When it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, there are a number of things that are advised to try. Some experts say that eating kiwi before bed or having an open window can help you fall asleep faster.
On the other hand, there are things we are advised to avoid before bed in order to fall asleep. There are the obvious ones, like avoiding caffeine, but there’s also the less obvious one that you might not have thought about.
A pint of beer or a glass of wine can make you feel very sleepy, but it turns out that alcohol can also ruin your night’s sleep, writes mirror.co.uk.
The sleep experts at Bed Kingdom have revealed the possible causes of insomnia, and one of them is related to alcohol and nicotine consumption habits. Sleep experts explained: “Alcohol often helps you fall asleep faster, but drinking it right before bed can lead to fragmented sleep and frequent awakenings during the night.
“Research has shown that drinking alcohol within four hours of bedtime can negatively impact sleep continuity and duration, leading to longer wakefulness after sleep onset (WASO), when you wake up during the night and have trouble getting back to sleep.
If you have trouble falling asleep after a night of drinking, try to have your last drink about four hours before you go to bed to give your body enough time to digest and metabolize the alcohol before you try to fall asleep.”
Don’t do it before bed
Studies have also shown that nicotine use before bed has been linked to insomnia because it affects the body’s ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.
The experts explained: “Caffeine works by blocking the effects of adenosine, a neurotransmitter that naturally builds up in the body during the day and creates pressure to sleep.”
While you may already know that caffeine consumption can interfere with sleep, you may not know how long it stays in your body.
According to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, caffeine has a half-life of five hours in healthy people, meaning it can take about five hours for half of the caffeine to leave the body.
Experts said: “If you have trouble falling asleep in the evening, consider cutting out caffeine 8-12 hours before bedtime.
“If you normally go to bed at 11pm, that might mean you’ll have your last caffeinated drink around 1pm.” in the afternoon, and for the rest of the day you’ll choose decaffeinated drinks.”
If insomnia affects your daily life, lasts longer than a month and is not related to factors such as alcohol or nicotine use, experts recommend that you register with your family doctor.
