The Healthy Shift Worker

By The Wellness CouchHealth & Fitness

The Healthy Shift Worker episodes

April 10, 2024 HSW 113 - Low Tox Life & Hormonal Health with Alexx Stuart
Shift work causes havoc on our health in a number of ways, but there other factors which can play a role.
In this episode, Alex Stewart from Low Tox Life discusses the impact of toxins in our food, personal care products, and environment on our hormones and health.
She emphasizes the importance of making informed choices and reducing our toxic load.
Alex provides practical strategies for choosing safer personal care products, reading labels, and cooking nutritious meals. She also highlights the significance of creating a safe environment, particularly in workplaces, to protect our health.

To learn more about Alexx and Low Tox Life, visit:
https://www.lowtoxlife.com/
To follow Alexx on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/lowtoxlife
To learn more about Audra's work, or to get in contact, visit:
https://healthyshiftworker.com/
Buy The Book
https://healthyshiftworker.com/too-tired-to-cook-book/
Join The Healthy Shift Worker Club
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/the-healthy-shift-worker-club/
51 min
March 26, 2024 HSW 112 - The Lost Wisdom of Heliotherapy with Zaid Dahhaj
Did you know sunlight therapy, also referred to as heliotherapy, was used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by dermatologists and ophthalmologists as a therapy to heal many conditions?
In fact, the healing properties of sunlight was even embraced in hospital settings as patients were moved outside in the sun, in lieu of being left indoors under artificial light.

Hard to imagine here in Australia (and in many countries around the world), as sun is often demonised as the number one cause of skin cancer. But could the experts have it wrong?

In this episode I talk with Zaid Dahhaj, a men's health coach based in Southern California that has extensive knowledge on circadian biology, share research that totally debunks this theory, and how sensible sun exposure is actually essential in order to prevent the majority of chronic diseases that we see today.
To learn more about Zaid, visit:
https://www.zaidkdahhaj.com/

To read Zaid's article titled - The Lost Wisdom of Heliotherapy, visit:
https://zaidkdahhaj.substack.com/p/the-lost-wisdom-of-heliotherapy
To learn more about Audra's work, or to get in contact, visit:
https://healthyshiftworker.com/
Buy The Book
https://healthyshiftworker.com/too-tired-to-cook-book/
Join The Healthy Shift Worker Club
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/the-healthy-shift-worker-club/
47 min
March 12, 2024 HSW 111 - Circadian Health, Light & Night Shift with Dr Max Gulhane
A great conversation with medical doctor, GP Registrar and decentralized health educator Dr Max Gulhane around the topic of preventative health care and why we need to be adding additional strategies to the sleep-nutrition-exercise equation when it comes to optimising our health.
Having spent time working in the emergency department in hospitals around Australia, Max was able to experience first-hand the negative effects of working through the night and into the early hours of morning whilst on night shift.
This led him down the path of learning more about circadian biology and how he could incorporate circadian health strategies to help reduce some of the deleterious effects he was feeling as a result of working through the night.
To learn more about Dr Max Gulhane, visit:
https://www.drmaxgulhane.com/
To see Dr Max speak at the REGENERATE SUMMIT on April 21st in MELBOURNE, Australia, visit:
https://regenerateaus.com/
To learn more about Audra's work, or to get in contact, visit:
https://healthyshiftworker.com/
Buy The Book
https://healthyshiftworker.com/too-tired-to-cook-book/
Join The Healthy Shift Worker Club
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/the-healthy-shift-worker-club/
49 min
February 21, 2024 HSW 110 - Time Restricted Eating For Shift Workers with Dr Emily Manoogian
In this podcast we talk to Dr Emily Manoogian, a postdoctoral researcher and chronobiologist from the Salk Institute in San Diego, California, as she shares research on how time restricted eating (TRE) improved the health of firefighters.

Results from this randomised controlled trial, titled The Healthy Hero's Study, is the first of it's kind as it involved real-life shift workers in their workplace setting as opposed to being a laboratory.

In this interview we discuss:

- Why shift workers are normally excluded from research studies
- The time-frame and schedule of the time-restricted eating?
- Did participants get hungry whilst fasting during the night?
- Did cardiometabolic health parameters improve?
- Why eating at night isn't optimal
- When is the ideal time to eat on early shift
- Why it's best to avoid the donuts whilst on shift!

To read The Healthy Hero's study in full;
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9536325/
The circadian clock App - https://mycircadianclock.org/
To learn more about Audra's work, or to get in contact, visit:
https://healthyshiftworker.com/
Buy The Book
https://healthyshiftworker.com/too-tired-to-cook-book/
The Healthy Shift Worker Club
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/the-healthy-shift-worker-club/
Individual Consultations
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/individual-consultations/
Online Program
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/21-day-kickstart-program/
Workplace Wellness
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/workplace-wellness/
43 min
February 07, 2024 HSW 109 - Improving Sleep For Shift Workers with Alexandra Shriane
In this episode we're talking with Sleep Researcher and PhD candidate Alexandra Shriane from the Appleton Institute at Central Queensland University on her latest research titled - 'Healthy sleep practices for shift workers: consensus sleep hygiene guidelines using a Delphi methodology'.
As a former Paramedic from the QLD Ambulance Service, Alexandra brings a personal background of shift work to her research which makes for a refreshing conversation!
Published in the journal, SLEEP, her research incorporates 18-clear guidelines to ensure healthy sleep patterns for shift workers - whether on permanent night shift or a rotating roster.

In this interview we discuss:

- The missing gap in sleep research specifically for shift workers.
- What is sleep hygiene and what does it entail?
- The ideal nap duration to enhance alertness or assist with sleep debt recovery.
- How medications and food timing can impact sleep quality and much, much more!

To read Alexandra's research including a full list of the 18-guidelines https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37429599/
To learn more about Audra's work, or to get in contact, visit:
https://healthyshiftworker.com/
Buy The Book
https://healthyshiftworker.com/too-tired-to-cook-book/
The Healthy Shift Worker Club
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/the-healthy-shift-worker-club/
Individual Consultations
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/individual-consultations/
Online Program
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/21-day-kickstart-program/
Workplace Wellness
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/workplace-wellness/

45 min
January 19, 2024 HSW 108 - Health Benefits of Yoga For Shift Workers with Dr Chloe Hannigan
This interview was recorded for members of The Healthy Shift Worker Club, but is too good not to share far and wide!

Chloé is a small animal vet and surgeon based in the UK where she graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in London in 2012.

She is also the founder of VetYogi – an online membership site for veterinarian professionals.

In this interview with Chloé, we discuss:

- What inspired her to take up yoga.
- The different styles and disciplines of yoga.
- How it supports the nervous system to help with stress, and enhance sleep quality.
- The importance of having a wind-down routine post shift.
- Poses and meditation practices to help facilitate sleep.
Chloé website - https://www.vetyogi.com/
To learn more about Audra's work, or to get in contact, visit:
https://healthyshiftworker.com/
Buy The Book
https://healthyshiftworker.com/too-tired-to-cook-book/
The Healthy Shift Worker Club
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/the-healthy-shift-worker-club/
Individual Consultations
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/individual-consultations/
Online Program
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/21-day-kickstart-program/
Workplace Wellness
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/workplace-wellness/

59 min
January 05, 2024 HSW 107 - Cautionary Insights For Shift Workers with Dr Keshav Grover
Shift work is tough, incredibly tough. It's why those that work outside the traditional 9-5 model are prone to developing chronic health conditions.

In this episode, Dr Keshav Grover shares his personal story of working a variety of shifts in a high-stress hospital environment and how this stress has become "normalised", which ultimately led to the burnout of both himself and his fellow shift working family members.

Topics discussed include stress, medical errors, patient care and ratios, nutrition in the hospital setting, how your job can take its toll and so much more.

To conclude the podcast, he shares 3 phenomenal tips on how to minimise burnout whatever your shift working profession.

If you are a healthcare or frontline worker this is a MUST LISTEN.

To learn more about Dr Grover and his clinic visit:
https://groverhealth.com/
To learn more about Audra's work, or to get in contact, visit:
https://healthyshiftworker.com/
Buy The Book
https://healthyshiftworker.com/too-tired-to-cook-book/
The Healthy Shift Worker Club
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/the-healthy-shift-worker-club/
Individual Consultations
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/individual-consultations/
Online Program
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/21-day-kickstart-program/
Workplace Wellness
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/workplace-wellness/

57 min
December 18, 2023 HSW 106 - Peri-Menopause, Menopause and Belly Fat (Part 2)
We're continuing on from episode number 105, where we discuss the correlation between declining hormone levels and the difficulties experienced by many shift working peri-menopausal and menopausal women in wanting to lose weight.

We talk about the influence of another sex hormone - progesterone, and how it's decline leads to an elevation in the stress hormone cortisol, and subsequent increase in the distribution of belly fat.

We then wrap up the episode by discussing 3 ways to help lower rising cortisol levels, to help encourage the body to burn fat more efficiently.

To learn more about Audra's work, or to get in contact, visit:
https://healthyshiftworker.com/
Buy The Book
https://healthyshiftworker.com/too-tired-to-cook-book/
The Healthy Shift Worker Club
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/the-healthy-shift-worker-club/
Individual Consultations
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/individual-consultations/
Online Program
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/21-day-kickstart-program/
Workplace Wellness
https://healthyshiftworker.com/the-healthy-shift-worker-services/workplace-wellness/

10 min
October 24, 2023 HSW 105 - Shift Work, Menopause and Belly Fat
Are you going through peri-menopause or menopause and struggling to lose weight whilst working 24/7? If so, you're not alone! There are 1000's of women worldwide who are struggling with this scenario too.

In this episode, I explain how declining levels of estrogen can lead to insulin resistance, and the subsequent rise in the distribution of fat around the body, along with offering 3 tips to help minimise this weight gain.

To learn more about Audra's work, or to get in contact, visit:
https://healthyshiftworker.com/
Individual Consultations
https://healthyshiftworker-book-an-appointment.as.me/schedule.php
Online Program
https://healthy-shift-worker-kickstart.teachable.com/p/the-healthy-shift-worker-reset
Book
https://www.amazon.com.au/Too-Tired-Cook-Workers-Surviving/dp/1504318757
Workplace Wellness
https://healthyshiftworker.com/workplace-wellness-workshops/
10 min
November 23, 2022 HSW 104 - Are 3 Meals A Day Really Necessary?
We've been told that in order to be healthy, we must eat 3-meals a day with snacks in between. But is this really how we're meant to be eating... or is it just supporting the Big Food industry and actually contributing to weight gain and poor health outcomes?
In this episode, I explain why eating continually actually contributes to perpetually high blood sugar and insulin levels, making it near impossible to lose weight.
To learn more about Audra's work, or to get in contact, visit:
https://healthyshiftworker.com/
Individual Consultations
https://healthyshiftworker-book-an-appointment.as.me/schedule.php
Online Program
https://healthy-shift-worker-kickstart.teachable.com/p/the-healthy-shift-worker-reset
Book
https://www.amazon.com.au/Too-Tired-Cook-Workers-Surviving/dp/1504318757
Workplace Wellness
https://healthyshiftworker.com/workplace-wellness-workshops/
11 min

About The Healthy Shift Worker

From the publisher's feed

Join Clinical Nutritionist, Metabolic Balance and Circadian Health Practitioner Audra Starkey as she uncovers the truth about what’s really going on with our health whilst working 24/7 and some of the…