Are night shifts responsible for increasing obesity? Know relationship between the two

Many professions demand round-the-clock working hours, which not only disrupts sleep timing, but also affects eating habits and timing, and often leads to unhealthy midnight snacking that has a detrimental effect on health. Could. Night shifts can disturb the natural circadian rhythm of the body, thereby affecting the quality of sleep. It also increases the risk of developing heart disease, obesity, gastrointestinal diseases (acidity, diarrhoea, constipation), sleep problems and diabetes. Late night working and lack of proper sleep can further affect mental health, which can lead to depression, anxiety, anger, and irritability.

Also read: Obesity vs Overweight: What is the difference between being overweight and being obese?

Why night shift affects health?

Night shift work adversely affects your health because the brain is programmed to sleep at night. Since the time to sleep is disturbed or completely changed due to which the body and mind are not in sync. The body completely feels tired all the time. This can lead to irregular heartbeat and even heart attack because people are more prone to heart diseases and heart attacks due to increased stress. increases.

According to experts, waking up at night can also cause an imbalance in hormone production. Apart from this, the body's ability to process glucose and sugar slows down at night, which increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease. To help keep such ailments at bay, experts share some tips to maintain good health and nutrition while working late nights.

Follow these tips to maintain good health

• Since the body's metabolism and digestion slow down at night, eat a light meal before sleeping.
• Eat a balanced meal containing carbohydrates, proteins and fats in the morning.
• Eat something every 4 hours to keep your weight under control (don't eat anything in between) and try to eat smaller amounts so that you are more alert
• Keep healthy snacks like fruits, nuts, roasted gram, khakhra with you during your breaks instead of fried food.
• Instead of caffeinated and sugary beverages, have water for hydration as caffeine can disrupt the sleep-wake cycle.
• Eat salad and vegetables. Include protein-rich food like brown rice, wheat bread, and paneer, soya nuggets, and green leafy vegetables.
• Stay away from fat rich and fiber deficient foods like pizza, burger, pav bhaji, white bread, idli, dosa, sweets etc.
• According to Ayurveda, waking up at night increases dryness in the body. So when you leave for work, take a spoonful of ghee, it will balance any dryness in the body.