How daytime eating benefits the mental health of shift workers
Written by ABC AUDIO on September 13, 2022
A new study shows that daytime versus nighttime eating could benefit the mental health of shift workers. Johner Images/Getty Images
Researchers recently investigated the effects of meal timing on mood vulnerability in night shift workers.
They found that daytime eating only, as opposed to daytime and nighttime eating, could significantly improve mood among night workers.
However, they note that further studies are still needed to confirm their results.
Shift workers often experience misalignment between their 24-hour body clock — known as the circadian clock — and daily environmental and behavioral cycles due to irregular work hours.
Studies show that circadian misalignment has a negative impact on moodTrusted Source and sleepTrusted Source. Other research shows that shift workers have a 25–40%Trusted Source higher risk of depression and anxiety than non-shift workers.
Previous research from 2019Trusted Source shows that shift work is also associated with a higher risk of metabolic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes. But evidence is emergingTrusted Source that daytime eating — even with irregular sleeping hours — could help maintain circadian alignment and prevent glucose intolerance during night work.
More research into evidence-based circadian interventions is crucial for improving the mental health of at-risk populations.
Recently, researchers conducted a randomized clinical trial (RCT) to see how daytime eating affects mood among those who worked in a simulated shift-work environment.
They found that while participants who ate during the day experienced no shifts in mood, those who ate at night experienced increased depression-like and anxiety-like moods.
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Previous research from 2019Trusted Source shows that shift work is also associated with a higher risk of metabolic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes. But evidence is emergingTrusted Source that daytime eating — even with irregular sleeping hours — could help maintain circadian alignment and prevent glucose intolerance during night work.
More research into evidence-based circadian interventions is crucial for improving the mental health of at-risk populations.
Recently, researchers conducted a randomized clinical trial (RCT) to see how daytime eating affects mood among those who worked in a simulated shift-work environment.
They found that while participants who ate during the day experienced no shifts in mood, those who ate at night experienced increased depression-like and anxiety-like moods.
“This study shows that changing meal timing can provide clear and measurable effects on mood under shift work conditions,” Stuart Peirson, Ph.D., professor of circadian neuroscience at the University of Oxford, not involved in the study, told MNT.
“As the authors note, this study used simulated shift work schedules under laboratory conditions. It remains to be tested whether night shift workers will benefit,” he added.
The researchers published their findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Randomized trial simulating shift work
For the study, the researchers recruited 19 participants including 12 men and 7 women with an average age of 26.5 years old.
To prepare for the study, the participants maintained a fixed bedtime of 8 hours for 2 weeks. They then underwent a 14-day lab stay.
After several days of acclimatizing to the lab and providing baseline measurements, the participants underwent a forced desynchrony (FD) protocol in dim light for 4 28-hour “days.”
The protocol allowed participants to gradually shift to a “nighttime work schedule.” By the fourth day, they were misaligned from the first day by 12 hours.
During the FD phase of the study, participants were randomly assigned to receive meals either in the daytime alone or during the daytime and nighttime together, which is typical for night workers.
Other conditions remained the same among the participants, including caloric and macronutrient intake, physical activity, sleep duration, lighting conditions, and night work.
The researchers assessed participants’ depression-like and anxiety-like mood states every hour during the FD days.
After analyzing the results, the researchers found that those who ate during the night and day had a 26.2% increase in depression-like mood, and a 16.1% increase in anxiety-like mood, compared to the beginning of the study.
By comparison, those in the daytime eating group experienced no change in levels of depression-like or anxiety-like mood.
By assessing the participants’ glucose and body temperature rhythms, the researchers found that degree of circadian misalignment was robustly linked to more depression-like and anxiety-like moods.
They further noted that daytime eating only despite mistimed sleep was linked to maintenance of internal circadian alignment.
