Sleep Hygiene - Part 4

In our last sleep hygiene tips post (see here), we talked about how your diet can be either an ally or an enemy of your sleep.

In this post, we'll discuss some not-so-healthy habits: drinking alcohol and smoking. But unlike other sources, we're not here to criticize you if you have either of these habits—we simply want to inform you about how they affect your sleep so you can make more informed decisions going forward. In summary:

As always, if you're already very familiar with these topics and their relationship to sleep, feel free to skip ahead, but have you ever stopped to consider these questions?

• Have you noticed that after a night of heavy drinking, even after sleeping for many hours, you woke up tired?
• Have you noticed that after drinking you tend to wake up more during the night to go to the bathroom?
• Have you ever woken up feeling very hot and sweaty and thought your blanket was warmer than usual that day?

You'll find the answers to these questions and more below!

Avoid alcohol 🍺 3 hours before bedtime.

Just like with prescription medications, many people incorporate one or two glasses of alcohol into their nighttime routine to try to fall asleep more easily. But does this method really work?

How does it affect your sleep?

Alcohol consumption does indeed help you fall asleep, especially once that initial moment of euphoria has passed and you start to relax.

This happens because alcohol stimulates the production of adenosine (a sleep-inducing chemical in the brain), allowing you to fall asleep more easily. But just as you get a momentary benefit, there's a loss of quality in the rest of your sleep, for several reasons.

Have you noticed that after drinking alcohol you tend to wake up tired?

Alcohol limits your REM sleep in the first sleep cycles, one of the stages where you rest the most and consolidate memory. That's why, even if you sleep for many hours, you still wake up feeling tired. And in the long term, this leads to learning difficulties.

Have you woken up in the middle of the night needing to use the bathroom?

Alcohol has a diuretic effect, which impairs the body's ability to retain fluids. That's why it's normal to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

When your liver kicks into action to clear your body of alcohol toxins, your body temperature tends to rise (as we saw in this post, that's exactly the opposite of what your body needs to sleep), which can cause you to wake up feeling very hot and sweaty.

And have you noticed that people tend to snore more after drinking?

Additionally, alcohol relaxes the throat muscles, making snoring and sleep apnea more concerning.

But what if I only drink a little (e.g., a glass of wine)—is that a problem?

Yes and no! Yes, if you drink every day. No, if that glass is occasional, like a maximum of 2 to 3 times per week.

The problem with drinking every day is that one of our body's defense mechanisms is called tolerance. This means that if you consume alcohol frequently, you'll need increasingly larger amounts of alcohol to feel the same drowsy effect. Tolerance isn't the same as addiction, but it can lead to abuse and dependence, which is why we don't recommend using alcohol to sleep.

So I can't drink anything anymore?

Relax! We're not trying to be radical here. We at Vigilantes do Sono drink alcohol occasionally too, and we recognize that there are benefits to its use[^1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28671111). But on the days you decide to drink, try to at least follow these recommendations to minimize the impact on your sleep:

• Give yourself a 3-hour window between your last drink and bedtime.
• For women of any age and men over 65, it's recommended to limit intake to 1 alcoholic drink per day. Men under 65 can consume up to 2 alcoholic drinks without additional harm. This is because men have a faster metabolism than women, but with aging, the body's ability to metabolize alcohol slows down and takes longer to leave the body for both men and women, which is why lower consumption is recommended. Note: 1 drink = 12g of alcohol = 1 can of beer (350ml) = 1 glass of wine (90ml) = 1 shot of spirits (40ml)
• Drinking 2 glasses of water for every 1 glass of alcohol will help your body eliminate toxins before bed.

Avoid nicotine 🚬 2 hours before bedtime

How does it affect your sleep?

Nicotine—the active ingredient in tobacco—is an extremely potent drug.

A single puff of a cigarette produces almost instantaneous physiological changes:

• In your brain, nicotine acts as a stimulant, focusing your mind and increasing alertness.
• In the body, nicotine acts as a relaxant, relaxing muscles and decreasing appetite.

Additionally, nicotine is addictive and fast-acting. This means that within hours, nicotine starts to leave the body, and if you're dependent on it, like most smokers, you may wake up from withdrawal symptoms, seeking more nicotine.

Unlike alcohol consumption, which doesn't affect your sleep if consumed in small amounts hours before bed, nicotine when consumed regularly also interferes with your sleep stages, causing you to lose both the quality and quantity of your sleep.

Some studies have even been able to quantify some of the negative effects of cigarettes:

• Each cigarette smoked equals approximately 1.2 minutes of lost sleep[^2](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13548506.2013.832782#.VPY8SbPF911).
• Regular smokers take longer to fall asleep[^3](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13548506.2013.832782#.VPY8SbPF911) and sleep for less time than non-smokers[^3](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204172250.htm)
• Smokers sleep an average of 33 minutes less per night[^4](https://www.gwern.net/docs/nicotine/1994-davila.pdf).
• Because they have lighter sleep, smokers are 4 times more likely to wake up more tired than non-smokers[^5](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204172250.htm).

But if I stop smoking cigarettes, won't I experience withdrawal?

Yes! It's a very difficult situation, because if you stop smoking completely, you'll experience withdrawal symptoms, which are very bad for insomnia.

In any case, quitting smoking is also very important for your health, which is why we recommend seeking professional help. There are several medications and practical tips that are scientifically proven to help you with this, and if you're not ready to quit, your doctor can still help you minimize the risks associated with tobacco use.

I can't quit, what do I do?

In summary, in the short term, cigarettes stimulate you, making it harder to fall asleep, and in the long term, they disrupt your sleep stages, affecting sleep in general. Therefore, if you can at least avoid nicotine 1 to 2 hours before bed, you'll probably already reduce some of the negative impacts of cigarettes on your sleep.