Is your sleep quality ON THE ROCKS?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
WINE-ing about not getting a good night’s sleep? Maybe that after-work cocktail is to blame!
Dandan Zheng and researchers at Penn State University wondered whether alcohol intake affects sleep.
To find out, they surveyed over eleven thousand people in China. Participants completed questionnaires about their alcoholic intake and sleeping patterns twice over a six-year period.
Results? Those who reported consuming MORE alcohol got LESS sleep and had LOWER sleep quality overall. Many experienced insomnia and some felt sleepy during the day. Hard liquor like gin, vodka, and rum even increased snoring! Other studies suggest this might be because alcohol affects the respiratory system.
For some, liquor takes the edge off a stressful workday. For others, it causes new problems. Like making them sound like a roaring engine at night! Actually, that’s more of a problem for their partners.
So, it might be worth a SHOT to cut back! Maybe tonight’s night cap should JUST be the one on my head!
CoZheng, Dandan, Xiaodong Yuan, Chaoran Ma, Ying Liu, Hannah VanEvery, Yujie Sun, Shouling Wu, and Xiang Gao. “Alcohol Consumption and Sleep Quality: A Community-Based Study.” Public Health Nutrition 24, no. 15 (October 2021): 4851–58. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980020004553.