Some of us like to be awake late into the night. At other times, you may be lie awake watching TV, chatting, reading a book or just finishing extra work from office or school. Many people work the night shift and their lifestyles are adjusted accordingly. These top diet tips for night shift workers will save them from many health issues that they might be prone to.
A lot of people are fascinated with the idea of sleeping all day long and being awake at night. But this may actually stress out your system, especially if you have a two-day weekend. For 5 days you tell your body that night is the time for work, don’t get sleepy and then suddenly on the weekend you want to sleep in the night. Your body will not be able to understand this and it may lead to several health problems such as:-
| Insomnia and sleep disorders |
| Mouth and stomach ulcers |
| Increased stress leading to heart ailments |
| Increase in accident rates |
| Increase in mental stress, fatigue and tiredness |
Some people succumb to cigarette smoking and alcoholism to cope up with the increasing stress and to remain awake through the night. They compromise health and a lot of other things to adjust to this routine. Stress may lead to weight gain and early ageing signs on the face if you are not able to handle it well. Night shift may affect a person’s health, lifestyle and social relations as well.
I believe if you take certain measure towards health, all the other factors are in your control and you can manage them well. These tips for night shift workers will prove to be useful in improving your overall health and correcting lifestyle.
1] Dinner – Normally a person would end his day by eating dinner. But for those on night shift, the cycle starts with dinner.
– If your shift start from 7 pm onwards or later, you should not have dinner late to compensate. Instead have your dinner and then leave for work.
– If your shift starts at 4.00 – 5.00 pm , then have your dinner at around 7.30 / 8 .00 pm. Don’t wait to get home and then eat.
The most important tip for night shift workers is that your dinner timings are crucial. Many people avoid dinner before the shift to stop from feeling sleepy or heavy during work hours.
Eat – lighter dinner items like brown rice with veggies and dal , idlies with chutney / dosa / utappam / only phulka instead of oily chapatis / puris, with salads and veggies / vegetable daliya / vegetable khichadi. Veggies are very important to avoid acidity.
Avoid – Fatty food , fried foods like samosa , kachori, puris, potatoes and excessive sweets and desserts. Avoid starchy foods. These will leave you heavy and bloated and sleepy, and a few hours later they would provoke more acid formation leading to acidity.
2. Hydration – Many people take up to drinking countless cups of tea and coffee to remain awake and active through the night. But this is another habit that is detrimental to your health. Hydration is very important, keep sipping some liquids every 30 -45 minutes and you will never feel sleepy.
Drink – Nimbu paani / lemonade , coconut water , green tea and herbal teas , vegetable soups , apple juice , carrot juice , beetroot juice and buttermilk. Flavoured milk is also a good option.
Avoid – Tea and coffee in excess. 1/2 cup once or twice is fine, but not more than that. Especially if you have not had a proper meal that day. It may lead to acidity, insomnia, and restlessness. Avoid excessive aerated beverages and cold drinks.
3] Snacking at night – When hungry at night, keep some roasted nuts like almonds , soyabean , pumpkin seeds , flax seeds and peanuts handy. These are healthy snacks and will not lead to weight gain and will prevent you from overeating. Roasted channa is another healthy option. You can also keep some murmura / kadlepuri / puffed rice handy and have a bit when hungry.
If you are very hungry , choose poha and upma from the canteen over pizzas, burgers or wada pav.
4] Antioxidants – Antioxidants play a very important role in the life of those people who work in night shifts. Include foods with vibrant colour like red (tomatoes , carrot, strawberry, red cabbage, etc ) green (green leafy veggies) yellow and orange (lemons , orange, pumpkin, carrot) and berries and citrus fruits. Antioxidants have various health benefits specially for the night shift workers.
– If you reach home at midnight or a little later like 2.00 am, don’t immediately go to bed. After reaching home drink lukewarm water and lemon or a glass of warm milk , change up and then hit the bed.
– If you reach home in early morning hours like 5.00 am or later, have a bath, wear light clothes have a small meal poha / upma / corn flakes or wheat flakes with a glass of milk and then hit the bed.
What to do when you wake up ?
– After you have slept for 6-7 hours , wake up and have a round of exercise. You can choose walking / jogging / or even a gym workout or activity like swimming / skating / table tennis / lawn tennis or other if you don’t have that kind of time or options, then simply do yoga and some stretching and warm up exercise at home.
Here is a diet plan for weight loss for Indian night shift workers !
Hope these diet tips for night shift workers will be of benefit to you.
Image : Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos
This post was Last Updated on June 19, 2019
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View Comments
I start to office at 6 and reach at 5. As you said if I just have a snack at night. I will only have proper meal. That too my morning food will be very light since I will hit the bed after that. So having food like this I think I will be consuming only around 1000 calories. Is it okay ??
Hey .. I work at night and feel little low .. I have this weird feeling in my stomach and I also feel itchy when I go out .. can you suggest me a good diet so that I can keep my health good ( Tanweer.iqbal69@gmail.com )
hi tanweer,
do you workout ? if you workout just before a few hpurs of your shift , you will feel energetic through your night shift . you can also tae green tea . since when are you doing this shift ? if you have started recently , the body will take some time to get accoustomed.
This was the best article so far! It's brief and very helpful. Thank you :)
Hi Geetanjali ,
I am glad you liked it. Keep reading at Dietburrp !
Hi Payal...
My shift timimngs here is 1:30 pm to 10:30 pm...and I reach home at around 12:00 at midnight. I am very skinny and want to put on some weight. Can you please suggest a diet plan and a daily routine for me.
Hi Ritwik ,
check this - https://www.dietburrp.com/weight-gain-diet-plan-for-indian-night-shift-workers/
I loved this thanks for everything whatever you have mentioned but will like to know more as per my timings and age.
Age:-22
Weight:-58
Height:-5.10/5.9
And my timings are from midnight 12 to 9 am.
Please give me some plans I can follow.
Thank You.
Loved it
Hi Deepesh ,
Thank you for appreciating . the given diet is for reference . and you can shift the timing according to your convenience.
Hi Payal, I am a worker in the mining industry and work underground for a period of 12 hours from 6 AM to 6 PM. Could you please help me with the type of diet I can include given the fact I can carry food at only 6 AM in the morning with me to the mine. I don't have the facility of someone providing me with food in the shift beginning.
Hi my name is Ishmeet. My shift begins at 9 and gets over at 6. From there i go to the gym. Then i reach home by 8:30 and leave for college. I come back around 2:30 then sleeep till 8. Can u help me with my diet chart?
sure , check this - https://www.dietburrp.com/diet-services/
Hi Payal,
my shift begins at 7 pm and ends at 4 am. I reach by 4:40 and I sleep at 5:15-5:30 and wake up at 10:30, have breakfast at 11:30 after work out. Again I sleep back at 1 for 2 hours(finding it hard to get a good sleep at this time). My lunch at 4 pm includes Chappatis and curries. Dinner at 10 pm includes rice and dal. Pls tell me the schedule I am following is good enough or should I make any changes? Thanks in advance
every thing else looks ok , but wake up at 11.30 . have breakfast . go to gym in the evening at 4 pm or so .
Hi Payal my shift starts from 10 pm to 7 am i am confuse how to start the dieting i want to loose wait ... please suggest me something i am a vegeterian ..
https://www.dietburrp.com/diet-plan-for-weight-loss-for-indian-night-shift-workers/ this is a perfect chart for you with the right timings
Hi Payal my shift starts from 10 pm to 7 pm i am confuse how to start the dieting i want to loose wait ... please suggest me something i am a vegeterian ..
check this - https://www.dietburrp.com/diet-plan-for-weight-loss-for-indian-night-shift-workers/