#08: Sleep & Alcohol - Part 1

More recently, we've discovered that REM sleep is significantly associated with your longevity, and the less REM sleep that you have predicts a shorter lifespan.

When we've had a few drinks in the evening, we tend to think that we fall asleep more quickly, and in reality, all we're actually doing is losing consciousness more quickly.

Alcohol is in a class of drugs that we call the sedatives—and sedation is not sleep. But when we've had a drink in the evening, we mistake the former for the latter.

The second issue with alcohol is that it fragments your sleep. In other words, alcohol will litter your sleep with many more awakenings throughout the night.

Alcohol is one of the most potent suppressors of REM sleep, and that's perhaps concerning, considering that REM sleep is associated with a constellation of different benefits, both for your brain and also for your body.