There are many factors related to chemical processes in the blood and the brain that impact on how well you sleep. Sleep quality can be affected by an array of things, from daytime activity to body temperature. Snoring can impact sleep quality, as can the medications and foods we consume. While snoring solutions including an anti-snoring device can help a lot, there is more to a good night’s sleep than just stopping snoring…
What is a Good Night’s Sleep?
A great night’s sleep incorporates a number of sleep cycles:
- Stage 1 – light sleep, easily awakened
- Stage 2 – slower brain waves, no eye movement, body temperature drops, heart rate slows
- Stage 3 – deep sleep. Very slow brain waves (delta waves) interspersed with small, fast waves. This is the stage where people can experience sleepwalking, bedwetting, night terrors and sleep-talking.
- Stage 4 – very deep sleep with just brain delta waves – the most restorative stage.
- REM – rapid eye movement sleep: brain waves mimic waking state activity. Intense dreaming occurs during this stage. You will remember your dreams usually only if you wake directly from REM sleep.
A good night’s sleep will cycle through each of these stages, from light sleep to REM and reverse back to light sleep. This process will be repeated four or five times per night.
Sleep cycles change with age – for example, many women experience insomnia during peri-menopause and early menopause.
Snoring has a negative effect on quality of sleep, as do other factors, including consumption of alcohol and caffeine.
How Does Caffeine Affect Sleep Quality?
Caffeine is a stimulant. Found in coffee, tea, chocolate, and certain sodas, it can cause insomnia or sleeplessness. This is due to the fact that it blocks the chemicals that induce sleep in the brain, as well as increasing the production of adrenaline in the body (this is why blood pressure and heart rate go up after consuming caffeine). The effects of caffeine are fast to act and it can take many hours to be eliminated from the body.
How Does Alcohol Affect Sleep Quality?
Alcohol is a depressant. The liver takes up to fourteen hours to eliminate alcohol from the bloodstream. As such, it can impinge on REM sleep, and even cause REM to not occur. Any level of alcohol consumption can initially make falling asleep easier, however staying asleep and having proper sleep cycles is compromised, especially at higher doses. REM is suppressed early in the night but extended with periods of wakefulness later in the night. Additionally, we quickly develop tolerance to alcohol’s sedative effects and this, in turn, results in night-time sleep-deprivation and daytime sleepiness. Napping too much during the day will impinge on night sleep and a vicious cycle results.
Alcohol and Snoring
Snoring and alcohol consumption go hand in hand. Alcohol acts as a relaxant on the body and relaxes muscles including those in the back of the throat and in the mouth. This, in turn, partially-blocks the airways, and the soft palate and the uvula (the small bit that hangs in the back of the throat) vibrate as the body works harder to breathe. This is snoring. The likelihood of snoring increases by three to four times when you drink alcohol – even if you’re not a habitual snorer.
Snoring solutions are very important after drinking alcohol – whether you regularly snore or not!
SnoreMD – The Key to Stop Snoring
SnoreMD is very proud to provide a revolutionary mouth device to help alleviate snoring, by altering the position of the bottom jaw as you sleep.
The SnoreMD anti-snoring device is among the most effective stop snoring devices in the world today, and certainly the most convenient and affordable. It is suitable for use by people 18 years and over and is adjustable in 1mm increments for a perfect fit.
With some attention to sensible lifestyle changes, including avoidance of alcohol and caffeine consumption in the hours prior to sleep and the use of the SnoreMD Class 1 Medical Device, your ticket to a better night’s sleep is at your fingertips.
What are you waiting for? Learn more about healthy sleep on our website, and contact us today to order your SnoreMD device and stop snoring now.
