Hey, guys. Marten here from Mattress Clarity. Do you find it's easier to go
to bed after a nightcap? Is it easier for you to fall asleep after a
night on the town? Well, you're not alone. According to the National Sleep
Foundation, 20% of Americans use alcohol to
fall asleep. Now what it may seem like it's easier to fall asleep with
alcohol if you're sleeping more deeply. This is really not the case.
Alcohol actually has some very negative effects on your sleep. And want to
talk about just that today, I want to talk about how alcohol affects your
sleep at night, how it affects your next day, how it affects
your health overall. And if you are going to drink alcohol, the ways
to limit your drinking to get the best sleep possible. Let's get started.
So right off the bat, I want to say that I am not a doctor,
and if you struggle with sleep issues or alcohol related issues, I do
recommend seeing a medical professional. That being said,
I do want to talk about the positive side of alcohol when it comes
to sleep. And namely, alcohol can make it easier to fall asleep more
quickly. So I personally like a nightcap sometimes on the weekends
or during the week. One glass of whiskey helps you fall asleep much more
quickly. And also there are some positives to the first half of your sleep
that night. And so you're in a nice deep sleep that actually extends deep sleep.
But as the night goes on, you're in more of that deep sleep and
not in that REM sleep. Now, I talk about this in another video we
did on Sleep Cycle. If you want more information about that, I definitely
recommend checking out that video, but I just want to give you information right
now about the sleep stages. So you have four sleep stages. You have stage
one, two, three, and then REM sleep, rapid eye
movement. Now, during REM sleep, that is that deep restorative sleep,
and that's going to be when your memories are consolidated. You're actually
having your immune system strengthened. It's a very important stage of sleep.
And when you're drinking alcohol, it actually shortens
your REM sleep, so you're getting less of that restorative sleep.
It's also negatively affecting your circadian rhythms, your body clock.
And one of the main parts of sleep is going to be melatonin production.
And melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate sleep, helps you
stay asleep throughout the entire night. And when you drink alcohol,
it actually cuts down on your melatonin production. Did you
know that alcohol has a similar effect on your body as a fever in
that it makes your body temperature rise and fall very quickly. And when that
happens, it's more common that you deal with nightmares and vivid dreaming.
Now, alcohol is also a diuretic similar to coffee. And basically that
means you're going to get up more often during the middle of the night.
To go to the bathroom and that's definitely disrupting your sleep. Now,
you might also have breathing issues, namely, when you drink
alcohol, it can relax the back throat muscles. When that happens,
you might snore more often. You might also choke in your sleep. And that's
similar to what you're going to have with sleep apnea. So I struggle with sleep
apnea. And basically what happens there is my back throat muscles. Again,
they relax. I'm not getting enough oxygen, I'm choking in my sleep. I'm actually
waking up often throughout the night, many, many times throughout the night,
and I'm not getting deep restful sleep. So now let's talk about
the day after. So you drink alcohol the day before or the
night before. How does it affecting the next day? Well, first off,
as I said, a lot of times when you're drinking alcohol, you're negatively
affecting your REM sleep. And during REM sleep, you're consolidating memories,
you're resting your brain. And when you're not getting the proper amount of
sleep the next day, you might be more foggy with your brain, you might
be more forgetful, might make more accidents at work,
also driving if you're not getting the proper amount of sleep. They've done
studies that those who sleep less than 7 hours per night are much
more likely to get an auto accident the next day. You also
increase your chances of dealing with depression. You might be more irritable,
you might be more anxious. These are all things that go along with insomnia
and lack of sleep. And then of course, we have the dreaded hangover.
Now, most of us know what a hangover feels like, but some of the common
symptoms are headache, nausea, fatigue. And that
fatigue is really important because it can actually negatively affect your sleep
the next night. When you have a hangover, it's much more likely to need to
take a nap when you do that, especially too late in the day to make
it much more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep the next night.
And there are some other ways that alcohol can affect your body, namely alcohol
dependence or alcohol and sleep had a few friends who have dealt with this
condition. It is very, very serious, but it can also negatively impact
your sleep in a few ways. Namely, it's harder to fall asleep, it's harder to
stay asleep. And in general, you just have a lower quality of sleep. And also,
if you're trying to give up alcohol, you're going through withdrawal symptoms
that can lead to anxiety, nightmares, or also insomnia.
Alcohol could also negatively impact your heart, your liver, increase your
chances of getting certain types of cancer, and weaken your immune system in a
very serious way. Now if you are going to drink, there are a few things
to keep in mind. Now, the general rule of thumb for most physicians is one
drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. Now it
is going to depend on your size, your weight and your age so definitely
keep that in mind. And if you are going to drink,
stop drinking two to 3 hours before you go to bed. It gives your body
enough time to process the alcohol that you've actually imbibed. So again it's
all about moderation and timing. In the end you can see
alcohol effect on sleep in a number of ways and if you are going to
drink, it's all about moderation. But if you or a family member
does struggle with alcoholism, there are many resources out there for you.
We have a few listed in our written article but that's about it. Just getting
started looking at sleep research definitely check mattressclarity.com.
We also do a lot of videos just like this so hit the like button
and Subscribe.