WHAT NOT TO EAT WHEN YOU’RE TIRED

PEOPLE who are tired are more likely to seek out fatty, sugary foods. This is because a lack of sleep can affect both the way our bodies deal with sugar and our metabolism.

Studies suggest it raises levels of the ‘hunger’ hormone ghrelin and causes a decline in levels of leptin, a hormone that inhibits hunger signals to the brain.

These changes may help to explain why shift workers have a higher risk of weight gain, obesity and type 2 diabetes — and, to a lesser extent, why, when we’re all tired, we seek out the same sorts of highsugar foods.

But it is important to avoid these foods, and if you do feel hungry, make sure you choose protein-rich snacks (which help you feel full and don’t cause spikes in blood sugar).

This is especially true if you work night shifts. Sugar-rich foods or sugary beverages at the beginning of a night shift will produce a ‘sugar rush’, followed by a crash and increased tiredness.

In addition, sugar consumed in the evening is not as easily absorbed by the cells of the body and remains in the blood for longer, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Ideally, work canteens should help by providing snacks and easy-to-digest foods, with lots of protein available. This means soups, nuts and seeds, peanut butter, boiled eggs, chicken, and tuna. When I am tired, I tend to eat cashew nuts, and have a small ‘emergency’ bag in the drawer. As discussed previously, if you are tired you should avoid too much caffeine on a routine basis, because this will increase your blood pressure and heart rate and can give you the ‘caffeine jitters’, making you anxious and irritable. Because caffeine causes sleeplessness, it may encourage you to use sedatives (e.g. alcohol and sleeping tablets) after work to reverse the alerting effects. This can lead to a cycle of increased caffeine use to drive alertness, followed by more sedatives to induce a state of unconsciousness, which prevents many of the benefits of natural sleep.