What you can do to stop the shiftwork 'blues'
Whether you work night, earlies or lates, chances are that at some point while you are at work you will have experienced fatigue. While most people experience tiredness at work at one time or another, it can be a real problem for shiftworkers and shiftwork is an integral part of policing.
Smart eating is a big help in reducing the risk of fatigue by boosting your energy levels.
This means:
• A healthy diet, including plenty of fruit and vegetables;
• Cutting back on your intake of sugar, salt and saturated fat; and
• Keeping yourself ‘tuned-up’ by combining certain food and drinks at particular times of your day, thereby managing your blood sugar levels.
Body clock
The basic problem with shiftwork is that you sometimes have to work when it’s normal to be sleeping, which can upset your natural (circadian) sleep rhythms. Our internal body clock is designed to help us be alert during the day and then sleep at night.
Working shifts means that the body requires energy at times that it expects to be resting, which
makes it more difficult for us to be able to digest food at night and to produce energy at the right time for night work.
When added to the other things going on in our lives, e.g. family stress, a sleeping disorder or the effects of certain medications, working shifts can just add to the problem of fatigue or tiredness.
Reducing fatigue
There are ways however, to reduce the chance of being affected by fatigue – and watching what and when you eat is one of them.
Here are some of the common signs of fatigue:
• Daydreaming, slow reaction times;
• Increased risk-taking;
• Poor communication;
• Poor judgement of distance or time;
• Sore or tired eyes, blurred vision;
• Nodding off for a fraction of a second;
• Impatience, restlessness, irritability; and
• Taking safety shortcuts such as not bothering to wear safety equipment.
Because fatigue affects your ability to work safely, it has a huge impact on your safety and performance.
Feeling tired affects your reaction time, your judgement of what is or isn’t dangerous and your decision-making.
It is common for people in this situation not to realise they are over tired and therefore underestimate the effect of fatigue on their performance.
For more information on what causes fatigue and a range of ideas for avoiding or managing the problem, have a look at the workplace fatigue pages on the Acc website (www.acc.co.nz).
Avoiding the blood sugar ‘blues’
You’ve no doubt heard of blood sugar but many people do not realise how it can affect your safety and performance. Blood sugar is the body’s main source of energy and how high or low it is at any time will affect how you feel.
Low blood sugar can cause shakiness, anxiety, excessive sweating and heart palpitations. High blood sugar can cause feelings of fatigue – i.e. there is more sugar in the body than can be used for energy.
Obviously it makes sense to keep your blood sugar levels steady, without spikes or dips.
Your blood sugar levels depend on how much glucose you have in your body. You can keep your levels steady by making the right decisions about the kinds of glucosecontaining foods you eat.
The glucose factor
Lots of foods provide glucose for the body – some of them are better than others. e.g. some carbohydrates such as wholegrain bread, pasta and certain types of rice are good because they provide a steady release of glucose into the body.
Foods with lots of added sugar are usually higher in glucose but while they give you an energy burst, they will end up making you feel tired later on.
To keep your blood sugar levels steady it helps to know how quickly energy is released from different food.
This is what the Glycemic Index (GI) is useful for – it ranks food based on the immediate effect on blood sugar levels.
• Foods with a high GI cause your blood sugar levels to rise quickly which means your body has to work hard to bring its sugar levels back to normal.
• Foods with a low GI allow your blood sugar levels to rise gradually and keep you feeling fuller for longer. Foods containing fibre will help with this, too.
To find out more details about gi and healthy eating, have a look at The home of the glycemic index - The University of sydney (www.glycemicindex.com) or check out http://www.southbeach-dietplan.com/glycemicfoodchart.htm for more information or google “glycemic index”.
Cut back on sugar
Although sugar makes the food we eat taste sweet it contains energy without vitamin and mineral value.
To avoid adding extra energy to your diet and inches to your waistline, here are some tips on cutting back on sugar:
• Eat porridge or untoasted muesli rather than sweetened processed cereals;
• Check the labels on muesli bars and other snack bars, some are much higher in sugar than others;
• Drink plain or mineral water instead of fizzy or energy drinks, that contain lots of sugar.
• Choose a piece of fruit instead of lollies or other confectionary; and
• Plain yoghurt with chopped-up fruit or a fruit yoghurt is a healthy dessert..
Timing is everything
Eating certain foods at certain times can help you fight fatigue and allow for improved concentration and reaction time.
protein: Protein rich foods contain tyrosine, an amino acid that stimulates brain chemicals to help you feel more alert.
It’s important to choose low fat protein foods because high fat protein foods take longer to digest (this is especially important when these foods are eaten late at night when digestion naturally slows down).
carbohydrates: Carbohydrate based foods provide energy for everyday tasks and also help to create serotonin, a brain chemical that allows you to feel less irritable and more able to focus.
When you eat a small meal containing about 120g of lean protein food with about a cup of certain slow releasing carbohydrates you will be ‘powered up’ to perform at your best without feeling sluggish.
Carbohydrates not only help you to focus, the same slow releasing carbohydrates can also help you to rest and sleep more effectively as well.
Choosing a slow releasing, carbohydrate rich meal a few hours before you need to sleep promotes steady blood sugar levels – this will help you stay asleep.
Serving sizes
If you eat the right types of food but eat too much of them, you won’t get the best results.
The ‘right’ serving size is different for different food groups and for different bodies.
To find out more details see the New Zealand healthy Food guide – healthy eating guide serving-size at www.healthyfood.co.nz
The secret to good digestion
If you work shifts you may suffer from stomach pain, bloating, constipation and other digestive problems.
This is most likely because it may be hard for you to eat at regular times. To help reduce these
problems, here are some good eating habits to put in place:
• The golden rule is to eat little and often. It’s hard for your body to digest larger quantities of food eaten in one sitting;
• Have several small meal breaks during a long shift rather than a single long one;
• Don’t skip meals, especially before you start work;
• Avoid having a large meal near the time you go to bed as your body will be so
busy digesting it you could find it difficult to sleep;
• Heavy meals can often leave you uncomfortably full, or cause heartburn and other indigestion problems, which can also make it difficult to get to sleep; and
• Fill up on fibre - high fibre foods help to keep everything you eat moving right along through your bowels.
If you eat regular amounts of plant-based foods (like wholegrain cereals and breads plus lots of fruits and vegetables), all of which contain lots of fibre, you’ll keep digestion problems and constipation at bay.
This has to be good news whether you’re on a long shift at work or at home.
Try to include more fibre in what you eat on a daily basis:
• Top up your breakfast cereal or muesli with fresh or stewed fruit;
• Enjoy lots of fresh fruit – whatever is in season;
• Eat a jacket potato or potatoes with the skin on, rather than peeled potatoes;
• Eat wholegrain bread, or if you prefer white bread, try one with high fibre.
• Buy a bran muffin or wholemeal scone for morning tea;
• Choose a pie made with wholemeal pastry;
• Snack on chopped celery and carrot and/or raw unsalted nuts;
• Add lettuce, tomato, carrot, avocado, capsicum and beetroot to your sandwiches; and
• Eat brown rice or pasta whenever possible, or mix brown and white rice/ pasta together.
Cut back on fatty foods
Everyone needs a bit of fat in his or her diet; it adds flavour to food but most importantly it helps repair the body.
Most of us eat way more than we need. To reduce your fat intake:
• Swap to low-fat or trim milk;
• Trim excess fat from your meat;
• Buy lower fat cheese, e.g. Edam,
Mozzarella or cottage cheese;
• Fry less – and bake, grill and steam more;
• Snack on a low-fat yoghurt;
• Eat tuna in wholemeal bread sandwiches;
• Instead of cheese, try hummus on
crackers; and
• Cook with olive oil,avocado oil, or, even better, rice bran oil, instead of butter. Biscuits, cakes, pies and sausage rolls are nice for an occasional treat but they’re full of sugar and fat. It’s good to get in the habit of reading the labels on the packaging so you can keep tabs on what you’re eating. If it doesn’t have a label, think about what’s likely to be in it and whether it is good for you!
Water – so good for you
Refreshing, cooling, flushing, cleaning - water does it all!
Everyone needs to drink enough water to keep his or her body working well. Not drinking enough water adds to fatigue.
Get in the habit of drinking a glass or two of water first thing, and keep topping up throughout your day.
A good rule of thumb is to drink 200-300ml of fluid at every meal and snack - so at least six glasses a day.
• Don’t wait to feel thirsty - keep sipping to stay alert;
• Thirst is often mistaken for hunger. To avoid overeating, drink water before a meal;
• Many fruit and vegetables contain water.
Eating them can help increase your intake of water but you will still need to drink at least six glasses to make sure you have enough; and
• Always keep a bottle or jug of fresh water handy. It is preferable to drink from glass rather than plastic anyway for health and recycling reasons.
How to know if you’re drinking enough water
Get in the habit of checking out the colour of your urine. If it’s pale yellow you’ve probably had enough water that day but if it’s strongly coloured (i.e. dark yellow), then you are not drinking enough and are not properly hydrated.
Caffeine – what goes up must come down
Most of us like a quick caffeine fix to keep us going during a long day but too much is not good for the body.
You’ve probably noticed that while a coffee, cola or energy drink gives you a bit of a lift; it’s usually followed by a dip in energy.
If you have too much caffeine, that lift just stops happening and you start to feel really tired.
So it’s best to limit these kinds of drinks to fewer than 300 mgs of caffeine a day.
They also don’t help you fight fatigue; they just mask it for a short while. Too much caffeine reduces not just the amount of sleep you are getting, but also the quality.
Below are some figures on the approximate amount of caffeine (millligrams) in various food and drinks. note: This a guide only asthe amount of caffeine may vary from brand to brand.
Coffee per cup Caffeine (mg)
Instant coffee 75 mg Plunger 100 – 300 Espresso/cappuccino 100 – 150 Decaffeinated 3-5
Tea per cup Caffeine (mg)
Brown ‘gum boot’ (one minute brew) 9-33 Green tea (Chinese) 30-50
Soft drinks per 330 can Caffeine (mg)
Energy drinks 30-160 Cola 32 Lemonade type drinks nil
Other favourite drinks Caffeine (mg)
Milo nil
Hot chocolate 5-7
Herbal infusions nil
Getting organised
The key to eating foods that help you stay alert and avoid fatigue is being organised with your shopping. Aim to have the ‘right’ Aim to have the ‘right’ foods handy by planning when and where
you’ll do your shopping, and getting it done well before you want to eat.
As mentioned earlier, shiftworkers should eat little and often rather than having one big meal during or after a shift.
Being organised about buying your food will help you stick to this plan.
When supermarket shopping:
• Look at your work schedule for the coming week and plan what you’ll eat at work and what you’ll eat at home;
• Once you’ve decided on what you want to eat, make a list of what you’ll need to have in the house and what you’ll buy to take to work;
• Buy enough seasonal fruit and veges to keep you going for a few days;
• Eat before you go to the supermarket – you’ll be less tempted to buy unhealthy
snack foods;
• Read food labels so you know exactly what you’re eating; and
• If possible, use the kitchen facilities at your place of work when you’re working
night shifts to prepare simple, healthy snacks.
To help you remember which foods are best, check out the healthy Food guide (www.healthyfood.co.nz)
Sleep • fatigue • food – and how they interact
If you don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis, your body is likely to produce more of a hormone that will make you extra hungry and less of one that suppressesyour appetite.
In other words, if you’re tired your brain starts telling your body to eat – especially foods that are starchy, sweet and high in carbohydrates.
If this goes on for too long you’ll eat too much of the wrong foods. This will result in blood sugar highs and lows, plus you’ll put on weight and generally lack energy.
Smart food for shiftworkers
If your shift means you need to sleep in the mornings or during the daytime, the meal you eat before you go to bed should contain plenty of carbohydrates.
These are good foods:
• Cereal/porridge;
• Toast;
• Fruit; and
• Rice.
When you’ve woken up after a morning or daytime sleep, eat a main meal of the day, which should be a mixture of protein and carbohydrates to help you wake up and give you energy for the rest of the day and into the night.
• Lean meat, such as chicken and fish;
• Pasta;
• Vegetables;
• Dairy products, eggs and low-fat cheese;
• Yoghurt;
• Breakfast drinks or fruit smoothies low fat yoghurt drinks, water;
• Beans on wholegrain toast;
• Eggs (poached, boiled, omelette); and
• Fresh fruit.
If you don’t have time to prepare a snackbefore you go to work at night, buy one of the healthier options from a petrol station or take-away place on the way to work, such as:
• Breakfast drinks;
• Fruit smoothies;
• Pies made with wholemeal pastry;
• Fresh fruit;
• Wholegrain bread sandwiches;
• Low-fat or reduced sugar biscuits – look for the NZ Heart Foundation ‘Pick the
tick’; and
• Wholemeal scones and muffins.
Police News wishes to thank shiftwork.co.nz for their assistance in producing this article and the information contained in it. More information on shiftwork is available on their website at shiftwork.co.nz
