Healthy Eating Will Help

Staying awake and alert on the graveyard shift when the other 80 per cent of the working population is in snoring slumber is no walk in the park.

To help keep alert, try eating proteins, such as a lean meat sandwich, cheese (lower fat, in small amounts) or perhaps some peanut butter, during breaks.  Eat smaller meals and snacks during the night shift, because digestion slows at night.

Here are some other points you might want to chew over if you work the night shift:

• Consider forming a “soup club”, where workers can take turns providing a healthy homemade soup for a few of you to enjoy during a break.
• Eating cereals, bagels or fruit once back at home can help put you into sleep mode.  
• Shiftwork is often blamed for hurting family harmony, as people go their separate ways. Try to sit down with your family for at least one daily meal, whether it’s breakfast or dinner

Cutting out some bad eating habits can make a world of difference in keeping you alert, and most importantly, safe, on the job at a time when even the roosters have yet to rise and shine.