Healthy Tips for Night Shift Workers

Night shifts; the working time of emergency room nurses, the security guards, call center executives and alike is the most tiring working hour for any human being. Imagine, they work while the rest of us sleep, and hopefully, they sleep while the rest of us are awake! It is not that simple to maintain a healthy lifestyle when it comes to the night shift workers. Fighting against natural sleeping schedules demand a lot of nutrition from a person’s body!

Apart from quality sleep, these people must be very careful about not overeating during the odd hours of night, not getting sick during the unexpected hours of the day etc. For these kinds of shift workers, here are some handy tips on how to handle their lifestyle for staying hale and healthy:

• Stick to your working hours strictly: If you have been allocated an overnight shift timing of 12 midnight till 7 in the morning, make sure that you do not extend or overwork. You must remember that you have already deprived your body off the natural sleeping hours, and so it is a must that you rush back home on time to get that missed out sleep!
• Keep an eye on your eating habits: Eating in the nights is a common affair with people working overnight. It is natural for anyone to feel twice more hungry during the nights than the normal time of the day, if you keep awake. Eating frequent small meals during the night is more preferred than eating at once. Also, avoiding junk food is more than necessary to keep yourselves healthy.

• Let your family understand: Since you are reversing your sleeping patterns, it is common for families to be whining about your not spending time with them. Make them understand that you can spare an evening with them, after quality sleep. You must emphasize on the fact that lack of sleep will only lead to crummy moods, thereby letting yourself and the whole family down. It is in your hands to make them understand that you are bearing the brunt of poor quality sleep!
• Plan your food and beverage: Stick on to light salads and snacks that are healthy instead of gulping down a whole burger that has been bathed out of cheese. Also, avoid instant energy drinks during night times, they only add on to your carb load. Drinking plenty of water is more than essential to keep yourself hydrated.
• Plan your working schedules too: See to that you do not work over night shifts in a row. Opt for rotational shifts, so that you can give your body that natural sleeping pattern, at least by regular intervals.
• Travel wisely: If you are a night shift worker, see to that your workplace is considerably closer to your home. It is not advisable to travel long distances after you have worked an entire night. This might lead to drowsiness and accidents.

• Keep a tab on your lighting facilities: Since you are working in the odd hours, see to that you get enough lighting focus, especially if you are involved in working on the computer. You could lead yourself into a bad eyesight problem if you work under dim lights during the nights.
• Exercise: Though sticking on to an exercising pattern in the mornings will prove difficult, see to that you give yourself fifteen minutes of exercising time at least after your day time sleep. This will help keep yourself fit and fine.