Adapting to the night shifts requires careful consideration of one’s diet to maintain health and energy levels. A comprehensive meal prep for shift workers’ meal plans and recipes becomes key for those clocking in for these lengthy overnight duties.
Try Meal Prep for Shift Workers
If you work the night shift, you may get late-night cravings. As your diet improves and you eat more protein, complex carbs, and fiber, you should also find that this diminishes your cravings.
Suppose you’re still having trouble managing late-night on-the-job cravings. In that case, research suggests eating simultaneously every day, ensuring your portions fulfill your dietary needs, and getting enough sleep when you’re off the clock.
Moreover, if you forget to hydrate with water instead of sugary sodas, sports drinks, or caffeinated beverages. Research suggests that dehydration is associated with fatigue and increased error proneness.
Meal prepping involves planning and cooking your meals ahead of time for the next few days or weeks.
It can be effective for promoting healthy eating if you find yourself dashing out the door before your shift, skipping meals on the job, or opting to buy those convenient-but-nutrient-poor vending machine snacks.
You can use your off day or the time before your shift to prep and pre-portion your meals for the work week ahead.
Try recipes that make large batches to minimize the time spent getting your food ready to take. Also, try prepping meals high in protein, fiber, and complex carbohydrates. These nutrients will help keep you full.
Carbs are your body’s preferred energy source, so eating a balanced meal packed with whole grains, fruits, or vegetables can help fight off any post-meal sluggishness you may feel.
A private chef is, most times all, you need to put the magic together and make nice meals for you and that is why we created ikook for you. To meet your dietary needs without lifting your hands, specific meal prep is all for you, especially if you are a night shift worker.
Healthy meal prep ideas for night shift workers
As you get more comfortable with meal prep and batch cooking, you can experiment with foods you like to determine what works best.
Millions of helpful blogs and social media posts have endless amazing recipes and ideas for meal prepping.
Spend some time browsing to find recipes you want, or look through your tried-and-true recipes and see if you can put a meal-prep spin on them. To help get you started, we’ve included some of our favorite at-home go-tos below.
Read also: Seasonal Nigerian Ingredients for Easy Meal Prep
Meal-prep ideas
Oatmeal
Chia seed pudding
Stir fry veggie and rice bowls
Mason jar salads
Taco bowls
Chicken wraps
Batch-cooking ideas
Soup
Chili
Curry
Red Lentil Dahl
Casseroles
Pasta bake
Low glycemic snacks
Baked broccoli-cheddar quinoa bites
Carrot cake energy bites
Lemon chia balls
Roasted pumpkin hummus
Sugar-free granola
See also: Our personalized, curated food safety, hygiene and quality guide
3 Tips for a Nourishing Night Shift
A plan is the best way to ensure you’ll eat healthy while working through the night. If you aren’t sure where to start, these tips will steer you in the right direction:
Make meal prep a habit
Taking time to plan and prep your meals for the week can reduce stress and unhealthy eating on workdays. Invest in some reusable containers and take these steps:
Cook in batches: Grill, roast, and sauté all the proteins, grains, and vegetables you’ll need for the week. Then, you can use those ingredients to make a variety of dishes.
Make single-serve snacks: Measuring your snacks when you aren’t ravenous and stressed is much easier and will help you avoid overeating.
Wash, cut, and portion fruits and vegetables: Choosing healthy snacks is easier when they are ready to grab and go.
Still yet to try the ikook meal prep plan, you don’t need to go through all the stress of balancing the meal yourself. Instead, use the help of our private chef for an affordable price; contact us today.
Eat low-GI (glycemic index) foods during your shift
While you sleep at night, your body fasts and your blood sugar levels stay steady (glucose homeostasis). But fasting isn’t easy or ideal during a night shift. You may likely find yourself reaching for a source of quick energy, like a granola bar, candy, or an energy drink.
Eating foods that help you sustain energy and keep your blood sugar level over many hours is a better choice. The glycemic index (GI) is a tool to help you identify those foods by measuring how they affect your blood glucose level.
Carbohydrates with a high GI score are quickly digested and cause a rapid rise and fall in blood sugar (blood sugar spike). Low GI foods digest more slowly, producing a gradual and lower rise in blood sugar.
Research shows that eating low GI meals, regardless of how often, promotes glucose homeostasis. This is a good alternative to fasting during your shift.
However, since blood sugar levels depend on food quality and quantity, keep your meals and snacks smaller.
Set yourself up for sleep
What you eat and drink directly affects how well you sleep. Prioritizing good sleep is especially critical — and challenging — when your sleep has to happen during daytime hours.
On the other hand, if you are overly tired during a night shift, it can be hard to make healthy food choices to support your sleep. Eating highly processed foods, which lack the nutrients your body needs, tends to be easier.
Read more: Personalized Meal Plans vs. One-Size-Fits-All: The Benefit of a Private Chef
Bonus Tip To Enjoy Your Sleep After Night Shift
Avoid caffeine at least 4 to 6 hours before sleeping, provided you can safely finish your shift and get home without it. If you need caffeine earlier in your shift, opt for green tea, which provides a boost but has less caffeine than black tea or coffee.
Bring meals and snacks to control your portions and avoid the vending machine and cafeteria. Prepackaged snacks may also have added sugar and caffeine.
Hydrate during your shift to ward off fatigue and brain fog. Drink plenty of water before your shift, too. Even mild dehydration can lead to fatigue, headaches, and brain fog, according to the research.
Hire a private chef on ikook to get the best meal prep plan, especially as a night shift worker, for a week at an affordable price, no matter where you are.
