Unexpectedly! The thing that ruins your sleep the most is not coffee, but...

Lack of sleep has been linked to a host of health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain cancers.

We often see a lot of advice on how to improve sleep, which often includes what not to eat or drink a few hours before bedtime. It is generally believed that smoking, drinking, coffee, and tea at night will affect sleep. Coffee, in particular, is often blamed for affecting sleep.

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However, previous studies on the effects of these habits on sleep have tended to be small and generally conducted in laboratories, which do not necessarily reflect real-world realities.

Recently, researchers from Harvard University, Florida Atlantic University and other institutions conducted a study that was conducted entirely in a natural sleep environment and included 785 subjects, which is a large-scale study of its kind. The study was published in the journal Sleep.

Using actigraphy (wristwatch-style sensors) and daily sleep diaries, the researchers investigated the effects of nighttime alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine on sleep-related parameters. The study included 785 participants, with an average of 6.7 days of actigraphy and sleep diaries, which recorded the participants' alcohol, caffeine, or nicotine intake within four hours of bedtime (drinking alcohol, coffee or tea, and smoking, respectively), as well as sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and wakefulness after sleep.

The results may be good news for coffee lovers. The researchers did not find an association between caffeine intake within four hours of bedtime and any sleep markers. However, the researchers cautioned that the study did not measure the amount of caffeine, and different people have different sensitivities and tolerances to caffeine, which may play an important role in the relationship between caffeine intake and sleep.

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As for smoking and drinking, the study showed that consuming nicotine, alcohol, or both within four hours of bedtime was associated with poorer sleep continuity compared with nights without these consuming alcohol. This remained true even after adjusting for age, sex, obesity, education, work/school the next day, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.

Among them, nicotine was most closely associated with sleep disruption . Among subjects with insomnia, nicotine intake per night was associated with an average decrease in sleep duration of 42.47 minutes. Therefore, for people who already have insomnia, the effects of nicotine may be particularly evident.

The American Sleep Association points out that although many people think that smoking can relax themselves, the nicotine contained in cigarettes is actually a stimulant that can make it difficult for people to fall asleep . Nicotine is highly addictive and enters and leaves the brain very quickly, so it won’t take long after smoking for the brain to feel the need for nicotine again, and you will wake up even if you fall asleep. In addition, smoking increases the risk of sleep apnea syndrome, which not only reduces sleep quality but also increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other diseases.

Therefore, if you want to sleep well, quitting smoking is essential . In order to regain high-quality sleep and for the health of yourself and your family, smokers should quit smoking as soon as possible! Even non-smoking readers can forward this article to their relatives and friends who smoke. Sharing medical knowledge is sharing health!