Caffeine Program Recommendations

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Hello everyone and welcome to today's
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lesson on caffeine. My name is Logan
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Pendergrst and today I will be leading
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us through the lesson to learn about how
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caffeine can be used as a tool to help
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keep us sharp and active even during
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shift work.
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As an overview for today's lesson, we'll
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start first by looking at how we can
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consume caffeine intentionally rather
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than just relying on it out of habit.
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We'll then talk about how we can connect
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our consumption of caffeine and the
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timing of that caffeine consumption to
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our body's natural rhythms. And from
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there, we'll move into talking about how
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we can consume caffeine, stay alert, but
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still recover and go to sleep after we
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consume our caffeine at the end of our
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shift. And then from there, we'll talk
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about how to personalize our caffeine
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intake so that we can have a more
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personalized plan that fits our daily
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schedules.
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Okay. So now here we'll look at our
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caffeine rhythms and how we are
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consuming our caffeine. So I think if
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we're like most people, we're consuming
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caffeine daily out of habit rather than
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consuming it to use it as a tool. And
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what's important to know here is that
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it's the timing of caffeine intake, not
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necessarily the quantity of caffeine
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that is driving the results of it. And
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our best use of caffeine really is to
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time our consumption about the period
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where we begin to feel an alertness dip
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a little bit before that period. And the
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goal here really is to identify what our
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rhythm is when we get the most benefit
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out of caffeine and to plan around that
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rhythm. And we can see that this that
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doing this in the scientific literature
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that individuals who align their
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consumption of caffeine accordingly to
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their body's natural rhythms show a 26%
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increase in alertness in comparison to
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those who are just consuming caffeine
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randomly. And so the takeaway here is
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that timing drives the benefit of
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caffeine intake, not necessarily bigger
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doses.
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And so here we'll look at how caffeine
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works. So how does caffeine work? So
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what caffeine does is it blocks the
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action of a molecule in the brain called
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adenosine. And adenosine is responsible
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for making us feel sleepy. It's
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associated with what's called sleep
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inertia or essentially the drive to fall
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asleep. And when we consume caffeine
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about 30 to 60 minutes after consuming
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it, we see its increase uh in the blood.
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And that increase begins to block the
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effects of adenosine which usually make
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us sleepy. And this effect lasts about 4
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to 6 hours.
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And this is where we get into really
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learning about why more caffeine doesn't
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necessarily mean more energy. And the
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reason for this is because once we
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consume enough caffeine to block all of
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the action of adenosine or that sleep
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molecule in the brain, then really
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consuming more caffeine isn't
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necessarily blocking more adenosine. So,
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we're not necessarily getting more
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effects from it. And studies actually
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show that a more modest dose of
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caffeine, something like 150 milligrams,
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which is about a cup of coffee, provides
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most of the measurable alertness
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benefits, uh, with really little
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additional uh, benefits and alertness
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for more caffeine consumed.
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So, the core point here really is that
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it's the timing, not necessarily the
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quantity of caffeine that is driving our
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performance benefit.
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Okay, so how does this apply to night
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shift work? Well, night shifts create a
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natural dip in alertness, which most of
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us who are working night shifts
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understand. And part of the reason for
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this is because of our natural circadian
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rhythms for the human body. Humans
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historically have operated when the sun
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is up or under heavy lighting. And
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that's because our eyes are tuned to
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function in that environment. And if
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we're in an environment where we're
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consistently not exposed to sunlight,
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then our body really gets a natural dip
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in alertness. This is just perfectly
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natural. And what caffeine does
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obviously is it helps us to smooth out
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these dips in alertness and to improve
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our focus. However, when we are
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consuming caffeine at later periods of
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time, what this can do is disrupt what
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is called our recovery or our ability to
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go to sleep. And this creates a cycle
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where we are consuming caffeine late,
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sleeping poorly, and then feeling less
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rested the following day.
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This is shown actually in the scientific
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data where we see that those who consume
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caffeine about 3 hours before going to
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sleep show a 40minute delay in their
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ability to fall asleep when it's time to
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go to sleep. And again, this is
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contributing to this negative cycle. And
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so the core point here is that it is the
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timing that protects us from the
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negative effects of caffeine and that
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we're able to plan around this in our
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daily schedules to avoid these negative
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effects.
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So what about other shift patterns?
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Well, there are multiple different types
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of shift patterns that we can work and
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we can plan caffeine around this. For
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instance, those of us who are consistent
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night shift workers, it's important to
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be steadily consuming our caffeine about
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the period of time when our shift is
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beginning. And the reason for this is
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because we're consuming it at the early
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period of time and we're able to really
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plan our consumption so that we're
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getting that increase in caffeine about
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30 to 60 minutes um after consuming it
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so that we're feeling the smoothening
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out of our dip in alertness while still
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avoiding the consumption later in our
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shift as we're reaching the time where
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we would be going to sleep following.
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For those of us who are working uh in
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rotating shifts, it gets a bit more
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interesting because um consumption of
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caffeine to smooth out that energy dip
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would likely need to occur as the energy
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dip is is occurring. And so we should be
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consuming the caffeine again earlier in
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our shift and adapting that to the
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schedule. Let's say for instance, we're
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beginning work at 7:00 a.m. one day and
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work at 11:00 p.m. another day.
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consuming caffeine a little bit after
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that shift is uh beginning can really
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help us smooth out the energy dip. For
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those of us who are consuming caffeine
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heavily daily, uh as I mentioned in the
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previous slide, it's likely more
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effective to just dose our caffeine
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intake a bit earlier and to avoid it
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later in the day and that consuming this
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additional caffeine isn't necessarily
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beneficial for the effects that we're
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looking to get from it. And so this more
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strategic effect would be better for us.
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And then lastly, for those of us who are
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finishing our shifts just as the sun is
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beginning to rise, again it's good to
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taper our consumption of caffeine prior
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to that sunrise. And the reason for
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that, which I'll talk about in the
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following slides, is that actually
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sunlight can amplify the effects of
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caffeine. And so if we are consuming
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caffeine and then being exposed to
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sunlight, we can actually really disrupt
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our ability to go to sleep.
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And then lastly here, when we look at
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the scientific data and looking at
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caffeine consumption and ability to
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rest, night shift workers who reduce
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their consumption of a caffeinated
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beverage by about one drink per day show
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a 22% increase in their sleep
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satisfaction. And this appears within
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one week of doing so. And so again, just
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highlighting that modulation of our
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caffeine intake can really help us
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recover and sleep well following uh our
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shift work.
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So let's talk about building a plan. So
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the first step of the plan is to
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identify when our alertness dip occurs
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for our shifts. This maybe would occur
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an hour or maybe 3 hours into the
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initiation of our shift. And we should
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identify that time period and then take
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our caffeine, whether that's in the
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shape of an energy drink or in the shape
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of a cup of coffee about 30 60 30 to 60
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minutes prior to that dip. And what this
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does is it helps us stay alert and to
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stay ahead of that dip in energy that
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could potentially compromise our ability
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to function during our shift.
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Additionally, as I mentioned in the
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previous slide, stopping our caffeine
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intake about 4 to 6 hours before we're
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intending to go to sleep, which is
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likely towards the end of our shift. And
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then, as I mentioned also in the
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previous slide, pairing caffeine intake,
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if we can with bright lights or with
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something like brief movement like
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exercise or a brisk walk can increase
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the effects of caffeine and give us a
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stronger alertness signal. And this
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again is shown in the science where we
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see that individuals who pair their
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caffeine intake with bright light such
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as sunlight or strong overhead light can
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increase their alertness from caffeine
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by about 20% versus those who just can
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consume caffeine alone.
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Continuing on with the uh planning of
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caffeine intake. So again, it's
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important to track our caffeine intake
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and basically align it to our schedule.
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And we can do this by tracking when we
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are consuming our caffeine, usually how
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much we're consuming, and then
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recognizing how that affects our body's
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sleep patterns. And from there we can
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move into adjusting our caffeine windows
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uh weekly to see how we can really
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improve not just our alertness but also
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our ability to rest fully. And from this
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we'll note our changes in alertness and
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recovery and then aim for more
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consistent and even caffeine intake
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across shifts so that again we can
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recover effectively. And this approach
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is also shown in the scientific data
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where we see that individuals who
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customize their caffeine schedules throw
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show a 30% reduction in reported
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caffeine fatigue or reported fatigue
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from um their work and their night
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shifts.
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As a brief aside here, Night Alling,
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this platform provides a caffeine
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calculator tool and you can find the
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link to that tool in this description to
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this video. And what this caffeine
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optimizer does is it analyzes the
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caffeine habits of whoever decides to
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use the tool and it gives a personalized
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timing and intake recommendation
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depending on that person's individual
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traits. And this is an option for those
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who sign up for nighting and they can
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explore of course the rest of the
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platform not just get resources on
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caffeine intake but also sleep health in
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general and general recommendations for
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the well-being of those who are working
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night shifts.
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So lastly, to sum up the core message
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from this presentation, it isn't
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caffeine that's the problem. It is the
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intake of caffeine and the timing of
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that intake that's conferring the
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benefit, but also the harm. And so we
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should be using caffeine to support our
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biology rather than to replace our rest.
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And there's a simple process to aligning
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our caffeine intake to our optimal body
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rhythm. And this is done by repeated
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bouts of testing, observing, and
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measuring how caffeine affects our
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alertness and our sleep. And so that's
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it for today's lesson. I will see you
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next time. This is Logan from Night
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Outlook.