Many individuals look forward to having an occasional drink with friends or a glass of wine with supper. After a drink, you could feel more at ease and go off to sleep more quickly, but when morning comes, you might be perplexed as to why you feel sleepy and foggy after such an effortless time sleeping.
So, does alcohol genuinely improve your quality of sleep or does it actually interfere with it? Continue reading to learn how and why drinking might influence your ability to sleep, as well as information on the advantages of obtaining enough sleep for your health.
How Does Alcohol Affect Sleep?
Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, which means that it reduces brain activity. You may eventually feel more at ease as a result of this. Alcohol has also been demonstrated to have a deleterious impact on sleep and other physiological processes that take place when you’re asleep, despite how enticing the word “relaxed” may seem.
According to Brooke Scheller, a doctor of clinical nutrition who focuses on the effects of alcohol on the brain, stomach, and hormones, although alcohol first seems to have a sedative-like effect, your sleep is later affected by the impact it has on the brain and blood sugar as it is digested. She says, “Even if alcohol initially aids [someone] in falling asleep, they may wake up often during the night or not enter a deep slumber.
Dr. Scheller notes that drinking reduces the amount of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which is essential for our brain’s recovery after a day of work and for processing memories and new information.
While drinking alcohol may interfere with sleep, each individual will experience this interference differently. Po-Chang Hsu, M.D., a medical content expert and consultant at SleepingOcean, explains that factors such as genetics, diet, drinking history, existing medical issues, gender, and age may all have an impact on how alcohol affects a person. However, it’s difficult to find someone whose ability to sleep after drinking won’t be impacted—especially if we’re talking about consuming bigger amounts of alcohol.
Poor sleep may eventually negatively affect a variety of facets of your life, including your long-term health. If you’re having trouble sleeping, whether or not it’s because of drinking alcohol, think about speaking with your doctor or a sleep expert.
Alcohol and Sleep Disorder
According to research, drinking alcohol often may make several sleep problems worse, including insomnia, sleep apnea, and REM sleep disorder.
Insomnia and Alcohol
Mild to chronic insomnia, a common sleep problem characterized by difficulties falling asleep, remaining asleep, or receiving restorative sleep, affects up to 30% of Americans[1]. People who have insomnia often battle with fatigue and lackluster memory or focus.
Alcohol may make insomnia worse since it often results in fragmented sleep, nightly interruptions, and a general decline in sleep quality. People who suffer from insomnia already struggle to maintain regular sleep and waking cycles. Dr. Hsu adds, “However, this rule generally applies to those who often drink considerable quantities of alcohol. Adding alcohol to the mix would only make things worse. In other words, someone who has never had insomnia before is unlikely to get it from a glass of wine at dinner.
When people have trouble falling asleep, they often resort to alcohol. While this could be effective in the near term, more alcohol is often required to achieve this over time. This may make insomnia worse and make it more difficult to manage. This method has the potential to cover up an underlying sleep condition, such as obstructive sleep apnea, which may be what initially led to the sleeplessness.
Sleep Apnea and Alcohol
A common disease called sleep apnea causes breathing to stop and resume regularly while you sleep, which reduces the quantity of oxygen your body receives. People who have sleep apnea commonly snore, gasp for breath while they’re sleeping, and wake up many times during the night. Even if you seemed to sleep the whole night, you can wake up feeling exhausted, sleepy, and under the weather.
Because it relaxes the muscles in the throat, collapses the upper airway, and reduces oxygen levels, alcohol worsens the consequences of sleep apnea. This may not only exacerbate pre-existing sleep apnea but also cause bouts of sleep apnea in those who have never had it before.
Chronic sleep apnea may have a significant negative effect on your quality of life and raise major health issues, including weight gain and obesity, hypertension, stroke, memory loss, and heart failure, if it is not addressed.
REM Sleep Disorder and Alcohol
There are four stages of normal sleep, two of which are known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and the other as non-REM sleep.
- Stage N1 (Non-REM): The lightest phase of sleep is this one. During this stage, it might be difficult to determine whether you’re genuinely sleeping or awake.
- Stage N2 (Non-REM): It is deeper than N1 sleep but is still regarded as light sleep. Spindles form when we sleep, which may serve to muffle noise so we can’t hear ourselves snoring.
- Stage N3 (Non-REM): The deepest sleep stage is this one. It is crucial for memory and is often the location of sleep walking, particularly in kids who get more N3 sleep than adults do.
- Stage 4 (REM): Brain activity rises during REM sleep, which results in vivid dreams that you could recall when you wake up. It is crucial for our mood and aids in the organization of our memory.
Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD), also known as REM sleep behavior disorder, is a condition in which sufferers have vivid, sometimes frightful nightmares when they are in the REM sleep state. This might lead to them vocally or physically acting out their dreams, which could result in strange sleep-related actions like kicking, flailing, leaping, or shouting.
Studies have indicated that alcohol or the withdrawal from alcohol might increase RBD and its symptoms, despite the fact that RBD can be linked to neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s disease, Lewy body dementia, and multiple system atrophy (MSA). OSA may also result in pseudo-RBD, and if the sleep apnea is addressed, the dream reenactment usually disappears.
Limiting Alcohol Consumption Before Bed
“Usually, three to four hours before going to bed, alcohol use should be stopped. According to Dr. Hsu, this should give the body ample time to process the alcohol and flush it from the body so that one may sleep soundly.
Dr. Scheller continues, “It may be wise to cut down overall on alcohol consumption if you develop sleeplessness, mood swings, and other neurological problems. She says, “Many individuals discover that although it first seems tough to abandon the habit of using alcohol to help them fall asleep, they eventually adapt and have greater sleep and energy overall.
You may wake up relaxed and invigorated in the morning by limiting your alcohol consumption, particularly in the hours before bed. Additionally, the advantages of a peaceful night go beyond waking up feeling awake since insufficient sleep may have a severe impact on one’s health.
Benefits of Quality Sleep
The majority of studies concur that individuals should sleep between seven and nine hours each night for the best health outcomes. Among these advantages are:
- Improved memory and focus
- Improved performance at work or school
- Better mood
- Reduced stress
- Stronger immune system
- Reduced risk for serious health conditions, such as heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure
Quick Tips for Better Sleep
Here are some suggestions to consider if you’re having trouble sleeping well:
- Exercise regularly: By lowering tension and stress, exercise may enhance sleep quality. Just be careful not to exercise just before night since for some individuals, it might function as a stimulant. If none of this works, feel free to work out whenever it suits you.
- Follow a routine: Your body’s natural sleep pattern may be regulated by going to bed and getting up at the same time each day. Make sure you schedule some time in the evening to unwind.
- Create a comfortable environment: To aid with relaxing, make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet, and chilly. There shouldn’t be any interruptions.
- Limit screen time: For 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime, refrain from using electronic gadgets like your phone, tablet, or laptop since the blue light they generate may disrupt sleep. They may make it more difficult to go to sleep and remain asleep since they are stimulating as well.
- Cut back on caffeine: Because it is a stimulant, caffeine may make it hard to go to sleep and remain asleep. In the evening, stay away from coffee, tea, energy drinks, and chocolate.
- Manage stress: It may be challenging to go to sleep and remain asleep while under stress. To help you relax before going to bed, try deep breathing exercises or meditation. Think trying starting a worry book where you set out time each day to reflect on your worries. You may cope with stresses before they invade your sleep area by writing them down in advance.
A vital component of general health and wellbeing is sleep. If you’re having trouble getting enough good sleep, see a health care provider about strategies to make your sleep better. You may feel your best and enhance your general health by creating a strategy to concentrate on developing healthier sleeping habits.