Eating at night may worsen mental health of shift workers
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- People who eat at night as well as during the day may experience increased depression and anxiety symptoms.
- A new study looked at night shift workers to see if when they ate was associated with mental health effects.
- Previous studies have found that night shift workers are at increased risk of worsening mental health, including greater symptoms of depression and anxiety.
A new study found that people undergoing a simulated night shift, eating both during the day and night, had increased symptoms of depression and anxiety.
However, those who ate only during the day were clearly protected from exacerbation of mood symptoms.
This suggests a potential way to improve the mental health of the millions of Americans who work nights, rotations, or on-call shifts, but more research outside of sleep labs is needed.
The night shift causes a shift in the body’s circadian rhythm (the 24-hour internal clock) and the sleep/wake cycle.this is
Research also shows that night shift workers are at higher risk of worsening mental health conditions, including greater symptoms of depression and anxiety.
“Our findings support the mood vulnerability of individuals experiencing circadian inconsistencies, such as those working shift work, experiencing jet lag, or suffering from circadian rhythm disorders. It provides evidence for the timing of food intake as a novel strategy to potentially minimize sex,” said study author Frank AJL. Dr. Scheer, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said in a news release:
This study was completed on September 12th. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study included 19 participants (12 males and 7 females) and simulated nighttime working conditions in the laboratory.
This caused a discrepancy between the body’s internal “clock” and behavioral/environmental cycles, such as sleep duration and light-dark patterns.
Study participants were randomly assigned to one of two meal timing groups. One group ate both during the day and at night, typical of night shift workers. Other groups only ate during the day.
Researchers assessed participants’ mood levels, such as depression and anxiety, every hour during waking hours. These correspond to a range of mood states typically found in people with depressive or anxiety-related disorders.
Those who ate both day and night during the simulated night shift had a 26% increase in depression-like mood levels and a 16% increase in anxiety-like mood levels compared to the initial level. Increased.
The effect on mood was greater for those with greater degrees of circadian mismatch.
In contrast, those who ate only during the day did not see significant changes in mood levels such as depression and anxiety.
Because the study conditions were the same for both groups, “except for meal timing,” the differences in mood between the two groups were unlikely due to other factors, the researchers wrote in their paper.
These identical conditions included calorie and macronutrient intake, physical activity, posture, sleep duration, and lighting conditions.
“Not only shift workers experiencing circadian rhythm disruptions, including jet lag, may benefit from our meal-timing interventions,” says the University of Cologne, now in Cologne, Germany. Associated Press author Sarah L. Scherappa, Ph.D., released.
However, “the causal relationship of food timing to mental health has not yet been tested,” she added. Future research is needed to establish whether it helps individuals.”
Christopher Palmer, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who wasn’t involved in the new study, said it was a “fascinating” study that contrasts with what is already known about the health risks of working night shifts. says it matches.
“We have long known that shift workers have higher rates of mental disorders, especially depression and anxiety disorders, as well as metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” he said.
He said more research is needed, based on this study and similar studies. In terms of mood and anxiety symptoms. ”
This study is most relevant to shift workers and others with disrupted sleep schedules. However, some studies show that late-night eating can also affect the health of people who don’t work at night.
Studies have found a link between eating late at night and increased risk.
In addition, people who frequently wake up in the middle of the night to snack may be at increased risk of so-called night eating syndrome.
Palmer, author of his forthcoming book, Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough In Understanding Mental Health – and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More, says this kind of research is linked to many factors. It is complicated because it involves Sleep, circadian rhythm, eating behavior, stress response, mood symptoms, etc.
“It was difficult to take these things apart,” he said. yes “[the new] The research is an important contribution to the field because it isolates one variable among all these: meal timing. ”
Another potential downside of late-night snacking is that people tend to reach for junk foods that are high in calories and have added sugars and sodium instead of healthier options.
“If people noticed this pattern in themselves, they might want to go to bed earlier,” Palmer said. By prioritizing, we can break this vicious cycle.”
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