How caffeine and alcohol affect your sleep | Sleeping with Science, a TED series

Caffeine wakes you up, and alcohol makes you nod off, right? It's not that simple. Sleep scientist Matt Walker takes us into the eye-opening ways that these drinks affect the quantity and quality of our sleep.

[empowerment.artist]

I quit coffee and alcohol and I stopped having chronic anxiety. And my sleep is way better. The transition took about six weeks for me, so it's not instant results. I used to LOVE coffee, and now I rarely miss it.

[Melesniannon]

The main takeaway from this is that you should drink alcohol in the morning before work, not in the evening after.

[julianshepherd]

Note to self.
Drink all 12 cups of coffee by 10am.

[thekito]

This guy sleeps so well, his hairline is going down, not up.

[pipster]

After watching this, I've stopped drinking alcohol in the evenings and started to drink in the mornings instead.

[randomworld]

I stop caffein for 2 weeks and the result is amazing and outstanding I feel less nervous feel more satisfied and comfortable and my sleep is on time too ! Caffein is bad as alcohol

[CueNotQ]

I go gym every night around 9pm, I’ve been taking a pre workout before my session and now I know why I haven’t slept in weeks

[alldecentnamestaken]

Kind of a coincidence that I saw this. I quit caffeine about three weeks ago after a cup of Starbucks Nitro basically induced a panic attack. The first week without caffeine was ROUGH but once I made it over the hill I noticed I sleep way better, wake up feeling refreshed, no more "micro" headaches in the afternoon, and my energy levels are far more steady.

[.Koreans.American]

Who else just love TED's animations?😍

[pricklypear]

I quit coffee 3 days ago in preparation for a cosmetic surgery (was told by surgeon that caffeine promotes swelling which may impact my final results). For the first time I hit the normal number of minutes of deep sleep on my fitness tracker. Woke up without an alarm at 6am today!!

[jasepoag]

I can definitely believe alcohol is bad for sleep. I have a few drinks every Friday to celebrate the end of the week, and it's definitely my worst sleep of the week. I fall asleep quickly, but I often wake up extremely early, and then can't fall back to sleep because my brain is too alert.

[QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep.”
― Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep

[jenniejiang]

I love how he teaches! He is so humble and he smiles throughout the whole video. I love how he said "im not telling anyone how to live, im just a scientist"

[phoebechan]

This guy looks like a white version of Tyler the creator lol

[prabhashankarrao]

You deserve to be praised from humanity for the extent of research, delivery of knowledge from the research, searching us to find out healthy sleep ways...and your tone, way of expression, oh my God, it's like having the best ever sleep one can have. Very very greatful to you, the Dr of doctors...!!!

[ianmcnally]

I used to think alcohol helped me sleep but when I quit I realized I slept so much better deeper and even longer. Even if I wake up at 3 AM I can usually get right back to it.

[gnuPirate]

I love Matthew Walker and his generosity in sharing his research so widely and freely - Thanks however I cannot abide that sweepy fringe thingy.

[swell_gal]

I love the well controlled rhythm of his talk and his accent. The cadence of his speech is very soothing.
And, on top of that, he is also a redhead just like my son...☺

I feel this so much!
I never drink coffee, and the last time I did because a colleague invited me, I just couldn't fall asleep! I drank that cappuccino at 4pm and I think I fell asleep at 4:30am 🤦🏻‍♀️
My heart was beating so fast and I just couldn't stop my brain from thinking

[jokerproduction]

What if I like to start my day with a fifth of vodka?