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Nurse Who Writes
Field Notes


Visceral Fat and Brain Health: The Cost of What You Don’t See
The body does not change in that instant. Perception does. What shifts is the threshold of what you are willing to register.

R.E. Hengsterman


The 3-Hour Window That Most Shift Workers Miss
One of the few strategies I have been able to apply consistently—across decades of rotating schedules—is far simpler:

R.E. Hengsterman


What Is Kratom—Really?
Kratom by itself is not the primary driver of severe outcomes. Kratom combined with other substances is.

R.E. Hengsterman


Disease vs. Illness: Not the Same System
Disease belongs to the body as object. Illness belongs to the person as subject.

R.E. Hengsterman


Vitamin B3 and the Aging Muscle: Why Niacin Might Matter After 40
We tend to think muscle loss belongs to old age. Images of frailty, walkers, and nursing homes dominate the conversation around declining strength. But the biology tells a different story. The process often begins earlier—sometimes decades earlier—long before most people notice the first signs of weakness. Today we are talking about something surprisingly simple: a vitamin. Not a trendy supplement or a biohacking protocol. Just niacin—vitamin B3 . The question researchers ask

R.E. Hengsterman


The Hidden Variables of Night Shift Work: What This Study Reveals About Health
Despite hundreds of studies, the scientific picture has remained inconsistent. Some studies show strong associations between night shift work and diseases like cancer or metabolic syndrome. Others show weaker effects or none at all.

R.E. Hengsterman


A Critical Review of Tout et al. (2024) Evidenced Based Sleep Hacks
Shift work is not simply an inconvenience of scheduling—it is a biological contradiction. In The Shift Worker’s Paradox, I argue that the healthcare system relies on a workforce whose physiology is systematically disrupted by the very structure of care delivery.

R.E. Hengsterman


Sucralose and Shift Workers: Navigating the Sweet Dilemma
One of the most abused concepts in online nutrition discourse is this:
If something shows potential harm at any level, it must be avoided entirely.

R.E. Hengsterman


On Peter Attia, Performative Outrage, and the Algorithm Economy
Before I state my position, let me state the following: I am not a proponent of, nor do I condone, degradation of, exploitation of, sexual misconduct against, or abuse of women or children—period. I have been a follower of Peter Attia's views since the inception. I do not view him as a "grifter," nor do I see him as a cartoon villain whose facade was exposed by the internet at large. Rather, I have always viewed him for what he is—an educated physician functioning as a condui

R.E. Hengsterman


Language Matters: When Words Drift from Description to Dehumanization
In public discussions of politics, health, economics, and science, language is not a luxury; it's a civic responsibility.

R.E. Hengsterman


The Dangers of Hustle Monkey Culture in Nursing
Understanding Hustle Monkey Culture I am sure xxxpreneur Academy [insert hustle here] is run by genuinely good, likable people. Having a significant following doesn’t necessarily mean someone on social media has bad intentions. When I refer to xxxpreneur Academy and hustle-monkey culture, I’m not attacking the people behind it, but the methods and processes. And to be clear, this isn’t just about xxx—there are dozens of similar accounts operating the same model across nursing

R.E. Hengsterman


Cartilage Regeneration Without Stem Cells: A New Direction for Osteoarthritis Treatment
When we look back at osteoarthritis, we've traditionally considered it an irreversible condition. Once the cartilage starts to thin, soften, or disappear, the road to pain management, activity modification and ultimately joint replacement is almost always the route that healthcare professionals take. Well-known research from Stanford Medicine now challenges this long-held assumption. A study, published in Science, has shown that a protein associated with aging can restore car

R.E. Hengsterman


Caffeinated Gum vs Capsules: A Small Sports Study with Big Night-Shift Implications
They found that the caffeinated gum gave rise to very similar strength and power gains to the capsules, and people who took the gum complained less about side effects.

R.E. Hengsterman


Weekly Re-Alignment: Water Is Harder Than It Looks
I thought it would be a piece of cake, but it turned out to be far more difficult than I anticipated.
What began as a practical tool has turned into a rotating identity marker: the flavor-of-the-month brand, the limited-edition colorway, the logo that signals seriousness about health.

R.E. Hengsterman


Why Nurse Storytelling Skills Are Vital to Healthcare
When a nurse chooses to share a story about a patient they've met, does more than just humanize their experience.

R.E. Hengsterman


Nurses Shift Work Health: Navigating the Night and Day
Coming home from a night shift, it can be nearly impossible to fall asleep during the day. The sunlight, noise and invitations to socialize all make it difficult to rest.

R.E. Hengsterman


THE BEGINNING (AGAIN)
Do I chase the workouts? Do I tighten the nutrition? Do I try to optimize both? We all know the phrase: you can’t out train a bad diet. From an energy and caloric perspective, that’s true enough.

R.E. Hengsterman


A One-Year Experiment in Living the Shift Worker’s Paradox
A 12-month experiment that focuses on rhythm, repair and resilience. I will give frequent updates, yet not with the goal of being perfect, or of being perfect in the way of being a performer, but rather being truthful, physiologically, and by the slow process of re-taking their health.

R.E. Hengsterman


When Science Bends: The New Hepatitis B Birth-Dose Recommendation and the Quiet Risk We’re Creating
There are moments in healthcare when the ground shifts beneath your feet. You feel it in the pit of your stomach before the policy changes arrive. This week was one of those moments. I Don’t Have a Dog in the Fight—But I Do Have a Stake Let me be clear: my opinion doesn’t tilt federal policy, and I don’t harbor allegiance to any political tribe. I’m not the person whose name appears on government advisories or who testifies on national panels. My voice won’t decide this. But

R.E. Hengsterman


Night Shift, Illness, and HRV: What the Data Reveal
Then my heart rate variability (HRV) dropped to 14.
That’s not just “a rough stretch.” That’s a real-time signal that my autonomic nervous system—the balance between sympathetic fight-or-flight and parasympathetic repair—is overwhelmed.

R.E. Hengsterman
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