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Sleep Unplugged with Dr. Chris Winter · Monday · 31 min

#217 - Modern Night Shift and Circadian Adaptation: Up All Night

Our current gig economy did not just create new jobs, it expanded a whole new category of night worker, from rideshare drivers to online freelancers to overnight fulfillment teams. Today (or tonight rather), our bodies are struggling to make the switch. In this episode we dig into what that circadian resistance actually costs your heart and metabolism long-term, and the handful of interventions that can actually shift it. In this episode we will: Break down why 22 of 30 permanent night nurses still had daytime-oriented melatonin rhythms and why that's not a willpower problem, it's a light-exposure problem Get into the real stakes: a 2025 meta-analysis linking night shift work to 13% higher cardiovascular disease incidence and 27% higher CVD mortality Take on the meal-timing question head-on and look at new data suggesting fasting at night preserves glucose tolerance better than eating, without pretending the evidence justifies one universal rule Review how light and schedule consistency can help improve these situations To find out more about this week's podcast sponsor SideSleeperZ, please use the following link: https://sidesleeperz.com/ Original intro music Vigilanteology by Abhinav Singh (copyright 2026) Original outro music Vigilanteology (reprise) by Abhinav Singh (copyright 2026) Produced by: Maeve Winter Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved More Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!

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Our current gig economy did not just create new jobs, it expanded a whole new category of night worker, from rideshare drivers to online freelancers to overnight fulfillment teams. Today (or tonight rather), our bodies are struggling to make the switch. In this episode we dig into what that circadian resistance actually costs your heart and metabolism long-term, and the handful of interventions that can actually shift it. In this episode we will:

  • Break down why 22 of 30 permanent night nurses still had daytime-oriented melatonin rhythms and why that's not a willpower problem, it's a light-exposure problem
  • Get into the real stakes: a 2025 meta-analysis linking night shift work to 13% higher cardiovascular disease incidence and 27% higher CVD mortality
  • Take on the meal-timing question head-on and look at new data suggesting fasting at night preserves glucose tolerance better than eating, without pretending the evidence justifies one universal rule
  • Review how light and schedule consistency can help improve these situations

    To find out more about this week's podcast sponsor SideSleeperZ, please use the following link: https://sidesleeperz.com/

Original intro music Vigilanteology by Abhinav Singh (copyright 2026)

Original outro music Vigilanteology (reprise) by Abhinav Singh (copyright 2026)

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved


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Thanks for listening and sleep well!

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