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