Does Wine Before Bed Help With Sleep?

Wine has been for years been considered to be harmless to the body. This is all thanks to the image that is painted by actors on TV and movies who will usually take a class or two of wine as a way of relaxing in the evening. Here, we explore whether taking wine before bed is beneficial to you or not.

Wine has been known to cause people to relax both mentally and physically thanks to the alcohol content in them, however, does is this beneficial for sleep?

Effects of alcohol on sleep

Both red and white wines contain a certain amount of alcohol in them which acts as a sedative once ingested thus cutting the communication between the brain and the spinal cord. This will have the effect of causing the individual to feel relaxed and even feel sleepy.

If you are having a problem falling asleep, taking a glass of wine before bed will help you sort out the problem. However, the problem of taking alcohol before bed comes in right before you wake up because it interferes with your deep sleep phase and that is why tea to help sleep is a better option.

The deep sleep phase is the most important phase since it is the period which facilitates restoration for the body. Deep sleep enables a person to wake up feeling refreshed and energetic and thus, if this stage is interfered with, it can have adverse effects on a person’s health as well as social life.

Alcohol, once in your system, will delay the start of your REM sleep cycle and also shorten it significantly.

The alcohol content in wine will also worsen conditions such as sleep apnea if the drinker is suffering from the said condition. This can be very dangerous as it can even lead to death if not properly dealt with.

Does Wine Before Bed Help With Sleep

Effects of drinking wine before going to bed in women vs men

The effects alcohol has on a person’s sleep will depend on the gender. Studies have shown that alcohol will have worse effects on women than men. Women who take alcohol right before bed will have worse quality of sleep as compared to men who take the same quantity of wine.

Benefits of drinking a glass of wine before sleeping

If you are able to limit yourself to just taking one glass of wine before going to bed, it can help you get better quality sleep as compared to taking a glass of water.

Taking a glass of either red or white wine will help you prevent a number of diseases such as cardiovascular disease and also Type-2 diabetes. If you would like the best possible results you should opt for a glass of red wine a couple of hours before bed to help you relax.

Red wine has additional benefits to the human body which include:

• Reduction of blood sugar levels.
• Lowering blood pressure.
• Reducing the amount of body fat around the waist.
• Reducing the level of cholesterol in the body.

Reasons why you should not use alcohol to treat your sleeping disorder

If you are suffering from insomnia and reading this article please do not think about using alcohol to help you deal with this problem. The alcohol in the wine will be great at making you feel drowsy and thus cause you to fall asleep fast. The problem will come in when the alcohol messes with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep phase.

The human body depends on the REM part of your sleep cycle for restorative purposes. The alcohol will cause your brain to have disruptive patterns that prevent you from going through your restorative process.

The sleep induced by alcohol intake may be long but of very poor quality. This may make it very difficult for you to remain focused during the day. It may even affect your ability to multi-task when you wake up in the morning.

Wine Before Bed Help With Sleep

The most important thing when it comes to sleeping is getting quality sleep and not the duration of time you spend asleep.

It is advisable that you try other ways to treat your insomnia that are more natural and which have little or no side effects. These could include sleeping on a firm mattress and soft pillows, switching off all your electronic screens, going to bed at a particular time every night etc.

Conclusion

Wine has its benefits and disadvantages. It is clear that the negative effects of wine will usually outweigh the benefits brought on by the intake of wine especially when done so in large amounts.

If you would like to reap the benefits of wine, you should be disciplined enough to only limit yourself to one glass of wine a night. The best wine to take has been proven to be red wine.

In addition to a glass of red wine helping you improve the quality of sleep you get, it can also help you to lose weight. This is great news especially if you suffer from obesity since it is one of the causes of insomnia.

Drinking wine is not highly recommended in the treatment of sleeping disorders because of the alcohol content in it which is known to worsen most conditions.

If you are suffering from sleep apnea, we would recommend that you avoid drinking wine before sleeping as this may cause your airway to block more frequently during your sleep which worsens your condition and is also quite dangerous.

Drinking wine may increase the quantity of sleep you get but the quality will be very poor as your brain will constantly be active. It may even cause you to skip the dream portion of your sleep which is very important in ensuring your body and mind get replenished.

Poor sleep quality will always have a negative effect on your normal daily activities and will also have a negative impact on your life.