get you feeling better, to get you sleeping better, to get you just thriving with more energy in your life outside of your actual shift work. We'll talk about what's going on for you. We'll talk about how I can help you to navigate all this in a way that fits your home life, shift life, and social life. You do not have to figure this out alone. Let's get you feeling and performing at your best, even on nights. So let's sum this one up. Jump into the show notes and go down and book that 15-minute assessment call. I want you to remember this, and this is important in the summary. Your body clock runs the show, not your roster. Even when you are awake at night, when we eat at the wrong times and rely on processed snacks, we are working against the rhythm. But when we shift our timing and focus on low GI foods, we start working with our body, not against it. And that's the key to thriving as a shift worker. I want to say, thank you so much for tuning into a healthy shift podcast today. If you found this episode helpful, can you do me a favor? Could you share it with one of your colleagues at work? Or even better yet, send it to goddamn Jenny so she knows to bring something low GI next time. I'm Roger Sutherland. Take care of yourself and remember, it is not about perfection. It's about making a healthy shift, and we want to make that one tiny little habit at a time, and that will make such a huge difference to you. I'll see 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 ahealthyshift.com. I'll catch you on the next one.