Sep 16 • Chelsea Dyer

The Simple Eating Shift That Could Save Your Shift-Workers Heart Health

New 2025 research has revealed that simply changing one factor around food timing can have a dramatic impact on shift workers health and safety.

For years, night shift has been linked to higher risks of heart disease, diabetes, and fatigue-related incidents. This new evidence shows that a simple meal-related change could hold the key to protecting workers’ long-term heart health and workplace safety.


In a randomised controlled trial published in Nature Communications (2025), participants were split into 2 groups (both of which were exposed to a simulated night-shift environment), with one group eating across both day and night and the other restricted to daytime eating hours only. Importantly, meal composition did not alter between groups, the sole variable was meal timing.  

The results were striking:

Heart rate variability (pNN50): dropped 25.7% with night eating (low HRV is linked to higher cardiovascular risk). No decline was seen with daytime eating.

RMSSD (a marker of cardiac vagal control): fell 14.3% with night eating. Again, no drop when eating was limited to the day.

Blood clotting risk (PAI-1 levels): rose 23.9% under night eating, but remained stable with daytime eating.

Blood pressure: improved by 6–8% in the daytime-only group, while it did not improve in the night-eating group.

Why this matters for your business:

Cardiovascular disease, fatigue, and reduced alertness aren’t just health issues; they can also translate to safety and productivity risks. For industries reliant on shift work, the evidence is clear: practical lifestyle strategies are a key factor in reducing health risks and enhancing both safety and productivity.

How Chell helps:

At Chell, our SHIFT WELL program translates complex, cutting-edge science like this into digestable, personalised strategies your employees can actually apply; whether that’s eating schedules, light exposure timing, movement tactics, or fatigue-proof recovery routines.

The result?

Healthier staff 

with lower long-term risk of heart disease, metabolic disorders, depression, and much more.

Safer worksites

with sharper, less-fatigued teams.

Smarter businesses 

that reduce liability, improve retention, and boost performance.

Chellappa, S. L., Qian, J., Vujović, N., Williams, J. S., & Scheer, F. A. J. L. (2025). Daytime eating during simulated night work mitigates changes in cardiovascular risk factors: Secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial. Nature Communications, 16, Article 3186. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57846-y
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