Ditch the booze for a better snooze

I’ve never been a big drinker. Honestly, I don’t think the hangovers are worth it, and the older I get, the worse they seem to be. But in my experience, even just one drink before bed can leave me feeling slightly worse for wear the next day.

I’ve always thought it was just my body, but according to Dr Christian Nicholas and his team at the University of Melbourne, there’s science to back up the relationship between alcohol and sleep.

In a recent study – where they gave 24 young adults a small nightcap before bed – they confirmed that even one vodka and orange is enough to significantly disrupt the natural cycle of your sleep.

Even though it may feel like dropping off after a few bevvies is easy, the study showed that once the participants were snoozing, the brainwaves responsible for deep sleep and calm wakefulness were activated at the same time. This created a sort of conflict in their brains that hindered their ability to get to a deeper level of rest.

For the 33.5% of people who drink alcohol before they sleep, this is not good news.

According to Dr Christian, we need to go through all the levels of our sleep cycle to enjoy the nourishing benefits of a good night’s kip. Any disruption to this – including spending the night filling your system with booze – could easily leave you feeling tired and groggy the next day.

According to some experts, the diuretic effects of alcohol can make it harder for your body to release the hormone responsible for reabsorbing water. Instead, it makes you urinate more, which in itself could lead to a lack of sleep if you’re constantly waking up to use the bathroom.

Dehydration can also make it difficult for your body to maintain its natural rhythms – it can make you feel tired when you’re well-rested, or give you a boost of energy when you need to wind down. In addition, not getting enough water can lead to a reduction in your melatonin levels – the same hormone that fights the effects of jet lag and severe insomnia.

Whichever way you look at it – and I hate to be the bearer of bad news – it seems that alcohol and sleep just don’t mix.

It may sound obvious, but the best way to beat dehydration is by drinking more water. If you’re drinking alcohol, try spacing out your drinks with a glass of H20 and make sure you don’t take too many fluids directly before going bed (you don’t want to be in the loo all night).

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot we can do about our brainwaves when we sleep, but it does make sense to abstain from alcohol the night before an important day. If you know you need to be alert the next morning, it’s always best to prioritise rest over that glass of pinot.

Shane Crawford is an Australian television personality, appearing regularly on programs like The AFL Footy Show, Postcards and Kids’ WB. The former Australian Rules footballer played over three hundred games for Hawthorn in his fifteen-year career, earning the game’s highest individual honour – the Brownlow Medal – in 1999 before being inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2012. Shane co-founded his own production company, Not So Normal Productions, and is a proud Dad to four boys, Charlie, Ben, Jack and Harry. The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances.