From: drarwingnuttephd@gmail.com   
      
   Working the night shift could be hazardous for your (gut) health   
      
      
   October 28, 2014 By Elizabeth Millard   
      
      
   Previous studies have noted that people who frequently disrupt their   
   biological clocks, such as night-shift workers, show greater levels of   
   metabolic diseases like diabetes, obesity and heart disease. Now, researchers   
   may have come up with one    
   significant factor for the risks, and it's all about the health topic de jour   
   -- your gut.   
      
   Scientists at The Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel found that mice and   
   humans with chronically disrupted wake-sleep patterns showed changes in the   
   composition and function of their gut bacteria. That could lead to increased   
   risk for obesity and    
   glucose intolerance, the researchers noted.   
      
   In a press release about the study, Weizmann Institute Professor Eran Segal   
   explains:   
      
   "Our gut bacteria's ability to coordinate their functions with our biological   
   clock demonstrates, once again, the ties that bind us to our bacterial   
   population and the fact that disturbances in these ties can have consequences   
   for our health."   
      
   Published in Cell, the study noted that researchers first looked at   
   "jet-lagged" mice, whose day-night rhythms were altered by exposing them to   
   light and dark at different intervals. During that process, the mice stopped   
   eating at regular times, leading    
   to interrupted cycles of intestinal bacteria and to subsequent weight gain and   
   high blood sugar levels.   
      
   When the process was attempted in human subjects, a similar shift occurred.   
   Researchers concluded that the long-term disruption of the biological clock   
   leads to a disturbance in bacteria's function, and they called for further   
   studies to be done that    
   would lead to solutions for people who experience frequent sleep pattern   
   changes.   
      
   The results confirm a longstanding link between working the third shift and   
   digestive disorders, a connection noted by the Centers for Disease Control   
   (CDC) in a 1997 publication, "Plain Language About Shiftwork."   
      
   For those who work a night shift, LIVESTRONG.COM offers several    
   ecommendations for a healthier diet, including eating more complex   
   carbohydrates, such as lentils, sweet potatoes and brown rice, that contain   
   loads of fiber and can be broken down slowly.    
   The site also suggests eating a higher amount of vitamin D-fortified food   
   because "your ability to produce vitamin D naturally in your body is limited   
   because you have less exposure to sunlight during the day." (Alternatively,   
   you could also take a    
   vitamin D supplement.)   
      
   This study is but one more example of how critical the "microbiome" -- the   
   trillions of viruses, fungi, bacteria and protozoa that exist in our bodies --   
   is to our health. The various microbes in our body, Experience Life reports,   
   help balance our immune    
   system, fight dangerous bugs and modulate our weight and metabolism.   
      
   "Our bodies are 10 times more bacterial cells than they are human cells,"   
   Heidi Nelson, MD, director of the Microbiome Program at the Mayo Clinic in   
   Rochester, Minn, told Experience Life. "We are finally beginning to understand   
   the microbial populations    
   that we coexist with."   
      
      
      
   http://bringmethenews.com/2014/10/28/working-the-night-shift-cou   
   d-be-hazardous-for-your-gut-health/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)