As Matthew Walker said in episode #49, “Alcohol is probably the most misunderstood sleep aid.” Like sleeping pills, alcohol is a sedative. You might lose consciousness more quickly, but you’re not ‘falling asleep’ faster.
Anyone who has gone to bed after drinking alcohol can likely relate to the associated sleep disruptions. In addition to being a sedative, which seems beneficial to sleep, alcohol both fragments your sleep as well as reduces REM sleep. Meaning, you wake up more often during the night and will likely feel unrefreshed and unrestored when you get out of bed.
Below is a collection of audio clips and podcasts discussing how alcohol impacts your sleep, the mechanism of disruption, and metrics to track this impact. For more information on alcohol consumption in general, check out AMA #31 where we break down the latest science on alcohol and its impact on health. For more information on sleep, I would strongly recommend listening to our 7-part series with sleep expert, Matthew Walker, Ph.D. where we discuss everything you need to know about sleep, its impact on your health, and how to improve your sleep.
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