Eat to Keep Up: Nutrition Tips for Shift Workers

Nutrition Tips for Shift Workers: How to Stay Fuelled and Focused

Working shifts can throw your body out of rhythm, especially when it comes to eating. Whether you’re powering through a night shift or juggling early starts and late finishes, what and when you eat plays a huge role in how energised (or exhausted) you feel. Here are some practical nutrition tips for shift workers to help you stay alert, fuel your body, and avoid that dreaded mid-shift crash.

Time Your Meals to Match Your Energy

Your body’s natural clock, or circadian rhythm, is tuned to daytime eating and sleeping at night. But shift work flips that. To keep things balanced:

  • Try to eat your main meal before your shift starts, rather than in the middle of the night.
  • Light meals or snacks during your shift help prevent sluggishness and support digestion.
  • If you’re working overnight, avoid heavy meals at 3am — your body just isn’t ready to digest them.

Choose Foods That Power You Up (Not Slow You Down)

Some foods give you lasting energy, while others lead to blood sugar spikes and crashes. Aim for:

  • Slow-release carbs like oats, wholegrain bread, or brown rice for long-term fuel.
  • Lean protein (chicken, fish, tofu, eggs) to keep you fuller longer.
  • Healthy fats from avocado, nuts, or olive oil to support brain function.
  • Water—lots of it. Dehydration often feels like fatigue.
  • Try to limit caffeine to the first half of your shift. It can help you stay alert early on, but too much later can mess with your sleep.

What to Avoid on Shift

  • Sugary snacks and energy drinks may give you a short buzz, but the crash afterwards will hit harder.
  • Processed foods (like ready meals, fast food, and salty snacks) are harder to digest and can make you feel groggy.
  • Skipping meals altogether can lead to poor concentration and irritability.

Pack Smart

Shift workers often rely on what’s easy and available—but prepping your food means you stay in control. Pack:

  • A balanced meal with protein, wholegrains, and veg.
  • Healthy snacks like boiled eggs, fruit, unsalted nuts, or yoghurt.

A refillable water bottle to stay hydrated through your shift.Your body works hard during every shift—especially when your schedule’s all over the place. Following these simple nutrition tips for shift workers can help you feel more alert, avoid the crash, and get through your shifts feeling better, not worse.

Discover more health tips in our Health & Wellness section.

Find out more about healthy eating at NHS Healthy Eating for Shift Workers

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As a specialist recruitment agency, we understand the importance of finding the right talent to ensure operational continuity and business growth.

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Chloe Jackson, Recruitment Consultant

Chloe joined Premier Placement in 2022, following a previous role as a customer facing advisor. During her initial probationary period, her willingness to learn and absorb all things recruitment was very impressive, along with her ‘can do’ attitude. Chloe now works alongside experienced consultants within our industrial division and is developing into a team asset.

Chosen Value: Integrity
I would choose ‘integrity’ as it is important to show we can build trust with our clients and employees, creating lifelong relationships. It shows we possess attributes such as accountability, honesty, respect, and loyalty.

 

Sandra Fleming, Recruitment Consultant

With a passion for connecting top talent with the right opportunities, Sandra specialises in permanent and fixed-term recruitment across the skilled, technical, office, and professional sectors.

With 30 years of experience in talent acquisition, she has a proven track record of identifying and securing high-calibre candidates who drive business success.

She partners with businesses to understand their hiring needs and culture, ensuring a tailored approach to recruitment that delivers long-term results. Her expertise spans end-to-end recruitment, from sourcing and screening to offer negotiation and onboarding support.

Chosen value: Integrity

I take great pride on giving an honest and dedicated service. It is my belief that both clients and candidates put a lot of trust in you, being able to genuinely listen to their requirements and wishes and act in their best interests is paramount.

I feel this is reflected in the long-lasting relationships I have built over the last 30 years within recruitment.

John Simpson, Compliance Manager

John joined the Drivers and Logistics Division with a wealth of experience  spanning over 30 years within the transport and logistics sector. Holding a National CPC in Road Transport Management, IOSH and Nebosh health and safety qualifications, his range of skills was a perfect match for Premier Placement Services.

John has an excellent rapport with our drivers. John’s skills, experience and knowledge enables him to put forward the best candidate for the role, and has excellent knowledge of driver compliance training, audits, and the investigation of incidents and infringements.

Working within the fast-paced Drivers and Logistics Division, he is a very hands-on transport professional.  Ensuring compliance and best practice is always adhered to, has propelled Premier Placement’s Drivers and Logistics Division, into a leading supplier of quality drivers resulting in an excellent reputation with our ever-growing number of clients.

Chosen Value: Professionalism
I pride myself on the requirements and responsibilities that my role in recruitment asks of me. Professionalism is at the heart of what I do, from understanding the roles to be filled, to the necessary skills of the right driver, as well as an appreciation of the client’s ethos. Professionalism means to me ensuring the drivers we provide consistently deliver to our high standards of expectation, shift after shift.

Liz Harper, Accounts Administrator

Liz has been the face of Premier Placement Services since 2006 – providing front of house support for the team and visitors to the office. Liz works in a fast-paced environment fielding calls, meeting and greeting, preparing candidates for interviews and keeping client records updated.

Chosen Value: Consistency
“Working within the payroll department I ensure all workers’ details are correctly inputted into government and internal payroll systems.  Eye to detail and a zero tolerance on mistakes ensures people get paid correctly and on time.  I believe I consistently produce these results.”

Anna Hammersley, Accounts Payroll Clerk

Anna joined Premier Placement Services as a Payroll Clerk.  She is responsible for the payroll processing system, issuing pay and pay-related information to workers, collecting weekly timekeeping data, ensuring all weekly paid staff receive accurate and timely payments.

Anna has an excellent ‘can do’ attitude, an eye for detail and a bubbly personality to match making her the perfect Premier Placement fit.

Chosen Value: Integrity
I believe that being honest and having strong moral principles promotes open and honest relationships in business and life building foundations of trust.

Steven Bowler, Recruitment Consultant

Steven joined Premier Placement from after 24 years within mobile phone retail. The experience of having recruited staff throughout his career and looking after high-volume accounts for national companies, made his transferrable skills into the recruitment industry a total asset. Steven has a passion for customer excellence to succeed in a fast- paced industrial operation so he exceeds expectation.

Chosen Value: Consistency
‘Having run my own business for over 20 years, I would like to think I have carried forward the high standards that clients and candidates need from a company. I treat the business as if it was my own and always want what’s best for the business and like to think I represent the company in an approachable and professional manner.”

Simon Arnold, Operations Manager

Simon has been with Premier Placement Services since 2016. After successfully managing our Industrial and Driving divisions, he has naturally progressed to the role of Operations Manager.Simon continuously develops our services for our established client base, ensuring the smooth running of the business. He engages, coaches, and supports a team of highly trained consultants, delivering consistent recruitment excellence.Chosen Value: Integrity Integrity is my pick as I think it is one of my greatest assets and it never fails. It is the most important ingredient for client relationships which I am passionate about and all my clients know what they get with me.

Craig Hammersley, Industrial Regional Manager

Craig is a very experienced recruitment professional having worked in the recruitment industry with Premier Placement Services for more than 20 years. Matching the right candidate to the right job is his everyday obsession, something very few recruiters get consistently right.  Craig stated the importance of detailed interviewing, character assessment, skills testing and candidate referencing which makes clients and candidates choose Premier Placement Services over other agencies, time after time.

Chosen Value: Integrity
We pride ourselves on being honest and honourable, with everyone we do business with, leading to lasting relationships and unfaltering results. Building trust is a key component to lasting business relationships and is a major factor of continuing dialogue with clients who give us repeat business based on the integrity of who they are dealing with.

Tim Evans, Industrial Regional Manager

Tim joined Premier Placement in 2003, having previously worked in a heavily regulated customer services managerial role, thus proving an instant hit with both clients and candidates alike.

Trained to the highest standards within recruitment practise, Tim is a valuable asset to the success of Premier Placement Services. Now managing our industrial division, he mentors new recruits, and his clients welcome his advice along with his intuitive recruitment solutions.

Chosen Value: Professionalism.
I have been here 2 decades and always work to get the best fit for both client, temp and Premier Placement Services.

Jo Jeneson, Accounts Manager

Jo joined Premier Placement Services in 2008, initially as a Commercial Consultant. She’s now moved behind the scenes into her current role where she is responsible for both the payroll and accounting functions of the business. By gaining a full understanding of all aspects of the business she is perfectly placed to ensure the clients’ accounting process runs as smoothly as their recruitment programme.

Chosen value: Integrity.
I pride myself on my honesty and truthfulness in my work process.  Working within our Accounts Department, it is imperative to be honest and transparent, whilst maintaining high standards and results. I feel honesty is crucial in both our business and personal life.

Ria Harper, Finance Manager

Ria is responsible for the day-to-day accounting functions whilst maintaining a healthy back office function. Applying her enthusiasm for efficiency and accuracy ensures the clients accounting process runs seamlessly.

Chosen value: Consistency
Being consistent in your work can help you build a reputation as a reliable and trustworthy professional. You can do this by consistently delivering high-quality work and meeting deadlines.

Jonathon Harper

Just short of 30 years’ experience in the recruitment industry, Managing Director Jonathan puts customer service excellence at the heart of everything that Premier Placement Services does. Since founding the business in 1996, his ethos has always been to ‘place the right person for the job’ rather than just placing ‘anyone that happens to be available’. He firmly believes that this is the key to the success of the business. ‘We are only as good as our last placement’ are the words that Jonathan believes sets the company apart from others. His approach to providing unrivalled customer service, support, supplying the most talented candidates for each position and developing on-going relationships with both candidates and clients remain the core values to the business.

 

Chosen Value: Integrity
Integrity involves being honest and honourable, as well as treating people with respect. I believe if you naturally do this then it builds mutual trust and genuine, lasting relationships. This has been my experience with my team, two employees have been with me for 20 years, when other agencies have staff retention issues. Similarly, some of our clients have been with Premier Placement since our beginning, I think this demonstrates why integrity has been fundamental to our success.