Shift work survival guide
AnY job that involves shift work is likely to be a sleep killer — and the effects can last a lifetime. Jet lag and shift work have a lot in common. In both cases your internal body clock is thrown out of sync with the external world, and this has a number of unfortunate consequences.
In the case of jet lag, the impact can be unpleasant, but it tends not to be long term (unless you do an awful lot of travelling). For shift workers it can be truly life-changing. There is a long list of terrible things that prolonged shift work can do to the human body, ranging from increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and obesity, through early menopause to depression and divorce.
There are some people who cope well with shift work, but being older and female seems to make it harder to adapt. Those over the age of 45 are less able to adapt to shift work, and the impact on their bodies and brains is greater.
My son, Jack, is a junior doctor and every few weeks he has to do a couple of nights on call, from 9pm to 9am.
Jack has a nap in the afternoon before work, and a meal in the early evening. He also takes food into the hospital to eat before midnight, as the only alternative is something out of a vending machine. He practises time restricted eating (Tre), trying not to eat between midnight and 9am, when he finishes work.
Instead, he drinks lots of water and tea. He also takes a sleeping bag into the hospital with him and, depending on how busy he is, sometimes manages to get a bit of sleep on the floor of the doctors’ office. He finds that a short nap in the early hours means he feels less tired when driving home after a night on call.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to make shift work more tolerable.
TOP TIPS TO KEEP HEALTHY ON SHIFT
1. BeFore your shift begins, take a long nap. If you can, try to get the majority of your sleep in the hours leading up to starting your shift.
There is evidence that if you are working a night shift, say from 11pm to 7am, it is better to have an evening sleep (from 2pm till 9pm) rather than a morning sleep (8am to 3pm).
Put together a bag with healthy snacks to take with you. The kind of food available from vending machines is likely to be high in sugar, saturated fat and salt, and low in fibre and nutrients.
When you eat junk food you pack in the calories and are soon hungry again. Plus, the fact that you are eating at night, when your body will find it hard to process food, means the bad stuff will hang around in your system for longer.
So try to eat your main meal before midnight, and take in nuts, apples and pears to snack on if you can’t endure a long night without anything.
Take in a bottle of water, from the fridge, to sip during overnight shifts. Do not drink caffeinated fizzy drinks.
2. WHIle you’re at work, during the early hours of your night shift, make sure you are getting exposure to bright light.
If your workplace is poorly lit, consider bringing in a light box — such as the lumie Vitamin l SAD light, £75 from John lewis — to give yourself a 20-minute blast. It is more effective and certainly healthier than caffeine.
Do try Tre. Studies show it is bad for the heart if you eat when your body thinks it should be asleep, and researchers are currently looking into the health benefits of limiting your ‘eating window’ (avoiding eating anything between 1am and 6am) when you’re on a night shift.
If you get the chance, try to grab a 20 to 40 minute nap at some point during your shift.
3. WHen you are travelling home after a night shift wear dark glasses to avoid light exposure. rather than going straight to bed, delay your sleep until the afternoon if you can, as research shows this is less disruptive for your body clock.
You will probably need ear plugs, a sleep mask and a prominent ‘Do not Disturb’ sign on the bedroom door.
You should also pay attention to the classic sleep hygiene routines I recommended in yesterday’s pull-out (a fixed time when you go to sleep and wake up; a strict countdown to your bedtime routine; no caffeine or alcohol before bedtime).