HOW ALCOHOL AFFECTS YOUR SLEEP

In my corporate burnout era, a happy hour cocktail was the only thing that could reliably lift tension from my body.

Anticipating that sweet reprieve got me through the afternoons–the stress gripping my neck and shoulders just melted away with the ice in my negroni.

For many, alcohol feels like a delineation between work and rest–a way of telling our brains, “we’re off the clock, you can finally relax.”

But in a capitalist world that tries to wring every drop out of us, it can easily devolve into a maladaptive coping strategy for managing intense pressure.

Breaking research is showing us that it's far worse for our health than we knew–and here’s the sobering truth:

“If you’re looking for a strategy to destroy your sleep, drink” says ​​Dr. Peter Attia.

These are the things I have to take seriously if I want to cure my lifelong battle with insomnia. If shut eye and stress have been an issue for you too, read on…

How does alcohol mess up your sleep?

First, it’s impact on the quality of your sleep is STAGGERING:

⟡ One drink for women can decrease sleep quality by 24%

⟡ More than one drink for women can decrease sleep quality by 39.2%

Alcohol affects an important stage of sleep known as REM (rapid eye movement) which is crucial for healing, retaining memory and feeling rested. Reduced time in REM is bad news especially for people who work in creative fields, are trying to start a business or new hobby–anyone who needs to process a large amount of information and think outside the box.

To absorb new information, you need quality REM sleep not just before, but after a day of learning, to hit the ‘save’ button on those new memories. And because REM stitches information together, we can even wake up with solutions to previously difficult situations we’ve been facing.

And it does a number on the way we feel. Because REM sleep is also necessary for recalibrating your hormone system as well as balancing moods and emotions, you’ll have a day ahead with more anxiety, feeling overwhelmed and scattered.

Matt Walker, professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, goes so far as to call sleep “emotional first-aid, or overnight therapy.”

In fact, alcohol is one of the most disruptive substances to REM sleep known to man. If that’s not enough: less REM sleep over time actually shortens your lifespan.

Secondly, alcohol also affects your “sleep architecture”: the basic structural organization of healthy sleep that usually consists of four or five alternating non-REM and REM periods.

It activates the fight or flight branch of the nervous system which continues to awaken you. This translates to more fragmented sleep. You know those days where you sleep 8 hours but you still feel like crap? Chances are you thought you were sleeping continuously but you’re actually experiencing a choppy sleep, which is why you awake feeling like you aren't refreshed or restored.

Your circadian rhythm is a 24-hour internal cycle that is responsible for controlling your daily schedule for sleep and wakefulness. Alcohol can actually prevent this rhythm from responding to the natural light that keeps it synced properly, creating further abnormalities in your sleep schedule.

via pinterest

What’s the “worst” alcohol for sleep?

Let’s get this straight: all alcohol is bad for sleep but some types are worse than others. Drinks with a lot of stimulating sugar or caffeine add insult to injury, while beer will have you up in the night needing to pee.

⟡ Pro-tip: If you don’t want to go totally alcohol-free, lighter drinks may be your best option: for example, a wine spritz or bitters and soda.

How many hours before sleep should you stop drinking alcohol?

Longevity fanatic and tech entrepreneur, Bryan Johnson (who is spending $2 million this year on trying to reverse his biological age), says he used to drink 3 ounces of alcohol with breakfast to avoid it having any negative impact on his sleep.

That’s a bit extreme for me (plus I gather it wouldn’t be a good look for most of us in our morning Team meetings) but he’s onto something: the longer you give your body time to metabolize alcohol before falling asleep, the better.

Experts say you should stop drinking at least four hours before bedtime. In fact, a study showed that drinking alcohol within four hours of bedtime is more disruptive to sleep than caffeine!

Bottom Line

It seems the romantic notions of a “nightcap” may be best left in the past with Charles Dickens.

So much of my battle with insomnia is about unlearning behaviors and habits that actually inhibit sleep. This includes lying in bed when I can’t fall asleep ‘just in case’ (click here for what to do instead), and using sedation strategies like alcohol as a knockout punch.

I am reminded by experts that sedation is not sleep.

Like sleeping pills, alcohol is a sedative. You might lose consciousness more quickly, but you’re not ‘falling asleep’ faster.

Sleep is a skill. We can support it, but we can’t induce quality shut-eye with shortcuts like alcohol.

So where does that leave me and my negroni?

I get a lot of joy out of socializing over a few drinks. I don’t want to miss the pleasure of tasting a beautiful California white, or giggling with my girlfriends over prosecco. I won’t be giving up alcohol entirely but I’m limiting drinking to weekends and consuming less of it.

Digging into this research highlighted something I never really considered: timing alcohol intake is a major ‘aha’ moment for me. These days, a glass of afternoon rose sounds better to me than evening martinis.

But since I still hanker for that post-work cocktail, I’ve tested out the most convincing alcohol-free alternatives that I will be sharing soon in another post.

Stay tuned…

Psst. Here's my go-to alcohol-free Ghia "negroni" recipe. You would never know it's not booze!