How to Sleep Better After Drinking Alcohol
Whether you take a night out on the town or enjoy a relaxing night in with some good company, it’s common among most to enjoy an occasional drink or two. But if you're not careful, drinking alcohol can interfere with your quality of sleep. Sure, it’s well known that alcohol can give you a killer hangover the next day if you’re not careful, but a large factor in you feeling sluggish after a night of drinking, is most in part due to a terrible sleep once you call it a night! Here, we'll share some tips on how to sleep better after drinking alcohol.
How to Prepare Beforehand
If you’re getting ready for a special event or occasion, it’s important to prepare yourself and your surroundings ahead of time as well, so that you don’t have to think twice, after the fact. Here are some tips to consider prior to the start of your festivities.
Eat a Balanced Meal Ahead of Time
Before consuming any alcohol, it’s important to consider how to regulate your body’s natural ability to digest it slowly. Eating a balanced meal will certainly help in doing just that. We recommend a mix of protein, healthy carbs, and some fats to absorb your alcohol consumption in moderation. These kinds of meals are naturally slow-burning, which will assist your body to absorb the alcohol in smaller doses, as it works to digest it all, together.
We recommend that you incorporate this step before leaving your house, in case there are no sustainable meals being offered at the party. If you find that you don’t have time to eat a meal before joining the celebrations, take your time before pouring yourself a beverage when you arrive—we recommend enjoying some of the food made available there, first!
Prepare Your Bedroom to be an Inviting Experience
We all know too well how much of a hassle it can be to arrive home to a messy and disorganized space after a tiring day…or in this case, a long night out! It can be a saving grace to arrange and prepare your bedroom ahead of time so that you can safely and immediately crash once you arrive home. Consider preparing your bed neatly and in an inviting manner, so that you don’t have to worry about messy, flailing, or dirty sheets.
We also recommend preparing the atmosphere around your space. Consider having the blinds already drawn down, setting your alarm clock for the next day, and even placing a glass of water by your bedside table, in case you forget later on. We also encourage cleaning up any items left lying around on the floor. The last thing you want to experience after a night out, is coming home and stumbling or even tripping over any items left hanging around where they shouldn’t be.
Drinking Responsibly Once You’re Out
It’s a known fact that alcohol is a diuretic, and causes dehydration. This means that you may find yourself having to run to the bathroom frequently to pee. Depending on how much and how quickly you consume alcohol, you may find yourself having to pee a lot!
It’s important to remember that dehydration is what can cause severe hangover headaches, and it can further disrupt your sleep, as you wake up thirsting for water. This, in turn, causes you to toss and turn throughout the night, and inevitably, you lack a good night’s rest. We strongly recommend some of the following tips to embrace, as you’re out enjoying yourself.
Drink Plenty of Water
There are multiple benefits to drinking while still enjoying the celebrations. We suggest alternating between alcoholic beverages with a glass of water, as well. This will not only slow down the dehydration process, but it will also ultimately make you more full, which will reduce the temptation to frequently continue to reach for alcohol alone. This will radically reduce your chances of headaches or hangovers too since your system will have less alcohol to process through.
Avoid Salty Foods
It’s no surprise that high sodium is a key factor of dehydration, too. For this very reason, we suggest focusing on hydrating foods, such as salads, veggie dips, and even fruit platters. One of the worst foods you can eat are salted nuts and chips at parties. These kinds of snacks are typically what cause us to dehydrate even faster, and cause us to continue ordering alcoholic beverages at the bar, for instance. Be conscious of what foods you’re choosing to enjoy while out and about.
Avoid Smoking
It’s no surprise that one can typically be associated with the other when it comes to celebrating a special event. Some even like to bring their beverage outside to enjoy with a cigarette, while still enjoying some friendly conversation. However, when it comes to a peaceful night’s sleep when you arrive home, it’s best to disregard the cigarette, altogether. Nicotine is one of the main ingredients in smoking products, which is actually a stimulant. This will increase your heart rate and blood pressure, which is a huge disadvantage, prior to sleeping. If you need to get a good night’s rest for an important meeting the next day, we suggest no smoking with alcohol the night before.
Resist Caffeine
With incredibly delicious beverage options like Irish Coffee, Spanish Coffee, caffeinated teas, or even energy drinks with caffeine, it can be difficult to resist the temptation to mix coffee with alcohol at night. However, this is exactly what we would suggest refraining. Caffeine is renowned to keep you up at night, as it increases your body’s circulation and heart rate levels. For this very reason, we suggest choosing an alternative beverage to compensate for, before heading to bed. Such an example would be hot cocoa, or even a decaffeinated tea if you’re used to something warm a few hours before bed.
The Aftermath Approach
Once the celebrations are over, there are still plenty of options for you to consider to further help reduce the effects of alcohol, before bed and even the next day.
Healthy Snacks for Cravings
It’s not uncommon to become hungry after alcohol consumption. Some individuals find themselves raving their fridge once they get home after a night out. For this very reason, we suggest having some healthy snacks prepared and accessible at home, to avoid unhealthy choices before bed. High-fiber food such as fruits, vegetables, and low sodium crackers are always some good ideas. This will further help reduce the probability of indigestion, which can have a terrible effect while you try to get some shut-eye. Inevitably, high-fiber foods have a great way of slowing down digestion, and further absorbing your consumed alcohol.
Avoid Sleep Medication
It’s easy to assume that a quick fix option would be sleeping medication before you crash into bed. This can not only be counterintuitive, but dangerous! It ultimately can have a multiplied reaction to the sleep medication, which may affect your breathing, and body’s circulation. Alcohol should never be taken with any kind of medication, and for this very reason, we suggest letting your body process the alcohol naturally.
Turn Your Phone on Silent
Having your alarm set for the next day’s schedule is one thing, but we suggest placing your phone ringer on silent, so that any incoming calls or messages do not disrupt your sleeping throughout the night. Especially if you need that vital time to help your body heal from the night’s alcoholic festivities.
Replenish Your Lost Nutrients
What you choose to consume the next day is just as important as the choices from the night before. Drinking plenty of water, taking natural vitamins to replenish your body’s lost nutrients, and even consuming electrolytes, are all great approaches to regaining strength back after a night of alcohol.
High-fiber choices are still recommended at this point, and exercise will certainly help to process the rest of the alcohol from your system. Sweating is a proven way to circulate the alcohol out as well, but you may want to consider a slower-pace activity from what you may be used to.
Conclusion
There are few benefits to drinking alcohol altogether, so don’t expect healthy results from consuming it. However, if you choose to enjoy yourself with a glass of wine with the ladies, or even a beer with the guys, we suggest sticking to one source of alcoholic beverage. Refrain from mixing too many different drinks together, as it typically never ends well. In order to sleep better after drinking alcohol, it’s best to drink in moderation and to really be conscious of your body’s reactions when you do. Prepare ahead of time with some of our key tips, and always remember, it’s perfectly alright to know your limits and to say “no,” when you’ve finally reached them.
