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Night Shift Health: Blood Tests, Nutrition, Creatine & the Best Diet for Shift Workers

What should shift workers be doing to protect their health when working nights, rotating rosters and irregular hours?

In this episode of A Healthy Shift | Shift Work Podcast, I join Tony McManus on 3AW Australia Overnight to answer real questions from people working around the clock.

I explain why regular health checks and blood tests are worth discussing with your doctor, particularly when ongoing fatigue can easily be dismissed as “just shift work.” The conversation covers markers and issues including blood glucose, HbA1c, vitamin D, iron, thyroid function and the importance of establishing your own health baseline. 

We tackle one of the biggest questions shift workers ask: what is the best diet for night shift?

Rather than another restrictive fad diet, I discuss why a sustainable way of eating matters, the evidence supporting a Mediterranean-style eating pattern, and why food timing becomes particularly important when working through the biological night.

The discussion also explores why daylight is such an important biological signal, how our modern indoor lifestyle can work against our circadian rhythm, and why I describe getting your exposure to light and darkness right as your “light diet.”

Plus, listeners call in with their own experiences of night shift, rotating rosters, early starts, nutrition and fatigue. I discuss creatine monohydrate and the growing interest in its potential role beyond the gym, including cognition during periods of sleep deprivation. 

In this episode:

 Why shift workers should consider regular health checks and blood tests  Why feeling tired shouldn't automatically be blamed on shift work  Blood glucose, HbA1c and metabolic health  Vitamin D, iron and thyroid considerations  Why eating at 2am is biologically different from eating at 2pm  Night shift snacking and food availability  The best sustainable diet for shift workers  Mediterranean-style eating  Why daylight matters to circadian health  My “light diet”  Creatine monohydrate, fatigue and cognition  Sleep, sleep apnoea and other reasons shift workers may struggle  Practical lessons from long-term shift workers who call the show 

Whether you work permanent night shift, rotating shifts, early mornings or irregular hours, this episode is about understanding what your body is dealing with and making practical decisions that fit the life you actually live.

Support the show

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Roger Sutherland is Australia's Night Shift & Sleep Specialist and the founder of A Healthy Shift.

After more than 40 years working rotating shifts with Victoria Police, Roger now helps organisations reduce fatigue risk, improve staff wellbeing and build healthier, safer and higher-performing 24/7 workplaces through evidence-based education, circadian biology and the Shift Work Champions™ Framework.

Shift Work Champions™: https://join.ahealthyshift.com/shift-work-capability

Website: https://ahealthyshift.com.au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-sutherland

Instagram: @a_healthy_shift

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Disclaimer: Roger Sutherland is not a doctor or a medical professional.  Always consult a physician before implementing any strategies mentioned in this podcast. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Roger Sutherland will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of the information contained in this podcast, including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death.

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