Build Better Sleep

How does alcohol affect sleep?

Alcohol is the #1 sleep aid people turn to in order to help them get to sleep. They may have had a stressful day at work, too much on their mind, or have a hard time sleeping without it. It is known that alcohol does make you drowsy and does help you fall asleep easier, but at a very high price.

How alcohol affects sleep

The reason alcohol works so well for helping you fall asleep is because it is a depressant. This helps to induce sleep. That is where the benefits stop because everything after that is working against you. Alcohol will suppress your REM cycle and lead to fragmented sleep. The REM cycle is mainly in the second half of the night and is involved with processing memories and storing memories. When you “blackout” from drinking too much, your brain doesn’t store any of those memories because REM is suppressed, hence why you can’t remember getting that tattoo on your forehead.

It is not uncommon to get a full night’s sleep after drinking alcohol, but how many times do you wake up feeling groggy, foggy brained, hard to concentrate throughout the day, and not operating at 100% or even 75%? You traded higher quality sleep for a quick sleep hack. Cheap solutions are going to give you cheap results. 

Do you ride this vicious rollercoaster? You wake up exhausted and hit a steady stream of caffeine all day long and then when you finally have time to relax you are wired, so you pour yourself some wine to relax and fall asleep only to repeat it again the next day. Getting off this ride is hard. 

How to relax without alcohol:

If you need help to relax in the evening checkout some of the teas that have valerian root in them or are designed for sleep like this one from Yogi (https://yogiproducts.com/teas/herbal-teas/kava-stress-relief/) It is suggested to drink kava for 2 weeks to really start feeling the benefits.

My favorite option for calming myself at night and boosting my deep sleep up to 30% has been taking a magnesium glycinate supplement. Every night about an hour before bed I take 1/4tsp of magnesium glycinate in some mineral water or tea. Tracking with my Oura ring I can see my deep sleep go up on the nights I do this. This is the brand I use. The powder does have a unique taste to it, so if you are sensitive to taste go with a pill form.

 Other options are deep breathing techniques, meditation, brain.fm brain wave app, progressive muscle relaxation, and light massage/stretching.

Alcohol has a fairly short half life (the time needed to be broken down in your body) so you can have a glass of wine at dinner or a beer, but 2-3 glasses is not and before bed is definitely a no go. 

Execute:

If you currently are using alcohol to get you to sleep it is time to reevaluate your routine. It is not serving you or your health. The first step is to start telling yourself that you do not need alcohol’s help. You are not dependent on it to fall asleep. If you believe you can’t fall asleep without it, your brain is going to make that true. So play that same game in reverse.

What is the alcohol providing for you? What job is it doing besides helping you fall asleep. The falling asleep is a byproduct of alcohol. You are using alcohol as a proxy to avoid something or forget something that is painful to confront. Is it a job that you hate, but the uncertainty of looking for a new one too scary? Is it money issues and trying to forget them instead of coming up with a plan easier to do?  I don’t know what is going on in your life, but alcohol has never been the solution. 

Seek out some alternatives for relaxing at night. It might be one thing or a combination of things that works for you. Be brave. Experiment and give things a chance. Don’t expect to have the same effect right away, but as you start shifting your habits your sleep is going to get better, your going to be able to deal with stress better, you are going to be more creative to solve your problems or seek help, and you are going to be healthier.

My name is Jason Piper and I am a certified sleep coach from Detroit,MI. I help people and businesses to rebuild their sleep for more energy, concentration, and creativity.  Join my Sleep Quest to improve your sleep tonight.

How to quit coffee

Why in the world would I ever want to quit coffee? That is my life blood. I can’t survive without it. I can’t function in the morning without it. Is this your reaction? Find out why you don’t really need that caffeine kick.

Every morning your body gives you a shot of your own brewed version of cortisol. This is what awakens you from your slumber. You are probably in the routine of having that morning coffee to jumpstart your day and lets be honest nothing smells better in the morning than fresh brewed coffee. I meant the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup. Right?

What if I told you that caffeine is not doing what you think it is doing. It is more of a coincidence that your morning coffee is what is waking you up. At about the same time that caffeine is hitting your bloodstream your cortisol levels are also increasing naturally as part of your circadian rhythm. It is more the cortisol that is making you feel awake than the caffeine. Caffeine works by blocking adenosine receptors. Adenosine is a metabolic product that accumulates as you are awake. As more adenosine finds a receptor the more tired you feel. So you can quit your morning regular coffee habit because it is not doing what you think it is doing and switch to decaf.

Caffeine is also a stimulant and has a half life of at least 5 hours depending on how the body metabolizes it. When someone is looking to improve their sleep or has trouble looking at sleep we take a look at their coffee or caffeine consumption. A man or woman that is consuming large amounts of caffeine during the day will still have a considerable amount in his/her system when they try to go to bed at night. This will impair them from being able to fall asleep and/or keeping them from getting the restorative deep REM sleep the body needs instead only getting light sleep. 


When trying to quit coffee, it is smart to wean down the amounts. Going from 6-8 cups a day to none is going to cause some big withdrawal effects and probably make it harder to give up. I instruct my clients to have decaf and regular and keep reducing the ratios of regular to decaf coffee. So that would look like 75:25, then 50:50, then 25:75, and finally just decaf.


Once the body is cleared of all the caffeine the benefits start to come through. First and foremost your sleep is going to improve. Caffeine is a stimulant which also raises your cortisol levels. Increased cortisol levels impairs your ability to fall asleep because the body is unable to release melatonin at night because the cortisol is blocking it. Also if your adenosine sites are blocked you will not feel tired, but wired.


You will get deeper more refreshing sleep to as the brain will not be under the influence of caffeine. Now that you are getting better sleep, you will be waking up with more energy, clearer thinking, and no jitters. You do also need to prioritize sleep. Quitting coffee and expecting your 4 hours of better sleep to make up for it is just not gonna happen.


I tell my clients to use coffee or caffeine as a superpower. If you use it all the time the body gets used to it and the effects are minimal. It is more just psychological than physiological. When you only consume caffeine occasionally you get the full effect of sharper thinking, more focus, and better reaction time. Save caffeine when you got a presentation, or need to do some brainstorming. You will be a level up from your fellow office mates.

I like the taste and ritual of coffee in the morning. All I did was switch over to decaf. I still get the taste, smell, and habit of drinking coffee without the caffeine impacting my body.

If you feel like you are really struggling at work get outside for a 5-10 minutes for some natural light. This will have a bigger effect than a cup of coffee. Some kind of movement also helps to energize yourself. If you really think about it you are sitting indoors all day in what equates to dim artificial light and not moving much. That tells the body lets power down and sleep. Take control of your environment and you will see some positive results.

Learn how to live the best 1/3rd of your life by enrolling in Build Better Sleep’s Invest in Sleep program.

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