Food & Alcohol
Alcohol doesn’t help your sleep, it hurts it.
Why it's important
Alcohol
Drinking alcohol before bed, unfortunately, has a significant negative impact on your sleep. Even though it may help you lose consciousness faster (hence many people using alcohol as a “sleep aid”) it does not lead to quality, restorative sleep. Just one glass of wine will negatively impact your sleep.
Alcohol before bed leads to more brief awakenings during the night. These wakeups will be so short you won’t remember them in the morning, but they negatively impact your sleep quality nonetheless. Additionally, alcohol impairs your breathing during sleep and limits your total amount of REM sleep.
Food
Eating too close to bedtime also has negative consequences on sleep. Large meals before bed can cause indigestion, which will interfere with sleep quality.
How we'll do this
We’re going to develop a routine of eating earlier in the evening and limiting the amount of alcohol consumption before bed.
We’ll also limit large meals for dinner. If you want to eat a big meal, it’s better to do it for lunch earlier in the day. If you’re going to bed feeling completely stuffed from dinner, you likely ate too much, too late in the evening.
Your single action
Don’t eat or drink alcohol for at least 3 hours before bed.
Shift your dinner time to earlier in the evening, and avoid eating snacks right before going to sleep.
Additionally, eliminate the nightly habit of drinking alcohol before bed. If this is too challenging, start with eliminating it for only one night per week, then work your way up to more nights over time.
Tip: While it’s OK to drink water before bed, ensure you’re not drinking too much. This can lead to undesirable bathroom wakeups in the middle of the night.
Course Progress
