Bodybuilding Legend Arnold Schwarzenegger Reveals How Alcohol Influences Sleep

For thousands of years, people have been consuming alcohol, but they also have been arguing whether it is good for health or not. While drinking these intoxicants may help relax your mind, former bodybuilding icon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, feels alcohol can affect one’s body in many ways. In the recent edition of his newsletter, “How Alcohol Changes Your Sleep,” Arnold discusses this drink in detail.

The amount of alcohol consumed determines the extent to which it alters one’s sleep. Backed by scientific studies, Schwarzenegger brings up the quantity of the popular beverage one can consume, as he writes:

“New research suggests that just a few drinks can harm your sleep — but that when you consume alcohol might determine how much disruption it causes.”

He elaborates by highlighting the study that observed recreational drinkers. Before being subjected to a 2-week experiment, the individuals consumed 9 to 12 drinks weekly. These participants drank three beverages for around an hour before going to bed for three consecutive nights.

In the research, the scientists gave a few of them a mixer that didn’t contain any alcohol and acted as a placebo. The test results achieved from this study were straightforward. The former bodybuilder mentions the outcomes of this research:

“Those who drank alcohol spent less time in REM sleep, had lower sleep quality, and less deep sleep than those taking the placebo.”

The overall theme of the study was REM or rapid eye movement and the demerits of alcohol. The REM sleep phase is associated with improved dreaming, emotional assessment, and memory consolidation. Research indicates that a proper sleep phase begins around 90 minutes after one goes to bed. Additionally, optimal health needs to get at least 20 minutes of REM sleep.

The Austrian Oak highlights the effects of alcohol on the specific human sleep pattern, as he states:

“Alcohol’s influence on your sleep partially depends on how closely you drink to your bedtime.”

The ex-bodybuilder stresses that it takes an entire hour for the body to burn off just one drink. Therefore, he advises his ‘village’ to have a drink a few hours before they go to their regular slumber. In addition to this, Schwarzenegger once exposed the various demerits of alcohol to one’s overall health.

Arnold Schwarzenegger shares the repercussions of over-consuming alcoholic beverages regularly

The occasional alcoholic beverage isn’t something that Arnold Schwarzenegger is opposed to. However, the devouring of these beverages could lead to multiple health issues. Some of these side effects of the drink include a higher chance of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, liver damage, and even a reduction in brain size.

Hence, Arnold recommends limiting one’s alcohol consumption to not more than six drinks a week, stating that this is the maximum amount that the body can withstand. He also pointed out that, it’s acceptable to drink once or twice a week, so there’s no need to cut down drastically.