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R.E. Hengsterman



Night Shift Fuel: My Go-To Protein Blend for Recovery, Rhythm, and Real Life
From chalky whey isolates to overpriced “wellness” powders wrapped in pastel labels — most left me bloated, wired, or worse, disappointed. But one blend has stood out, hands
down: True Protein Custom Blend (Vanilla Bean flavor).

R.E. Hengsterman


Perturbation: The Biology of Repetition in Shift Work
At first, the body compensates. Then it adapts. And finally—it begins to fail.

R.E. Hengsterman


The Brain’s Hidden Drainage System — and What It Means for Shift Workers
Vessels changed orientation by layer (inner, middle, outer dura), suggesting a structured, layered outflow design rather than random channels.

R.E. Hengsterman


The Shift Worker’s Paradox: A Book for Every Shift Worker — Written by a Nurse Who’s Lived It
The Shift Worker’s Paradox combines decades of bedside nursing experience with cutting-edge research in chronobiology, neuroscience, and behavioral health.

R.E. Hengsterman


Night Work and Type 2 Diabetes: The Hidden Clockwork of Risk
Quick Summary Night work elevates type 2 diabetes (T2DM) risk through circadian misalignment, sleep loss, melatonin suppression, and mistimed eating. Biggest levers: light timing, sleep anchors, meal timing, movement snacks, and workplace design. Use the 6-Week Shift-Safe Protocol below to test what moves your numbers. 1) The Core Problem: Why Nights Hurt Glucose Your body runs on clocks. A master clock in the brain syncs with light, while peripheral clocks in the liver, pa

R.E. Hengsterman


The Effectiveness of Blue Light-Emitting Glasses for ICU Healthcare Workers During Night Shifts Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study Review
The findings suggest that BLEG could be a useful tool to combat shift work-related fatigue, but further research with larger sample sizes, objective measures, and real-world applications is necessary to definitively confirm their efficacy.

R.E. Hengsterman


Lighting the Night: Evidence-Based Strategies to Combat Sleepiness in Shift Workers
Nurses—responsible for critical decisions under fatigue—are among the most affected.

R.E. Hengsterman


Effective Interventions for Reducing the Negative Effects of Night Shifts on Doctors’ and Nurses’ Health: A Systematic Review
Healthcare organizations should provide flexibility in scheduling, offer opportunities for napping, encourage light exposure, and incorporate healthy lifestyle practices like exercise and nutrition. Additionally, pharmacological interventions like melatonin or modafinil should be used cautiously and under professional guidance.

R.E. Hengsterman


Recovery From Shift Work: Evidence-Based Strategies for Health and Performance
Introduction: Why Recovery From Shift Work Matters Shift work sustains our 24/7 society — from hospitals and emergency services to logistics, aviation, and manufacturing. Yet, working outside the natural 9-to-5 disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm, increasing the risk for sleep disorders, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and mental health decline. According to Frontiers in Neurology (Kalkanis et al., 2023), up to 38% of shift workers experience Shift Work Sleep D

R.E. Hengsterman


Detailed Assessment of Night Shift Work Aspects and Potential Mediators of Its Health Effects: The Contribution of Field Studies
Source: van der Grinten, T., van de Langenberg, D., van Kerkhof, L., Harding, B. N., Garde, A. H., Laurell, C., Vermeulen, R., Peters, S., & Vlaanderen, J. (2025). Detailed assessment of night shift work aspects and potential mediators of its health effects: the contribution of field studies. Frontiers in public health , 13 , 1578128. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1578128 Night shift work disrupts circadian rhythms, leading to potential health risks. This review identif

R.E. Hengsterman


The Role of Dietary Supplements in Improving Sleep and Daytime Function for Shift Workers
Shift workers often face challenges like poor sleep quality and fatigue, which dietary supplements (DSs) may help alleviate. This systematic review and meta-analysis explore the efficacy of DSs in improving sleep quality and daytime function among shift workers, offering insights into their potential benefits and safety profile.

R.E. Hengsterman


Shift Work and Gut Health: How Night Shifts Disrupt the Microbiome
Shift work—especially night shifts—is essential in healthcare and emergency services. Yet it also represents a serious occupational hazard. Beyond fatigue, shift work disrupts circadian rhythms, leading to gut dysbiosis, inflammation, and increased risk for gastrointestinal (GI) diseases such as GERD, IBS, and ulcers.

R.E. Hengsterman


Personalized Sleep and Nutrition: A New Frontier in Night Shift Health
As someone who’s lived nights and written about them in The Shift Worker’s Paradox, I believe this is the future of occupational wellness — real data meeting real lives.

R.E. Hengsterman


The Nutritional Toll of 24-Hour Shifts: What New Research Reveals About Healthcare Workers’ Diets
Source: Navruz Varlı, S., & Mortaş, H. (2024). The Effect of 24 h Shift Work on the Nutritional Status of Healthcare Workers: An Observational Follow-Up Study from Türkiye. Nutrients, 16(13), 2088. DOI link Why This Study Matters As a nurse and shift-work researcher, I’ve seen firsthand how long hours reshape not just our sleep and stress—but our nutrition. This new study from Türkiye provides critical insight into how 24-hour shifts affect healthcare workers’ nutrient

R.E. Hengsterman


Understanding Shift Work Sleep Disorder (SWSD): Causes, Diagnosis, and Prevention
As a clinician and shift worker, I’ve witnessed how biological misalignment manifests not only in fatigue but also in mood changes, immune dysfunction, and decision fatigue. Sleep optimization isn’t just a personal habit — it’s an occupational safety strategy.

R.E. Hengsterman


Why Sleep Is the Weak Link in Shift Work
Traditional “one-size-fits-all” sleep advice rarely works here. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i) presumes a consistent bedtime—an impossibility for rotating rosters that flip from days to nights in a single week.

R.E. Hengsterman


Adaptive Sleep Behaviors and Shift Work Tolerance: What Paramedics Teach Us About Surviving the Night
Source: Harris et al., Sleep (2024). Open access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2024.10.003 Why This Study Matters The first year of shift work is a critical window . For new paramedics, it’s not just about learning clinical skills—it’s about rewiring their bodies to function on broken schedules. Sleep loss, mental health decline, and insomnia risk rise sharply. But not all shift workers struggle equally. This landmark longitudinal study followed 105 new paramedics across

R.E. Hengsterman


Fighting Back Against Night Shifts: Personalized Sleep & Nutrition Interventions
Night work is not just a scheduling inconvenience—it is a direct hit on circadian biology. It drives fragmented, shortened sleep, worsens glucose regulation, and accelerates cardiometabolic and immune risk. But unlike genetics or job demands, sleep and diet are modifiable levers.

R.E. Hengsterman


Out of Sync: How Shift Work Fuels Widespread Sleep Disorders
This massive dataset confirms: shift work is not just associated with “being tired.” It’s tied to widespread, multi-layered sleep disorders, with night shifts as the most damaging schedule. The signal is strongest for those already vulnerable—young, lower-educated, and socially unsupported workers.

R.E. Hengsterman


Night Work, Bright Lights, and the Brain: What 24/7 Demands Do to Memory, Mood, and Reaction Time
You need to perform tonight. Your brain needs to last decades. The trick is building repeatable habits that protect the hippocampus, the salience network, and your reaction time—even when schedules are hostile.

R.E. Hengsterman
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