Sleep and Alcohol

Well there are somethings I have noticed over time and some things I have been told so I thought I'd share. Did you know that if you consume a moderate amount of alcohol you are effectively botching your sleep and the more alcohol you consume the potentially worse it can get. Well, now you do but I bet you want to know why so let me tell you what I think and we'll start with some definitions. A moderate amount of alcohol means that your blood alcohol levels average is  0.06–0.08%. That's not a lot of alcohol to get there. However do not despair, approx one 12oz beer can help lull you to sleep without the side effects I'm about to get into. 


Now the thing about moderate alcohol consumption isn't that pop! You sleep poorly. It triggers chemicals in your body as it is metabolized and removed from your body and in most cases this happens only in time to ruin the last half of your sleep assuming you are getting from seven to eight hours. There is some preliminary studies to show that the adverse effects could take as much as three days to correct the changes done to sleep patterns. 


So what are the changes? Well as far as I can tell what happens is shallow sleep is induced leading to awaking multiple times during the night as well as rebounding REM. The rebounding REM is associated with nightmares and vivid dreaming due to the brain attempting to wake and the general activity induced. The after effects of the poor sleep lead to the additional drowsiness during the day as well as trouble focusing. 


There are also studies shown that suggest alcohol increases sleep apnea symptoms. It is unfortunate that sleep is commonly used as an aid for insomniacs however poor sleep is debatable better for you than no sleep. 


While on the subject of alcohol I thought I'd throw this out there since so few seem to know it. The effects of a hangover are caused by dehydration, a side effect of drinking. If you want to not get a hangover when you are done drinking alcohol for the night, drink several glasses of water. You will have to hit the bathroom a bit more often but I'd rather excuse myself for a moment than deal with a pounding headache in the morning. 






Corset hoping to have raised some questions and peaked an interest, 
signing off.