How to Prevent Health Risks Linked to Night Shift Work?

New study findings could lead to novel behavioral interventions aimed at improving the health of shift workers, who may be at an increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

The daytime eating habit might prevent the higher glucose levels linked with night shift work life, according to a new study published in the journal Science Advances.

The new study is the first to demonstrate the beneficial effect of this type of meal timing intervention in humans. It was funded primarily by the National Institutes of Health.

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‘The mistiming between the circadian clock and eating cycles plays a key role in boosting glucose levels.’

“This is a rigorous and highly controlled laboratory study that demonstrates a potential intervention for the adverse metabolic effects associated with shift work, which is a known public health concern,” said Marishka Brown, Ph.D., director of the NHLBI’s National Center on Sleep Disorders Research.

For the study, researchers enrolled 19 healthy young participants (seven women and 12 men). After a preconditioning routine, the participants were randomly assigned to a 14-day controlled laboratory protocol involving simulated night work conditions with one of two meal schedules.

One group ate during the nighttime to mimic a meal schedule typical among night workers, and one group ate during the daytime.

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Researchers then evaluated the effects of these meal schedules on their internal circadian rhythms, which regulates not just the sleep-wake cycle, but also the 24-hour cycle of virtually all aspects of your bodily functions, including metabolism.

They found that nighttime eating boosted glucose levels, a risk factor for diabetes while restricting meals to the daytime prevented this effect.

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Specifically, average glucose levels for those who ate at night increased by 6.4% during the simulated night work, while those who ate during the daytime showed no significant increases.

The mechanisms behind the observed effects are complex. They believe that the nighttime eating effects on glucose levels during simulated night work are caused by circadian misalignment.

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The work further suggests that the beneficial effects of daytime eating on glucose levels during simulated night work may be driven by the better alignment between these central and peripheral body clocks.

To translate these findings into practical and effective meal timing interventions, more study is needed, including with real-life shift workers in their typical work environment.

Source-Medindia