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The Healthy Shift Worker

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23.01.2022 Interesting research in relation to the timing of food intake in school children and its impacts on metabolic health - so not only shift workers! https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/9/2881/htm

13.01.2022 Something that has left me completely perplexed over the last 10-months, is why big supermarket chains are encouraging consumers to eat highly refined and processed foods, when the focus of building a robust immune system should be paramount. I’m not going to lie. Every day, I’m left shaking my head from side to side whenever I see images like these - offering customers heavily-reduced discounts on foods that spike blood sugar and insulin levels which trigger an inflammatory... response. Chronic inflammation is one of the key drivers of many of the chronic health conditions that we see today. Consuming these foods on a regular basis, contributes to dysregulated blood sugar, especially high blood sugar (known as hyperglycemia), which actually makes us prone to getting sick. In other words, it impairs the function of the immune system. High blood sugar interferes in a process called chemotaxis, which is the movement of immune cells like neutrophils, to the site of injury or infection. Essentially what this means, is that when we have high levels of glucose in the bloodstream, it basically gets too crowded, like in a traffic jam, so the immune response becomes hampered. So I’d like to step in and provide some alternatives seeing as though our public health officials seem to be unusually quiet on the topic of dietary and nutritional advice. What I do want to say though is that I’m not anti-sugar. I’m more low-sugar because let’s face it, life without chocolate and an occasional cinnamon-topped donut is well, not worth living lol! Our body also needs a certain amount of sugar for blood sugar stability. Just not too much or too often, as this can lead to blood sugar spikes, and subsequent crashes - triggering those hard-to-fight sugar cravings. So consider sweetener alternatives like 100% maple syrup, organic honey, coconut sugar, vanilla, nuts, dates, dark chocolate (70% and higher) along with whole-fruits that contain natural sugars and fibre. Fibre helps to eliminate toxins from the digestive tract, enhance gut motility (the fancy way to describe assisting the body to stimulate bowel movements!) along with improving gut microbiome diversity. This, in turn, helps the GALT or gut-associated lymphoid tissue to thrive, a key component of the immune system as it contains immune cells such as B and T lymphocytes, macrophages to name a few. Audra x P.S: By simply including more protein and healthy fats into your diet, you’re also going to reduce those sugar cravings right from the get-go. In other words, you’re setting yourself up for success and less likely to fall victim to the hypnotic spell of the not-so-healthy vending machine especially at 4am when those sugar-cravings are at an all-time high!! One of my favourite cookbooks, ‘The Low Sugar Life Cookbook’ has lots of inspiring recipes that are super easy to make perfect for the sleep-deprived shift worker that may have lost their mojo to cook .

10.01.2022 {chemicals, gut health and sleep}: each time we consume produce that has been sprayed with chemicals, it has the potential of disrupting the quality of our sleep in addition to an erratic work schedule. This is because agricultural chemicals such as pesticides and fungicides can destroy the delicate balance of microbiome found in the gut. The suffix ‘cide’ actually means to kill so when too many of the good gut bugs are wiped out, this enables the bad ones to multiply leadi...ng to a condition known as dysbiosis. Given both serotonin and melatonin, two key hormones involved in instigating sleep are manufactured in the gut and therefore rely heavily on optimal gut health, we want to reduce our intake of foods sprayed with chemicals when ever we can. A good place to start is by referring to the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen checklist which outlines the most heavily sprayed produce. You can do so by visiting their website at https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php So even if you start switching a handful of foods across to organic, you will be doing your part in helping your body to sleep - even if your roster may not be quite so accommodating !! Audra x #organic #produce #pesticides #herbicides #sleep #guthealth #melatonin #serotonin #shiftwork

04.01.2022 If there’s one thing that’s really hit home over the last 12-months it’s this. Taken from an excerpt from the book ’Blue Zones - 9 Lessons for Living Longer, From The People Who Have Lived The Longest’ by Dan Buettner. Without a shadow of a doubt, our lifestyles are the chief determinant in how long we live.... The daily, weekly, monthly and yearly accumulation of behaviours including what we eat, watch, read, whom we hang out with all the way to how much we move ... all play an instrumental role in how healthy we are right now. This is pretty much common sense - yet astonishingly, has been completely missing from all public health care policies worldwide at a time when its been needed the most. It’s why my philosophy for The Healthy Shift Worker moving forward is going to be all about common sense medicine. Because I think it’s high time we take a step back and look at the Bigger Picture when it comes to seeking solutions for our health. Each time we take on a myopic approach, like zooming in on a particular test (which I’m not discounting by the way as there is a time and place for when that is required) - this tunnel vision approach can cause us to miss things that are staring at us right in the face. For example, by simply reducing portion sizes or altering the timing of your food intake (especially when working 24/7), can be all that’s needed to set someone on the right path towards a life of sustainable weight loss. And yes, this does include eating that slice of chocolate cake every now and then without going into meltdown thinking you’ve just wrecked another diet! So 2021 is going to be all about embracing the little things. The common sense stuff that so many of us overlook or are quick to dismiss, because they undeniably play a gigantic role in our overall health and well-being, and in most cases, cost very little to implement. Audra x #health #shiftwork #nutrition #lifestyle #commonsensemedicine

03.01.2022 Nothing lights me up more than travelling and being in nature. One of the key benefits (besides being in awe of its beauty), is that it supports the immune system by boosting the diversity of our skin’s microbiota. In a study published in the journal ‘Science Advances’ (2020), researchers in Finland discovered that exposing children to microbes in nature increased microbiome diversity.... The study involved 75 children between the age of 3 and 5 across four day-care centres. Each of the daycare centres were fitted with various plants and shrubs that were easily accessible to the children. Children played in these natural spaces, called intervention sites, for an average of 1.5 hours per day. After 28 days, they measured the skin and microbial diversity of the children, and then compared their results to four daycare centres that did not have the green spaces installed. They found that children who played in the green spaces had a higher diversity of commensal skin microbiota (AKA they get along harmoniously without doing any harm), compared to those who played in the standard daycare centres. An increase in abundance of bacteria from the Ruminococcacaeae family was also observed, which produces the short-chain fatty acid, butyrate, known for its anti-inflammatory effects. Rumino what you say? Yeah I know. Try saying that word a few times over on just four hours of sleep . This study highlights how a high level of hygiene as a result of living in urban areas can lower diversity as a result of insufficient contact with nature. Mother Nature gets it right every time . Audra x P.S: Super grateful to have spent my entire childhood growing up in rural areas. Certainly goes a long way in helping to explain why I have an incredibly robust immune system to this day ... some almost-50 years later ! #mothernature #rainforest #greatoutdoors #naturalimmunity #microbiome #skinhealth #guthealth #sunlight #foresttherapy

02.01.2022 {Happy New Year everyone!}: Whoops - I’m a day late . Hope everyone made it through their shift OK if you were working, or alternatively, managed to snare the Rostered-Day-Off-Golden-Ticket and not be working. 2020 was certainly a crazy year to say the least, and not one any of us want to go through again any time soon. I’ve just finished Day 25 of a 30-day yoga challenge by @adrienelouise, and am about to embark on her new series for the year called ‘Breath’ with o...ne of my besties from Uni @genesis_health_lifestyle. Given the year we’ve just had and all that is about to unfold (I have a sneaky suspicion 2021 is going to be one to remember for really good reasons) - taking time to stop and park ourselves on the yoga mat seems super appropriate right now. It’s also a great way to reduce cortisol, a catabolic stress hormone which in excess, can lead to a decrease in lean body and muscle mass which we want to avoid, especially as we get older. So if you’re up to a fun challenge (you don’t have to be super bendy or flexible to do yoga by the way - I often have days when I feel a bit like a Tin Man, or should I say a Tin Lady!!), click on the link below for more info :-). Here’s to becoming super fit, flexible and healthy in 2021 . Audra x #yoga #yogawithadriene #flexible #fit #strong #shiftwork #shiftworker #shiftworkhealth