Working Odd Hours & Your Health

Although 8-5 is still the norm, more of us are working odd hours. But what do those odd hours do to your health?

It seems like shift work, or even just working odd hours can cause your stress hormone to go up and that can take its toll on your health, especially if you are young.

According to a new Dutch study, doing shift work or working odd hours can cause a rise in the levels the stress hormone cortisol in your blood stream. Researchers involved in this study found that long term levels of cortisol were much higher in shift workers than regular day workers. This was even more pronounced in younger workers, those under 40.

This becomes important to your health because the hormone we are talking about, cortisol, can cause a rise in your blood pressure, increase your risk of heart disease and diabetes and contribute to an obesity problem. And if you are having a constant increase in this stress hormone over the years as you work those odd hours, then your health could be taking a hit as well.

So, what can you do? First off recognize that shift work, or working odd hours, might be causing this issue. Then take steps to reduce the impact from this stress hormone. This includes eating a balanced diet with plenty of fruits and veggies, along with foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids. It also means being a regular exerciser, one of the best methods to not only reduce your levels of stress hormones, but also your overall levels of stress as well. And doing what you can to relax both during and outside of work, especially if you work odd hours -- this can go a long way to keeping you healthy in spite of when you clock in for the day.