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

Many of us like to start the day with a cup of coffee

Translator: H.L. Au Reviewer: C iff

我哋好多人都鐘意 飲杯咖啡開始新嘅一日

and perhaps end the day with a glass of wine

又可能會飲杯酒嚟完結一日

or some other kind of alcoholic drink.

又或者其他種類嘅酒

But it turns out that these two substances,

但原來呢兩種物質

alcohol and caffeine, can have surprising impacts on our sleep.

酒精同咖啡因 都會對我哋嘅睡眠產生驚人嘅影響

[Sleeping with Science]

〔與科學共枕〕

(Music)

（沉思音樂）

Let's start with caffeine.

由咖啡因開始講

Caffeine is in a class of drugs

咖啡因屬於一類藥物

that we call the psychoactive stimulants.

我哋叫佢做精神興奮劑

And everyone knows that caffeine can make them more alert.

而大家都知咖啡因會提神

It can wake them up.

會整醒佢哋

But there are at least two additional,

但其實起碼有兩樣

hidden features of caffeine

咖啡因嘅隱藏特點

that some people may not be aware of.

係有啲人唔知嘅

The first is the duration of action of caffeine.

第一種就係咖啡因嘅作用時間

Caffeine, for the average adult,

咖啡因，對一般成人嚟講

will have what we call a half-life

會有我哋講嘅半衰期

of about five to six hours.

大約係 5-6 個鐘左右

What that means is that after about five to six hours

意思就係過咗大概 5-6 個鐘

50 percent of that caffeine that you had

仲有一半嘅咖啡因

is still circulating in your system.

仍然喺你嘅系統中循環

What that also means is that caffeine has a quarter-life

亦都代表佢仲有四份一嘅壽命

of about 10 to 12 hours.

大槪 10-12 個鍾

In other words, let's say that you have a cup of coffee

換句話講

當你喺晏就兩點飲咗杯咖啡

at 2pm in the evening.

It could be that almost a quarter of that caffeine

咁有接近四份一嘅咖啡因

is still swilling around in your brain at midnight.

喺午夜嘅時候仲喺你大腦到

And as a result, it can make it harder for an individual

結果就令人更難以入睡

to fall asleep or even stay asleep soundly

甚至難以成晚安睡

throughout the night.

So that's the first feature of caffeine.

呢個就係咖啡因第一個特點

The second issue with caffeine

第二個咖啡因嘅問題係

is that it can change the quality of your sleep.

佢可以改變你嘅睡眠質素

Now some people will tell me

有啲人可能會同我講

that I'm one of those individuals

我係嗰啲可以晚餐飲特濃咖啡

who can have an espresso with dinner,

and I fall asleep fine, and I can stay asleep.

然後瞓得著又唔會醒嘅人嚟

But even if that's true, it turns out

但即使係真嘅

that caffeine can actually decrease the amount

原來咖啡因係可以減低

of deep, non-rapid eye movement sleep that we have,

我哋嘅深層非快速眼動睡眠嘅數量

stages three and four of non-REM sleep.

第三、四期嘅非快速眼動睡眠係

That's that sort of restorative deep sleep.

算係一種恢復性深度睡眠

And as a consequence, you can wake up the next morning,

結果你第二朝起身

and you don't feel refreshed,

就唔會覺得精神

you don't feel restored by your sleep.

覺得瞓覺冇幫你差到電

But you don't remember waking up,

但你唔記得你起過身

you don't remember struggling to fall asleep,

唔記得瞓唔著

so you don't make the connection,

所以你冇咗個連繫

but nevertheless you may then find yourself

但就算係咁，你之後就會發現自己

reaching for two cups of coffee in the morning to wake up

喺朝早飲兩杯咖啡提神

rather than one.

而唔係一杯

So that's caffeine, but now let's move on to alcohol,

咖啡因講完啦，宜家到酒精

because alcohol is perhaps one

因為酒精可能係其中一種

of the most misunderstood sleep aids out there.

比人誤解得最多嘅安眠工具

In fact, it's anything but a sleep aid.

事實係，佢絕對唔係安眠工具

And it can be problematic for your sleep

而且為你帶嚟睡眠問題

in at least three different ways.

仲起碼有三種方法咁做

First, alcohol is in a class of drugs

首先，酒精屬於一類藥物

that we call the sedatives.

我哋稱之為鎮靜劑

But sedation is not sleep.

但鎮靜唔係睡眠

And studies teach us that those two things

而研究教識咗我哋呢兩樣嘢

are really quite different.

係幾唔同嘅

Sedation is a case

鎮靜嘅情況下

where we're simply switching off the firing

我哋就停止咗大腦細胞發射

of the brain cells, particularly in the cortex.

特別係大腦皮層嘅

And that's not natural sleep.

但咁唔係自然嘅睡眠

In fact, during deep non-rapid eye movement sleep,

事實係喺深層非快速眼動睡眠期間

for example, the brain has this remarkable coordination

舉個例你個腦做到好出色嘅協調

of hundreds of thousands of cells

可以將十萬個細胞

that all of a sudden fire together,

突然之間全部發射出嚟

and then they all go silent,

然後佢哋就會全部靜哂

and then they all fire together, and then they go silent,

然後又一齊發射之後又靜哂

producing these big, powerful brainwaves

製造出呢啲深層非快速眼動睡眠

of deep non-REM sleep.

嘅強大腦電波

And so that's the first way

呢個就係第一種方法

in which alcohol can be problematic.

點解酒精會帶嚟問題

We're mistaking sedation for deep sleep.

我哋誤以為鎮靜係深層睡眠

The second problem with alcohol

酒精嘅第二個問題

is that it can actually fragment your sleep.

係佢實際上會破壞你嘅睡眠

Alcohol can actually trigger and activate during sleep

瞓覺嘅時候酒精可以觸發同激活

what we call the fight or flight branch

神經系統入面

of the nervous system,

一種我哋叫戰鬥或逃跑分支

which will therefore wake you up more frequently

咁就會成晚令你醒得更頻密

throughout the night.

And alcohol can even increase the amount

加上酒精仲會增加咗

of alerting chemicals that are released by the brain,

大腦釋放嘅警覺化學物質

once again fragmenting your sleep.

又再一次破壞你嘅睡眠

The third and final issue with alcohol and sleep

第三同最後一樣酒精同睡眠嘅問題

is that alcohol can actually block

就係酒精實際上會阻擋咗

your rapid eye movement sleep, or your dream sleep.

你嘅快速眼動睡眠同睡夢

And as we'll learn in subsequent episodes,

而我哋之後嘅集數就會學到

REM sleep, or rapid eye movement sleep, dream sleep,

REM 又或者叫快速眼動睡眠

同埋睡夢都會帶嚟一系列好處

provides a collection of benefits,

things such as your emotional

好似情緒健康

and mental health, even creativity.

精神健康，甚至係創造力

Now I'm not here to tell anyone how to live.

我唔係嚟教你點生活

I don't want to be puritanical.

我唔係要啲好循規蹈矩嘅生活

I'm just a scientist.

我只係個科學家

What I want to try and do is provide you

我想嘗試同做嘅係提供資料比大家

with the information about the relationship

了解咖啡因同酒精與睡眠嘅關係

between caffeine and alcohol on your sleep

so then you can make an informed choice

咁你就可以用知識做決定

as to how best you want to live your life

當想將睡眠健康放第一嘅時候

when you're trying to prioritize your sleep health.

你自己決定點生活先係最好