Does Alcohol Help You Sleep Better?

There are many people who prefer to have a drink or 2 of alcohol before sleeping and they actually believe that this makes them have a sound sleep. But, how true is this?

Sleep is commonly known to help with recovery from physical, mental, and brain fatigue.

When it comes to the correlation between alcohol and sleep, if you think about it, you may argue that when you have a few glasses, you pass out.

However, this is different from sleeping. Because alcohol sedates you, it does not help you sleep better.

What is a sedative? It works like medicine and is basically a drug. When you take such as medicine, you pass out then too.

This means that although you might be in a sleeping state, this is not the same quality sleep that is good and needed for you every night. In addition, when you pass out after taking alcohol, you tend to wake up more. You stay in a REM state as you are not getting your deep sleep.

Next time you have a couple of drinks and pass out, notice that you always wake up in the early hours of the morning. This is not healthy for the brain waves.

What does science say?

People who consume alcohol in excessive amounts suffer from poor sleep quality and patients with alcohol addiction commonly report insomnia. Several studies now increasingly show the negative effects of even minimal consumption of alcohol on the sleep quality of the participants.

A study conducted in 2015 that reviewed ‘the effects of alcohol on quality of sleep’ found that participants with higher alcohol use tended to suffer more from poor quality sleep and increased sleep disturbances.

Now you have another reason to stay away from alcohol!

Trust this helps,

Roshni Sanghvi.