About this episode

Sam Sadighi discusses the differences between sedation and actual sleep, the impact of alcohol on sleep, and effective sleep routines for better performance.

Most people who drink to help them sleep think it's working. It isn't. What alcohol does is sedate you - and there's a significant difference between sedation and actual sleep. This week, Rich and Andy sit down with Sam Sidiji, one of the UK's leading sleep practitioners, who works with everyone from babies to city traders to motorsport professionals, to talk about what's really going on when your head hits the pillow. Sam breaks down the science without the scaremongering - what poor sleep actually does to your body over time, why your Garmin's sleep score is probably not telling you the truth, and why the anxiety about not sleeping is often doing more damage than the sleeplessness itself. They get into alcohol and sleep in real depth. What alcohol does to your REM sleep, why people who stop drinking often find their sleep gets worse before it gets better, what REM rebound actually is and why the vivid dreams aren't a bad sign - and how understanding all of this can be the difference between staying the course or reaching for a drink to take the edge off at 2am. They also cover the cortisol and melatonin dance that wakes most middle-aged people up at 3am, whether you can train…

People in this episode

Hosts: Andy Delderfield, Richard Casement

Guest: Sam Sadighi

Topics covered

• sleep
• alcohol
• sedation
• performance
• health
• routines

Keywords

• sleep solutions
• REM sleep
• alcohol effects
• sleep routine
• performance tool

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Garmin

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