Alcohol & Sleeo

Aug

2020

UK weather: Had a bad night’s sleep?

Drink plenty of water

It may seem like an obvious one, but drinking plenty of water is often overlooked. Cool down from the inside out by staying hydrated with plenty of liquids. It is recommended to drink between 1.5 and 2 litres per day.

Avoid Alcohol

Bad news for some, but forecasters advise against drinking alcohol in the intense heat, as well as teas and coffees, which act as diuretics and can cause dehydration.

Switch the fan on

Fans can help your body regulate its internal temperature – and sticking a pan of ice cubes in front of it can make the circulating air even cooler. If you haven’t got one handy, fill a hot water bottle with cold water instead.

Sleep on a lower floor

If your home has several floors, it might be worth sleeping downstairs.

Freeze a flannel

Sticking a washcloth in the freezer can be especially refreshing to place on your forehead as you lie in bed.

Jul

2020

Does Alcohol Affect Your Sleeping Pattern?

For many of us, the perfect way to unwind after a long stressful day is to reach for a beer or a glass of wine. Perceived wisdom suggests that not only is it the perfect way to relax, it can also help us get off to sleep at night. A few alcoholic beverages can leave us feeling drowsy, but is it accurate to say it helps us sleep, and what are the true effects of alcohol on our sleep?

Here are a few ways alcohol affects your sleep:

It induces faster sleep

Alcohol has a profound effect on our body’s ability to sleep, and for the most part, the effect is negative.

You might find that after a couple of drinks it’s much easier to drop off to sleep. Alcohol is a depressant, which has a sedative effect on your body. That’s why alcohol can lead to a relaxed feeling and eventually help you get to sleep faster.

On the face of it, this might seem positive, but once you are asleep, alcohol has much more damaging effects on your quality of sleep.

It brings more interruptions during the night

Drinking alcohol also makes it more likely you’ll be forced out of bed in the middle of the night. Whether that is for a drink of water due to dehydration or a trip to the toilet due to a full bladder, alcohol makes it more likely we’ll have a disrupted night’s sleep.

It blocks valuable REM sleep

Alcohol shifts the normal sleep cycle to contribute to a feeling of sluggishness when you wake. When you’ve been drinking, you’ll spend longer in deep sleep but less time in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. REM sleep is your body’s window to restore and regenerate. Reduced due to the consumption of alcohol, less REM sleep leaves you feeling fatigued (and hungover) the next day.