Confused about what to eat on night shift?

Don't you worry.. i've been there! I would get the most heinous abdominal pain on night shifts. Looking back I can’t tell if it was gas pains or just my body attempting to digest the food I was eating before I changed my diet to adapt to my bodies natural circadian rhythm. I was also a sucker for low calorie / sugar free fizzy drink to perk me up and low- calorie snacks that really did not have much nutritional quality to them at all. The lack of quality whole foods and diversity in my diet meant that my gut microbiome was not receiving the optimal fuel to feed my short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Nourishing and providing fuel for our SCFAs is a crucial step in serotonin production, hello mental health. The high GI carbohydrates and snacks I found myself reaching for really did not satiate my hunger at all either. In retrospect I realised that they were spiking my blood sugar, giving me a quick hit of energy then I would find myself hungry 20-30 minutes later once again, which perpetuated a cycle of snacking and feeling hungry for almost the entirety of my shift until i would crave something super super super energy dense that would leave me feeling so sick afterward!

During a night shift our digestion, pancreatic function (ability to handle sugar or Hi-Gi foods) and bodies overall ability to move food through our bowels slows down. Even if we have been asleep for most of the day and have done what we can to trick our body into think it’s daytime, our inherent circadian rhythm stays set. With that in mind, it makes sense as to why shift workers often experience abdominal discomfort or dyspepsia after eating a meal on night shift that they usually would during the day without an issue.

My top tips for staying nourished on a night shift without the intense abdo pain or flatulence include:

o Eat your three main meals at your usual breakfast, lunch and dinner time in between your main sleep prior to the night shift then utilise the balanced, higher protein snacks you would usually eat during the day as an energy boost throughout the night.

o Opt for snacks that are easily digestible and not too hard on the pancreas are ideal during nights I have listed quite a few below as examples

o If you do find yourself still struggling with the digestion of smaller snacks throughout the night try to sip on dandelion tea. Dandelion is a known ‘bitter’ which can stimulate our digestive function. Be mindful that dandelion does also have a diuretic effect so follow up with water after!

o Stay hydrated and be mindful of your caffeine intake .. I'll write a seperate post on this as i could go on for days about caffeine intake, dehydration is a huge factor in fatigue and particular food cravings on night shift!

If you experience nausea on or post night shift attempt to decrease caffeine and increase hydration throughout the evening, I recommend to try sipping ginger tea or chewing on crystallised ginger (aim for the lower sugar versions!). Ginger is a well known anti-nauseant!

A Dieticians Take on Night Shift Eating:

It appears in the research than energy expenditure is reduced overnight, so food/energy consumed may create an energy surplus even if it is the same amount as what would be consumed on a day shift. This has been shown in different research to be caused by possibly both a reduction in BMR and also a reduced thermic effect of food (TEF) that is eaten. Carbohydrate oxidation is generally higher in the daylight hours, particularly in the morning after waking, and therefore lower at night, when insulin resistance also increases, negatively impacting on blood glucose levels, particularly

Therefore, it would perhaps be beneficial to load meals with more carbohydrates and total energy in the daylight hours, and have meals higher in protein and lower in total energy/carbohydrates overnight/dark hours (increase content of high, fibre low GI carbs to maintain meal volume and satiety).

Continuing with the importance of high protein snacks during night shift hours instead of carb predominant snacks as well.

Night Shift Snack Examples: o Boiled eggs and cut up carrots, capsicum and celery

o Greek yoghurt and paleo or refined sugar free granola

o Roasted Edamame

o Canned salmon and wholemeal crackers

o 80% higher dark chocolate, roasted nuts and fresh fruit (dark chocolate has a bit

of caffeine if you’re struggling but don’t want another coffee)

o Organic Grass-fed Beef jerky (just watch out for super high sodium varieties)

o ‘Chief’ protein bars these are my absolute favourites, I harp on about these a lot, but they have super clean ingredients, they’re low in sugar and also contain camu camu which is super high in vitamin C!

o Buckwheat cakes and avocado

o ‘Blue Dinosaur’ protein bars, again – super clean ingredients and energy dense !

o Bone broth! I love ‘Gevity RX’ or ‘Best of the Bone Broth’ (brand wise) a cup of

warm broth on night shift is excellent for digestion and is very warming.

o Farmers Union Greek Style Yogurt Pouch Natural 130g

Each individual will have differing energy demands based on their unique physiology and their physical activity levels so it's super important to be in tune with what your body needs and understand the signals it is sending you.