Hydration and Caffeine for Night Shift Workers

0:02
hi my name is Kelsey Butler I'm a
0:03
registered dietitian and today we are
0:05
talking about hydration caffeine and
0:07
other drinks this is especially
0:09
important for night shift workers night
0:11
owls people that are up late a lot of
0:13
times we aren't the best at our
0:15
hydration and we can rely on caffeine
0:18
and other types of drinks to give us
0:19
energy um so we're going to talk a
0:21
little bit about that today how to
0:23
balance all that out and really why it's
0:26
important to stay hydrated and make sure
0:27
you're drinking enough of the right
0:29
things so first we're going to dive into
0:32
just why hydration matters um there's a
0:34
little bit of a hydration overview here
0:36
so water kind of moves in and out of our
0:38
body every day but that's why we don't
0:40
have a specific percentage of how much
0:43
water is in our body but it can be from
0:45
40 to 80% of our total body weight which
0:47
is a lot um water is lost each day
0:50
through our urine and what we call
0:52
insensible losses so sweat breathing um
0:56
when you you know you see the
0:57
condensation tears um a lot of different
1:01
things that water you know leaves our
1:03
body through um water intake comes from
1:06
food and beverages so we're talk a
1:08
little bit about how to get hydration
1:09
from food as well um and it's aord in
1:11
our small intestine so we you know
1:15
that's why as we're moving through our
1:17
digestive system um it's not actually in
1:19
the stomach it's in the small intestine
1:21
that all the water is
1:22
absorbed and water absorption is
1:24
strongly influenced by minerals like
1:26
sodium potassium and chloride so if
1:29
you're thinking about like those energy
1:30
drinks um or I'm sorry not energy drinks
1:33
but Gatorade electrolyte drinks is the
1:36
what we're looking for here the
1:37
electrolytes the sodium the potassium
1:39
the chloride um those are all in those
1:41
drinks and that's why they can help with
1:43
hydration because they can kind of help
1:45
balance as electrolytes if you're low
1:47
benefits of hydration here chemical
1:50
reactions um again water has a big role
1:53
in almost every reaction going on in our
1:55
body um things going on between our
1:57
cells and with our organs um also helps
2:00
with body temp temperature regulation so
2:02
that's kind of one of the more obvious
2:04
ones with sweat when we produce sweat it
2:06
can help us um cool down lubrication and
2:09
protection there is water in between all
2:12
of our cells and all of our joints and
2:14
everything that's called intertial space
2:16
and it's just all fluid so um really
2:19
helps to make sure that we you know our
2:21
joints are healthy um our bodies are
2:23
healthy just we can you know move around
2:25
well it's a solvent and a transport
2:27
medium again this is from the minerals
2:29
here sodium pottassium chloride water uh
2:32
can help move all of those minerals
2:34
through in and out of your cells
2:37
maintenance of blood volume and pH
2:39
balance this one's really interesting so
2:41
when we um maybe are dehydrated you
2:43
might find that there's a lower blood
2:45
volume in your body um and it can also
2:47
kind of throw off your pH so we want to
2:49
make sure we're well hydrated so that we
2:51
aren't you know having uh issues with
2:54
our blood or with our pH balance we
2:56
definitely don't want that um don't want
2:58
to be thrown off on your pH and lastly
3:00
energy um you might find that when
3:01
you're dehydrated you have really low
3:03
energy uh that one you know maybe it's
3:06
more of a wi's taale I've heard but if
3:07
you wake up in the morning and you still
3:09
feel still feel tired or wake up
3:11
whenever you're waking up and you still
3:12
feel tired try to drink a cup of water
3:14
and see if that helps you you might just
3:16
be dehydrated when you wake up so here's
3:18
some hydration guidelines General
3:20
recommendation is 2.7 lers per day for
3:23
women that's 11.5 cups or 3.7 lers for
3:27
men so that's 15.5 cups Um this can
3:31
change depending on your environment
3:33
sweating exercise body composition food
3:36
a lot of other factors so for example I
3:38
live um at a really high altitude in the
3:40
mountain so because I'm up high I need
3:42
more water um if you're you know in the
3:46
desert you might need more water um just
3:48
because of your dry environment if
3:49
you're exercising more or less you have
3:51
more muscle mass you might need more
3:53
water um depends on what you're eating
3:56
too so there's a lot of factors that go
3:58
into this it can be really hard hard to
4:00
stay on top of you know exactly how much
4:02
water you need each day but an easy way
4:04
to check that is just to check your
4:06
urine color it's a little weird but if
4:07
you are in the light yellow to clear
4:09
range you are all good um if you're any
4:12
darker than that I'd suggest you know
4:14
drinking more water and if you're
4:16
usually darker than that work on
4:17
gradually increase your water over time
4:19
we'll talk a little bit about more about
4:21
that more so that you're not just you
4:23
know starting to drink a gallon of water
4:25
tomorrow if you're not used to it so
4:27
tips for staying hydrated drink water
4:29
with your meals I say it's a lot easier
4:32
to be reminded to consume water when
4:34
you're already consuming something else
4:36
so add a cup of water to your meal can
4:38
be 8 ounces um have a favorite water
4:40
bottle I have mine here I always have my
4:44
water with me um probably more often
4:46
than my phone so find one that you like
4:49
and also keep in mind this is just a
4:51
little tip for you make sure it fits in
4:52
your cup holder um or wherever you're
4:55
going to be the most because if it
4:56
doesn't fit with you it's going to be
4:58
left somewhere um if you don't love the
5:01
taste of water that's okay add some
5:03
fresh fruit add some lemon lime you can
5:06
even add like cucumber berries things
5:08
like that you can add herbs like um mint
5:11
basil can really be nice in water too so
5:13
change it up a little bit you can go for
5:15
salzers as well um salzer will get you
5:19
just as hydrated as still water so if
5:21
that works for you too you can start
5:23
there um and then set reminders are use
5:25
water apps there is a water app that you
5:27
can use that um I don't remember the
5:30
name of it but you can like plant a a
5:34
plant and then every time you drink
5:35
water you water the plant and it gets
5:37
bigger which is very fun so um you can
5:39
check that out if that helps you kind of
5:42
gamify it a little bit more and make it
5:43
more fun to drink your water um just so
5:45
that you're on top of it
5:47
too so caffeine this kind of goes hand
5:50
inand with your hydration and we'll talk
5:52
about wine a little bit here but found
5:54
in coffee teas energy drinks soda even
5:58
chocolate um so you're recommended upper
6:00
limit is 400 Mig per day so what that
6:03
looks like could be a cup of coffee is
6:05
about 100 milligram per day for 6 oz cup
6:08
so if you're thinking about 6
6:10
oz if you're getting a you know 20 oz
6:13
cup you're getting close to that you
6:15
know 3 to 400 range I always say go for
6:19
the upper level here just to be safe um
6:22
I go for that 100 I round up um just
6:25
again so that I'm tracking my caffeine
6:26
well um espresso shots are 63 Mill per
6:29
shot so if you're getting a double
6:31
that's 120 milligram um a tea 60 to 100
6:35
milligram for 16 o chocolate is only 10
6:38
milligrams per ounce um so not as much
6:41
caffeine there but it can still
6:42
contribute to your daily intake um think
6:45
about a can of regular Monster Energy
6:47
drink that's 160 milligrams um so if
6:51
you're having that and a coffee you want
6:53
to think about your your balance there
6:55
bottle of Prime energy drink 200
6:57
milligrams a can of Red Bull it's 111
7:00
milligrams and a can of Coke yes Coke
7:03
and all those other sodas still have
7:04
caffeine that's 34 milligrams so a
7:06
little less than those other ones but
7:07
still like I said contributes to to your
7:10
daily um intake everyone's tolerance is
7:12
a little bit different um but try to
7:14
keep it below that line of 400
7:16
milligrams um that's where we can kind
7:18
of see those uh negative effects where
7:20
it can affect your heart rate make you
7:22
dizzy actually cause anxiety um and
7:24
other mental health issues so you want
7:26
to make sure that you um are you know
7:29
you know doing your best with yet
7:30
caffeine to stay below that level and
7:32
especially I forgot to mention is with
7:34
sleep too below that level can you know
7:38
maybe won't affect your sleep as much
7:39
like I said everyone's a little bit
7:40
different so if you know your limit and
7:42
it's lower than that that's totally fine
7:45
um but I will say if you're usually
7:46
drinking above that limit try to bring
7:48
it down see how it works for you um also
7:52
keep in mind that caffeine is diuretic
7:54
so my rule of thumb is to drink one cup
7:56
of water for every cup of caffeine so if
7:58
I get a cup of coffee coffee I make sure
8:00
I drink a water a cup of water with it
8:02
and I actually subtract that cup of
8:05
water from my daily intake of water
8:07
because they kind of cancel each other
8:10
out it's like a net net water there um
8:13
so don't count those uh Waters that you
8:16
use to offset the caffeine in your
8:18
drinks
8:18
too other drinks to think about sodas
8:22
sweet teas energy drinks um those are
8:25
usually very high in soda around 40 gram
8:28
um of added sugar per can keeping in
8:31
mind our daily added sugar limit is 25
8:34
gram per women and 36 gr per men so that
8:36
one can of Coke is over your daily sugar
8:41
limit um for men added sugar limit go
8:44
for diet and moderation um it's not a
8:47
bad option to use if you're not having
8:49
it all the time um considerations for
8:52
caffeine again there is still caffeine
8:54
in your diet sodas too so keep that in
8:56
mind too um juice and lemonade are also
8:59
high in sugar I know that we can think
9:01
juice it's from fruit it's healthy um it
9:03
does have nutrients in it which is great
9:05
but because the fiber is removed when it
9:07
makes juice um it's a more simple sugar
9:11
so it's digested quicker so you still
9:14
have that you know sugar reaction or
9:16
sugar Spike that you would see with
9:18
straight sugar too so just keep those in
9:20
moderation as well biggest takeaways do
9:23
your best to hydrate with water
9:24
throughout your waking hours um if
9:27
you're working on increasing your water
9:29
over time if you realize hey I need to
9:31
work on increasing my water don't do it
9:33
all at once you can add a little bit
9:35
over time so I would say you know start
9:37
with 8 ounces extra this week per day um
9:40
and then make it 16 and then you can go
9:42
up to 24 so you can add a little bit at
9:45
a time so you can adjust to having water
9:47
more often um especially if you're a
9:50
shift worker who you don't have very
9:52
much access to a bathroom increasing
9:55
your water can you know cause you to
9:57
have to go more often so if you do a
9:59
little bit at a time it's a lot easier
10:00
for your body to adjust and get used to
10:02
it so you're not having to go as much um
10:04
and again enjoy your sugary and
10:06
caffeinated drinks and moderation um
10:08
they're not you know completely never
10:10
again um because we know that's not
10:12
sustainable but keeping in mind that
10:14
they can offset your hydration um add
10:17
more sugar to your day add more caffeine
10:19
to your day so enjoy those moderation
10:21
every now and then is totally fine um
10:23
but try to stick to water as your main
10:25
uh beverage thank you so much for
10:27
watching if you have any other questions
10:29
feel free to reach out and go check out
10:31
our other videos for some more
10:32
information thanks bye