We’ve all been there: after a few sips of great wine, we stretch, yawn loudly, and acknowledge our exhaustion.
But have you ever questioned why drinking red wine makes you feel so exhausted? Or if the idea that a bottle of red wine makes you more sleepy than its lighter relatives is true? Interesting information about can wine make you drowsy will be presented in the article.
Table of Contents
Wine Is Alcohol
Let’s start by addressing the obvious: Wine contains alcohol, which is a depressant and causes somnolence, or a strong urge to sleep, in humans. Wine thus induces slumber. The broader explanation of this half of the equation, which concerns precisely how depressants like alcohol, which specifically depresses the central nervous system, act on your body to cause this impact, must be understood.
Sleeping With Melatonin
It turns out that grape skins contain melatonin! Of course, the hormone that your brain releases to regulate your circadian cycle and sleep patterns is called melatonin. It is frequently taken as a supplement by those who have problems falling asleep.
Because of this, its presence in wine is even more telling. Researchers began to question why white wine did not appear to have the same impact.
It has to do with the wine’s production process. The grape skins are not removed from the grapes before fermentation in white wine, but they are in red wine. Only red wine actually has a lovely small dosage of melatonin because it is found in the actual grape skins.
Researchers started to wonder why some reds appear to have a stronger effect on drowsiness than others. They discovered that the levels of melatonin in various grape types fluctuate.
For instance, Nebbiolo grapes have exceptionally high amounts of the hormone. Wines made from these grapes include Barolo and Barbaresco (native to northwest Italy). Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, two more popular types of wine, were also high in melatonin, but Cabernet Franc wines, which are frequently used in red blends, had very low levels.
Red Wine Is Sleepier
But if you’ve ever observed that drinking red wine in particular makes you feel sleepier, you’re not alone: This experience is common, according to a 2017 study that was published in the journal BMJ Open. The study looked at how different types of alcohol made participants feel according to their reports. Four different types of alcohol (spirits, beer, white wine, and red wine) were studied, and the list of emotions included four “positive” emotions (how energized, confident, relaxed, and sexy people said they felt) and five “negative” emotions (how tired, aggressive, ill, restless, or tearful they said they felt). Red wine stood out from the rest of the group because it had the lowest rate of reports about how energized people felt and the highest rate of reports about how exhausted they felt after drinking it: 7.14 percent for feeling energized and a whopping 60.08 percent for feeling weary.
No Aid For Sleep
Red wine may be a more enjoyable alternative to supplemental melatonin for sleep, but because it contains alcohol, it can have a negative impact on the quality of your sleep. Whether it’s wine, beer, or hard liquor, alcohol can mess with your sleep patterns, making you wake up more often and spend less time in deep sleep.
However, there is a bright side for people who wish to drink and get a good night’s rest. Just be sensible about it! As long as you adhere to a few guidelines, having one or two glasses of alcohol before bed is acceptable.
About three hours before going to bed, finish drinking.
For every glass of wine, consume one or two glasses of water.
Wine and food go go well.
Just one or two glasses are appropriate.
I’m done now! You can have the best of both worlds by adhering to these rules and yet enjoy a glass of red wine before night.
Summary
Although we may not fully understand why wine makes you sleepier than other alcoholic beverages—or even that wine actually does—it may at least appear to do so based on a variety of conditions. But hey, if you find yourself nodding off with a glass half-full, go ahead and sip some water before retiring. Nothing compares to tucking yourself snugly within a nest of cushions and blankets when the snow begins to fall.