You're probably aware that consuming coffee and other energy-boosting beverages before bedtime is not a good idea. But there's another often-overlooked drink that could be disrupting your sleep more than you think. Neuroscientist Rachel Barr has taken to TikTok ( @drrachelbarr ) to shed light on this drink, explaining that it binds to 'GABA-A receptors' in the brain, which act as off-switches for cells.
Initially, this can cause 'acute effects' such as relaxation and reduced anxiety, but eventually, it may give rise to anxiety and insomnia issues. She explained: "[When] you're drinking alcohol, essentially what you're doing is your pushing the off-switch on large groups of brain cells. And that's why we see those acute effects of like stupidity, reduced anxiety, relaxation.
"The trouble is, if you're drinking a lot of alcohol over a long period, the brain will try to compensate and it will do that by removing the number of off-switches there are in the brain, or reducing the number of GABA-A receptors there are. "That means that when you're not drinking alcohol, the level of activity in all of your brain cells is above baseline because, of course, now you've reduced all the off-switches, it's more likely to be on." In extreme cases, this heightened brain cell activity can even trigger a seizure.
This is especially common in alcoholics who 'go turkey', according to Rachel. She went on: "And, even in less extreme examples, that being above baseline level of brain activity, can .
