When your head rests on your bed pillow, are you able to drift off into a deep sleep? If not, it could be because of a certain beverage.
A sleep expert warned of a popular beverage that could hinder your ability to fall asleep.
“While alcohol can often make you fall asleep faster, drinking it close to bedtime can cause fragmented sleep,” experts from Bed Kingdom noted.
Drinking alcohol in the hours leading up to bedtime could be the “cause of frequent waking throughout the night”.
The expert elaborated: “Studies have found that drinking alcohol within four hours of bedtime can negatively affect sleep continuity and duration.”
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This is said to contribute to a longer “wake after sleep onset” whereby you wake up during the night and struggle to fall back asleep.
Thus, the expert advised to have an alcoholic tipple (if you’re going to have one) “around four hours before you go to bed”.
By doing so, you are enabling the body “ample time to digest and metabolise the alcohol” before trying to fall asleep.
While it can be a no-brainer that caffeine can disrupt your sleep, just how long it stays in the body may surprise you.
The expert 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 it may sound extreme, if you are having trouble drifting off in the evening, consider cutting off caffeine eight to 12 hours before your bedtime.”
It is proposed that caffeine has a half-life of about five hours, Medical News Today stated.
“If you typically go to bed at 11pm, this could mean having your last caffeinated drink at around 1pm,” the expert added.
The Sleep Foundation pointed out that caffeine “has a half-life of anywhere between two and 12 hours”.
The informative charity elaborated: “A drug’s half-life refers to the amount of time it takes for your body to metabolise and eliminate half the dose you consumed.”
So, if you are particularly sensitive to the effects of caffeine, your morning brew could be interfering with how you fall asleep at night.
If you continuously struggle with your sleep, it’s worthwhile booking a doctor’s appointment.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
