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

譯者: Yi-Ping Cho (Marssi) 審譯者: Regina Chu

很多人都喜歡以喝杯咖啡展開一天，

and perhaps end the day with a glass of wine

然後也許用葡萄酒或其它酒精飲料 來為一日做結。

or some other kind of alcoholic drink.

But it turns out that these two substances,

但酒精和咖啡因這兩種物質

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

可能會嚴重影響你的睡眠。

[Sleeping with Science]

【睡眠與科學】

(Music)

（音樂）

Let's start with caffeine.

我們先談咖啡因。

Caffeine is in a class of drugs

咖啡被歸類在一種藥裡，

that we call the psychoactive stimulants.

我們稱之為精神興奮劑。

And everyone knows that caffeine can make them more alert.

每個人都知道咖啡因讓人更敏銳，

It can wake them up.

能夠喚醒自己。

But there are at least two additional,

但咖啡因有至少兩種隱藏的額外特質，

hidden features of caffeine

that some people may not be aware of.

大部分的人都沒意識到。

The first is the duration of action of caffeine.

第一是關於咖啡因發揮作用的時間。

Caffeine, for the average adult,

咖啡因對一般成人來說，

will have what we call a half-life

會有我們所謂的半衰期，

of about five to six hours.

長達五到六小時。

What that means is that after about five to six hours

意即在五到六小時之後，

50 percent of that caffeine that you had

你攝取的半數咖啡因

is still circulating in your system.

還在你的身體裡循環。

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

這也意謂著還有四分之一咖啡因

of about 10 to 12 hours.

在十到十二小時之後還在。

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

換句話說，假設 你在下午兩點喝了杯咖啡。

at 2pm in the evening.

It could be that almost a quarter of that caffeine

有可能將近四分之一的咖啡因

is still swilling around in your brain at midnight.

大半夜裡還在你的大腦裡流動。

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

結果可能會讓人難以入睡，

to fall asleep or even stay asleep soundly

或整晚難以安然沉睡。

throughout the night.

So that's the first feature of caffeine.

這是咖啡因的第一個特色。

The second issue with caffeine

第二個問題是咖啡因

is that it can change the quality of your sleep.

可能會影響你的睡眠品質。

Now some people will tell me

很多人會說：「我這種人

that I'm one of those individuals

who can have an espresso with dinner,

晚餐喝義式咖啡

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

也能夠順利入眠，整晚熟睡。」

But even if that's true, it turns out

但即使此話當真，

咖啡因還是可能減少

that caffeine can actually decrease the amount

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

我們深層、非快速動眼期的睡眠量，

stages three and four of non-REM sleep.

也就是非快速動眼期的第三四階段。

That's that sort of restorative deep sleep.

那就是有恢復作用的深度睡眠。

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

後果是你隔天一早醒來可能

and you don't feel refreshed,

不覺得神清氣爽，

you don't feel restored by your sleep.

一覺醒來沒有煥然一新的感覺。

But you don't remember waking up,

但是你不記得醒來，

you don't remember struggling to fall asleep,

不記得難以入眠，

so you don't make the connection,

所以也就不會有此聯想，

but nevertheless you may then find yourself

不過你可能會發現自己

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

早上喝兩杯咖啡來喚醒自己，

rather than one.

而非只喝一杯。

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

這是咖啡因，現在我們來談酒精。

because alcohol is perhaps one

因為酒精也許是

of the most misunderstood sleep aids out there.

最容易被誤認為助眠物的東西。

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

其實酒精完全不能助眠。

And it can be problematic for your sleep

酒精可能對你的睡眠造成問題，

in at least three different ways.

至少可以從三方面看得出來。

First, alcohol is in a class of drugs

第一，酒精被歸類在 我們所謂鎮靜劑的藥物裡。

that we call the sedatives.

But sedation is not sleep.

但鎮靜並非睡覺。

And studies teach us that those two things

研究顯示這兩件事非常不同。

are really quite different.

Sedation is a case

鎮靜這種狀態

where we're simply switching off the firing

就是我們關掉腦細胞激發狀態，

of the brain cells, particularly in the cortex.

尤其是皮質裡的腦細胞。

And that's not natural sleep.

這樣並非自然睡眠。

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

其實在非快速動眼睡眠期間，

for example, the brain has this remarkable coordination

大腦有非常強大的協調能力，

of hundreds of thousands of cells

讓幾十萬個細胞

that all of a sudden fire together,

一瞬間同時激發，

and then they all go silent,

然後一起沉靜，

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

然後又一起激發，一起沉靜，

producing these big, powerful brainwaves

在非快速動眼期間製造強大的腦波。

of deep non-REM sleep.

And so that's the first way

這是酒精會有的第一種問題，

in which alcohol can be problematic.

We're mistaking sedation for deep sleep.

也就是我們誤把鎮靜當做熟睡。

The second problem with alcohol

酒精的第二個問題

is that it can actually fragment your sleep.

在於酒精會讓你的睡眠斷斷續續。

Alcohol can actually trigger and activate during sleep

酒精會在睡眠期間引發、活化

what we call the fight or flight branch

我們神經系統中所謂戰或逃的區塊，

of the nervous system,

which will therefore wake you up more frequently

因此就會在夜裡更頻繁喚醒你。

throughout the night.

And alcohol can even increase the amount

酒精甚至可以增加

of alerting chemicals that are released by the brain,

大腦分泌的警覺化學物質。

once again fragmenting your sleep.

同樣會讓你睡眠斷續。

The third and final issue with alcohol and sleep

酒精影響睡眠的第三個問題

is that alcohol can actually block

是酒精會阻礙你的快速動眼期睡眠，

your rapid eye movement sleep, or your dream sleep.

也就是你作夢的睡眠。

And as we'll learn in subsequent episodes,

下一個單元我們會學到

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

快速動眼期睡眠，即作夢期睡眠，

provides a collection of benefits,

會在許多方面帶來諸多助益，

things such as your emotional

像是你的情緒和心理健康，

and mental health, even creativity.

甚至是你的創造力。

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

我在這邊不是想跟各位說 要怎麼生活。

I don't want to be puritanical.

我不想過得很拘謹。

I'm just a scientist.

我只是個科學家。

What I want to try and do is provide you

我想嘗試做的是提供各位資訊，

with the information about the relationship

讓各位了解咖啡因、 酒精和睡眠的關係，

between caffeine and alcohol on your sleep

so then you can make an informed choice

如此一來你就可以 有足夠的資訊幫你決定

as to how best you want to live your life

怎麼生活才是最好的，

when you're trying to prioritize your sleep health.

並試圖提升睡眠健康重要性。