For night-shift workers, timing caffeine correctly can make all the difference between feeling alert and struggling to sleep after work. In this segment, Dr. Logan Pendergrast, Ph.D., shares evidence-based strategies for using caffeine more effectively. He explains why smaller, evenly spaced doses taken early in the shift provide steadier energy than one large serving, and how consuming caffeine too late can fragment sleep and reduce next-day alertness. With practical dosage guidelines and real-world examples, this lesson helps shift workers use caffeine as a tool, not a crutch.
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So, now that we know all of these
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interesting facts about caffeine,
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whether it's how many adults are
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consuming it, what the benefits and
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risks are, or how long it stays in our
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system, we can now start to implement
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strategies that can help us optimally
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use our caffeine to serve us best,
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particularly for those of us who are
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working shift work. So, starting with
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the timing of caffeine. So caffeine
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ideally for those of us who are working
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shift work should be consumed as early
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as possible upon starting a shift. And
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the reason for that is because if
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caffeine is consumed later in the shift,
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which is closer to our time to go to
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sleep, it can fragment our sleep and
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decrease our wakefulness the next time
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that we wake up. Additionally, consuming
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caffeine in smaller, more frequent
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doses, let's say a cup of coffee every
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other hour, is more effective than
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consuming a large bolus of caffeine,
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let's say an energy drink with 300 mg or
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a large coffee with 300 milligrams all
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in one sitting.
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Additionally, the recommended dosage of
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caffeine for its greatest effect is
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actually something that you can
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calculate. And the way that this
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calculation is done is taking 1.4 to 2.7
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milligrams of caffeine per pound of body
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weight. And a quick shorthand for this
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would be that is about 210 mg to 400
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millig for a 150 lb adult. And there's
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some measurements here at the bottom of
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the slide which you can see. And what
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this equates to is a a a serving of um
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any of these given sources of caffeine
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and how much caffeine is in it. So we
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see here a brewed coffee which is about
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8 ounces is 95 millig of caffeine.
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Caffeine tablets such as no dose are
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about 200 milligs of caffeine. So twice
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a cup of coffee. Caffeine gum such as
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this military energy gum is about 100
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milligrams. So equal to about a cup of
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coffee. And then these energy drinks
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like Red Bull and Monster are anywhere
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from 80 to 160 milligrams per can.
