An opportunity to help understand the link between shift work and health
Shift workers are an essential part of
our economy and community. From the doctors, nurses, paramedics and security
officers who keep us safe throughout the night to the drivers and shelf
stockers who deliver and replenish goods. Each one of us is bound to know a
shift worker. In fact, almost 1 in 5 Australians are shift workers.
We now know that shift workers are more
likely to be overweight and obese (Amani 2013). They also face a 20% increased
risk of heart disease, including strokes and heart attacks, and a 37% increased
risk of type-2 diabetes (Vyas 2012, Gan 2014). These increased disease risks
may in part be related to having to eat late at night. We know that the way our
body digests, absorbs and uses nutrients from foods is different at night
compared to during the day. As such, carefully planning when and what shift
workers eat at night is important to reduce heart disease risk.
What do we
currently know?
Our bodies are governed by our internal
body clocks, or circadian rhythm. It tells us that night time is for resting,
and not a time for working or eating. It has been well-established that the
breakdown of food into sugar (glucose metabolism) and the response of our body
to insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels) is partially regulated
by this internal clock.
Irregular sleep and eating patterns,
which is typical in shift workers, is associated with poor blood sugar (glucose)
control. Poor glucose control increases the risk of developing type-2 diabetes
and heart disease.
Our research
Our researchers recently published a
study investigating how our bodies respond to food at different times across a
24-hour period (Leung 2017) to try and understand the effect of eating at night
on shift workers’ health. The meals consumed in the evening and at midnight led to a much higher blood sugar response
compared to the morning.
Why is this important? This study
demonstrated that when we eat has an
effect on glucose control and identifies
meal timing as a modifiable factor
in reducing the risk of metabolic-related disease in shift workers.
What are we
doing now?
Most of the information we have about how
meal timing impacts health, in the context of shift work, has happened inside a
laboratory. What we really want to know is what happens in real life. That’s
why we are currently running a study with shift workers in their usual work
environment. While it is known that shift work is associated with poorer
health, we want to find out how to minimise the risk of developing chronic
disease, by determining when the best
times are for shift workers to eat.