WiserHours
Menu

Follow your curiosity

Nights 4 to 7 · Lesson 5 of 11

Alcohol, Late Meals and Evening Exercise: Sleep Habits

See how alcohol, heavy late meals and hard evening exercise affect sleep, and how to move them earlier in the evening.

FREE LESSON
Cover picture for lesson 5: Alcohol, Late Meals and Evening Exercise: Sleep HabitsVideo coming soon
The video is not out yet. The written lesson below has the same content.
THE WRITTEN LESSONFollow along at your pace

Some evening habits feel relaxing but work against your sleep. In this lesson you look at alcohol, late meals and evening exercise, and at one simple fix for all three. This is general information, not medical advice.

The nightcap myth

Many people think a drink helps them sleep. It can make you drowsy, but a review of 27 studies found that even about two drinks reduced dream sleep, also called REM sleep. More alcohol disrupted sleep more.

A card with the crossed-out line A drink helps me sleep and the correction Drowsy, but less dream sleep, next to a label that says Review of 27 studies. Below, one, two and three glasses sit beside rows of dream-sleep blocks that get shorter as the glasses increase.(opens the full-size picture)
More glasses, fewer dream-sleep blocks.

Avoid it before bed

So it is best to avoid alcoholic drinks before bed. And alcohol does not cancel out caffeine. Mixing them can make it harder to tell how drunk you are.

An evening bar split into Evening and a red Last hours before bed, with a crossed-out glass above the red part and a moon at the end. Below, a glass plus a coffee cup carries the warning Mixing them hides how drunk you are.(opens the full-size picture)
No drinks in the last hours, and no mixing with caffeine.

Coffee does not sober you up

Because mixing alcohol and caffeine hides how drunk you are, never use coffee to decide you are fit to drive. Never drive when you are drowsy or have been drinking.

Late meals

Food matters too. Try not to eat a heavy meal within a few hours of bedtime.

An evening timeline from 6 pm to 11 pm with a moon at the end. A green part from 6 to 8 pm is labelled Fine for a big meal, with a plate and a tick. A red part to 11 pm is labelled A few hours before bed. A label says Heavy meals: a few hours before bed.(opens the full-size picture)
An example evening: eat the big meal early.

Evening exercise

Being active during the day can help your sleep. Just avoid intense exercise in the hour before bed. The NHS is stricter, and suggests no exercise in the four hours before bed.

A walker under a sun with a tick for daytime, and a running shoe with a red cross for the last hours. A timeline runs from a green Daytime block through Evening and NHS: none to a red Last hour. A label says NHS: none in the last 4 hours.(opens the full-size picture)
Move by day. Keep the last hours calm.

Move it earlier

The simplest fix is to move things earlier. Have your drink, your big meal and your workout earlier in the evening, and leave the last hours calm.

A glass, a plate and a running shoe sit on a block labelled Earlier evening, followed by a navy block labelled Calm hours and a moon. A label says Drink, big meal, workout: earlier.(opens the full-size picture)
Everything lively first, then calm hours.

Something to add

There is also something you can add. A warm bath, or a relaxation exercise, before bed is part of the same public-health advice.

A steaming bathtub labelled Warm bath, and a calm face beside a breathing circle labelled Relaxation exercise.(opens the full-size picture)
Two calm things you can add to the evening.

YOUR TURN

Read more

Read the full lesson script

Some evening habits feel relaxing, but work against your sleep. In this lesson, you'll look at alcohol, late meals and evening exercise.

Many people think a drink helps them sleep. It can make you drowsy, but a review of 27 studies found that even about two drinks reduced dream sleep. More alcohol disrupted sleep more.

So it's best to avoid alcoholic drinks before bed. And alcohol doesn't cancel out caffeine. Mixing them can make it harder to tell how drunk you are.

Food matters too. Try not to eat a heavy meal within a few hours of bedtime.

Being active during the day can help your sleep. Just avoid intense exercise in the hour before bed. The NHS is stricter, and suggests no exercise in the four hours before bed.

The simplest fix is to move things earlier. Have your drink, your big meal and your workout earlier in the evening, and leave the last hours calm.

There's also something you can add. A warm bath, or a relaxation exercise, before bed is part of the same public-health advice.

So remember: alcohol may make you drowsy, but it makes sleep worse. Keep heavy meals a few hours from bedtime. And keep hard exercise out of your last hour. Before the next lesson, move tonight's drink, big meal or workout earlier. In the next lesson, you'll build a wind-down hour, and deal with your phone.