People can sometimes feel drowsy after a nightcap, but how does alcohol effect sleep?
How does alcohol impact sleep? Many individuals like a glass of wine with dinner or a nightcap before bed.
Alcohol can make people feel more at ease and drowsy, but according to the Sleep Foundation(opens in new tab), a U.S. nonprofit group, it's also associated with short sleep durations and poor sleep quality. In general, a person's ability to sleep well degrades as they consume more alcohol.
We'll examine how alcohol impacts each stage of sleep in more detail below, as well as how time and amount of alcohol consumption can alter the quality of sleep.
DOES ALCOHOL HELPS YOU SLEEP ?
Many people believe that having a few drinks can help them fall asleep faster, and in some cases this is true. A 2020 review published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology found that consuming alcohol before bed causes sleep to start more quickly.
Alcohol may speed up the sandman, but it can also have a bad effect on how well you sleep. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism states that consuming alcohol (from one to six standard drinks) 30 to 60 minutes prior to bedtime causes blood and breath alcohol levels to peak around the time of darkness.
The normal sleep cycle and sequence are disturbed by this peak. Alcohol use, for instance, might lead to repeated bouts of light sleep or waking up, especially in the second half of the night. You're therefore more likely to experience higher wakefulness and more light sleep after a few drinks.
According to a 2016 study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, drinking alcohol frequently before bed can also make it harder to fall asleep (opens in new tab). Researchers discovered that frequent or routine alcohol use before bedtime resulted in episodes of insomnia. Alcoholism was also associated with an increased prevalence of sleep issues, including difficulties falling asleep, numerous nighttime awakenings, and trouble rising.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, consistently drinking to fall asleep can cause you to develop an alcohol tolerance and progressively lose the ability to do so.
To comprehend how alcohol directly affects each stage of sleep, it helps to be familiar with the four stages of sleep. The National Institutes of Health(opens in new tab) (NIH) breaks sleep down into the following stages, which the body cycles through roughly four or five times a night:
HOW DOES ALCOHOL AFFECT SLEEP ?
Non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep is a light stage of sleep that is readily disturbed by noises or other distractions. It lasts from one and five minutes.
Stage 2: Non-REM sleep — deeper sleep with slower heart rate and lower body temperature. Around half of a sleep cycle is devoted to this kind of sleep.
Non-REM sleep, stage three, is the deepest and most challenging state of sleep. It occupies around one-fourth of a typical sleep cycle.
The fourth stage of sleep is known as REM sleep, during which we dream. Every sleep cycle, this phase might last up to an hour.
Alcohol has varied effects on each of the four stages of sleep, according to Guy Meadows, a sleep expert and co-founder of The Sleep School, an online resource that offers science-based support for sleep. Meadows made this statement to Live Science.
The general balance of our sleep stages is disrupted, he explained, as it boosts our initial deep sleep. "Furthermore, it causes more light sleep throughout the night, which makes us more alert and susceptible to disturbances when we need to be sleeping deeply, especially as the night wears on. Finally, it shortens the duration of all-night rapid eye movement sleep."
The National Sleep Foundation stated that REM sleep is essential for a child's healthy brain development (opens in new tab). Lack of REM sleep can impair memory, make it harder to concentrate, and make people feel excessively drowsy during the day. According to the NIH, a lack of sleep can also contribute to a variety of health issues, including as depression, high blood pressure, and obesity.
DOES ALCOHOL AFFECT SLEEP MENS AND WOMENS DIFFERENTLY ?
According to Meadows, alcohol causes higher sleep disturbances in women than in males. Men and women consumed the same amount of alcohol before bed in a 2011 study that was written up in the journal Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research. Although the findings were self-reported, women reported feeling more exhausted before bed, waking up more frequently during night, and sleeping less than males.
Researchers examined how alcohol usage in women influenced their sleep in comparison to males in a review article from 2020 that was published in Alcohol Research: Current Reviews(opens in new tab). They discovered that women experienced more sleepiness than males did after consuming alcohol, had more sleep disturbances, and slept for a shorter period of time overall.
HOW MUCH ALCOHOL AFFECTS SLEEP ?
A few beers might have a noticeable effect on how well you sleep. But, the influence increases with alcohol consumption, according to Meadows, who cited a 2018 study published in the journal JMIR Mental Health. Low levels of alcohol (less than two servings per day for men or less than one serving per day for women) reduced sleep quality by 9.3%; moderate levels (two servings per day for men or one serving per day for women) reduced sleep quality by 24%; and high levels (more than two servings per day for men or more than one serving per day for women) reduced sleep quality by 39.2%. A serving is equal to one regular beer or five fluid ounces of wine.
In order to prevent sleep disruption, Meadows advised that people attempt to wait at least three to four hours after consuming alcohol before going to bed. Days without alcohol can also lead to better sleep. Try to have at least four alcohol-free nights per week for the finest sleep, said Meadows.
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