Having a drink before, during or after dinner may seem like the perfect way to relax and unwind at the end of a long day. Many people think this evening ritual helps to slough off the stress of the day so they can sleep well at night. But does having a nightcap actually help you sleep better – or does it make it harder to get a good night’s rest? Here are answers to common questions about alcohol’s effect on sleep.

What does alcohol do to your sleep?

Alcohol may help you fall asleep faster by inducing relaxation. But it also may interfere with the quality of your sleep. Researchers have found that alcohol suppresses REM (rapid eye movement) sleep in some people, which is the period of sleep when dreaming typically occurs. The REM phase of sleep is also when most memory processing and consolidation happens. Not getting enough REM sleep may impact these functions and may also negatively affect mental health.

Drinking alcohol before bed may also make it harder to stay asleep throughout the night. This may cause you to be more wakeful or to stay in only lighter phases of sleep as the night goes on. If this happens, you’re likely to wake up in the morning feeling tired because you didn’t get a good night’s rest.

Does alcohol always have the same effect on people’s sleep?

How alcohol affects sleep is based on several factors. It may be impacted by how much you drink. How quickly you consume the alcohol and how soon before bedtime you imbibe may also play a role. Your age and body composition may also affect how alcohol affects your sleep. That’s why alcohol’s effect on sleep may differ from person to person.

How much alcohol do you need to drink for it to affect your sleep?

You may not need to drink a lot of alcohol for it to affect the quality of your sleep. Even a small amount – a drink or two – can have an impact. This is how alcohol affected the sleep of subjects in one 2018 study:

• Low amounts of alcohol (less than one drink a day for women or less than two drinks a day for men) decreased sleep quality by 9.3 percent.
• Moderate consumption (one drink a day for women or two drinks a day for men) decreased sleep quality by 24 percent.
• High consumption of alcohol (more than one drink a day for women or more than two drinks a day for men) decreased sleep quality by 39.2 percent.

Although each person’s reaction to drinking alcohol before bed may be different, one of the best ways to reduce the chance of sleep disruptions is to give your body enough time to metabolize any alcohol you drink before hitting the hay. This may take as much as four hours. If you’re going to have a drink at the end of the day, consider doing so early in the evening and keep it to one stress-reducing serving. This makes it more likely that you’ll get a good night’s sleep.

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