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A big factor for being productive is also not drinking, as drinking negatively affects sleep and, essentially, makes you dumber.

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I think, like with everything in life, the answer is, it depends on the dose. For me, I noticed that small doses of quality alcohol (good Czech or Belgian beer) seem to actually have positive effects on my sleep.

I get much less anxious and I sleep better(longer and with less interruptions) with one to max two beers in the later afternoon but not right before sleep. Going over that amount or drinking right before bed and my sleep quality goes off the cliff, so careful dosing and timing seems key, along with drinking plenty of water during, to hydrate yourself so your liver and kidneys don't run "dry" as they process the alcohol out of your system. Binging on alcohol on a boozy night out is obviously terrible for my sleep and messes me up for two days straight.

This is obviously not medical advice or encouragement to self medicate with beer, just something that I noticed on my own 30's male body.

This will potentially change as you get older. I’m in my very early 40s and what you say for my 30s was also true but not any more. Most of my friends at the same age as me report the same.

Best to dodge alcohol altogether where you can.

Yeah obviously, for best health and sleep try to avoid all stimulants altogether, including caffeine, alcohol, shrooms, weed, tobacco, hard drugs etc, but what I'm saying is it appears that correctly micro-dosing some of those can sometimes, depending on the individual, be as efective or even better as the sleep medication, which for me has always caused drowsiness and brain fog during the day as side effects.

The trouble is self medication can always go horribly wrong which is why no sane health professionals ever recommend it but that doesn't stop people from experimenting.

As per alcohol tolerance, that varies so much from person to person on genetics. For example, my uncle is a hardcore alcoholic and drinks almost a liter of wine per day and he's already in his 60's, yet his blood tests for kidney and liver function still show up within normal limits. Insane.

Maybe a nightcap isn't a good idea, but a glass of wine with dinner isn't even going to be detectable in your body by the time you go to sleep.

> a glass of wine with dinner isn't even going to be detectable in your body by the time you go to sleep

Unless you have dinner really early and go to sleep really late, I don't think that's true. The half life of alcohol is 4-5 hours and it peaks in the blood around 60-90 minutes after ingestion. [1]

[1]: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-long-does-alcohol-sta...

> For me, I noticed that small doses of quality alcohol (good Czech or Belgian beer) seem to actually have positive effects on my sleep.

Do you think Czech or Belgian beer have a different "form" of ethanol than other beers, or is it something else in them that causes the difference?

I can only say that cheap/poor quality booze makes me sick, so through experience I've singled out a few brews from those countries that I know go down well with me and make me feel good.

It doesn't have to necessarily be Czech and Belgian beer, but I noticed those countries in general have higher standards than others for the beers they produce/export.

FWIW Corona beer in Europe is also brewed in Belgium.

I'm also curious about this. What makes it "good" (other than things like "I like it", or it comes from a manufacturer with a good reputation, etc.)

Is it just that the ethanol is accompanied with other non-active ingredients that somehow change the body's response?

Beer is essentially the chemical element of ethanol plus water and "other stuff" from the ingredients and brewing process. If that water and "other stuff" is of low quality, that makes me sick and can't drink it.

Basically: Beer that makes me sick to drink = low quality. Beer that makes me feel good = good quality.

That subjective assessment might not necessarily line up with what a test might show. As I understand it, even moderate consumption is said to worsen sleep quality in general.

Like I said, I can't comment on test results on other people, I can only comment how I feel after sleep. And I feel better after sleeping with a good beer or two in the afternoon, than without.

Shouldn't my own assessment of my sleep quality matter more than test results on other people?

Subjective assessments can be wrong, no? And when I referred to a test, I meant a test that might be conducted on yourself. You can get one although it's not free.

What makes you think that Czech or Belgian beer is higher quality?

Even small amounts of alcohol can reduce sleep quality: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/nutrition/alcohol-and-sleep

There is no instance where alcohol is good for you: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/new-alcohol-research-shows...

I think it's mostly wishful thinking, and maybe some cognitive dissonance, that drinking is somehow good for you in any way.

I think we as a society need to accept that alcohol is straight up bad for you. There is no case to be made for drinking as some kind of health benefit. There is a case to be made for drinking as a "fun" thing to do or as a depressant to remove yourself from anxious thoughts - but knowing that alcohol damages your brain is useful in determining if it's worth it for you.

Personally, I like smoking weed once a week. But I don't ever think "this is good for me" - I know weed is not good for you. I do it because it's fun. Nicotine (in the form of gum/mints - NOT in the form of smoking) is a different story, it's not nearly as bad for you as people make it out to be: https://gwern.net/nicotine

And sometimes I take some magic mushrooms - which to me have been immensely helpful in figuring out life and progressing forward to a better path. Magic mushrooms don't even really feel like "drugs" in that sense. And maybe if more people ate some shrooms they'd feel less like drinking and more like enjoying life as-is. It's good for helping with anxiety and depression as well. Just a thought.

>Even small amounts of alcohol can reduce sleep quality: There is no instance where alcohol is good for you: I think it's mostly wishful thinking, and maybe some cognitive dissonance, that drinking is somehow good for you in any way.

I don't think I said "alcohol is good for you go drink it", I said alcohol takes the edge off of MY anxiety and helps ME with my sleep IF I manage it right.

Yes, some research says alcohol reduces sleep quality, but for me it does the opposite IF I do it right. Who should I trust, the papers, or how I feel when I wake up?

If anxiety is preventing you from falling asleep or staying asleep, I don't think alcohol is the right solution. Alcohol might make you fall asleep quicker, but it's invariably going to affect how you sleep, such as messing with your REM sleep, messing with your ability to stay asleep, and then affecting deep sleep (NREM).

https://www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/healthu/2023/06/...

I would suggest sleep specific medicine, like NyQuil, rather than alcohol, which will not only long term negatively affect your sleep but also affect other parts of your body such as your ability to handle stress: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860387/

Thus, alcohol might actually be increasing your stress and anxiety levels over time, rather than reducing them.

I agree with all of what you said until you started suggesting NyQuil instead. We don't have good data for long term effect of using antihistamine. Alcohol, in small quantity is not good but it's also not that bad especially in otherwise healthy and active people. Ideally, non medicated ways to reduce anxiety is a lot better.

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