Jul 10, 2013
Sleep Walking?
Have you ever felt groggy and tired after a night out of drinking? Unfortunately, many of us have, even though you may have slept 15 hours. While alcohol may help us fall asleep quicker and deeper, it completely messes the QUALITY of sleep, especially the second part of the REM cycle, the stage that we go into deep sleep and dream. That's why many of us tend to skip dreaming the nights we decide to booze. During this stage, the body is supposed to rest, heal and restore itself but, with much thanks to alcohol, our sleep cycle is often disrupted throughout the course of the night. Instead of slowly drifting in a deep healing state of slumber, our body is concentrating on rebounding from the effects of alcohol. Alcohol impedes the natural body's stimulant, glutamine. So our body's natural reaction is to overproduce glutamine, which then stimulates the brain and prevents us from sleeping. Alcohol tricks us into thinking that we are getting a good nights sleep because we fall asleep faster than a normal night, but the fact is that alcohol inhibits your body from mentally and physically restoring to health. But that doesn't mean that you should exile alcohol from your life, here are a few things to keep in mind before you go out for a few drinks this weekend!
-Limit yourself to one to two standard drinks
-Avoid drinking within three hours of your bedtime so the alcohol is fully metabolized in your system before you hit the hay
-Drink water during/after you drink
