World Fitness Blog : Leading Global Bloggers

Relaxing with drinks and friends is fun at the time – until you wake up the next morning with nausea and a major headache.

Not to worry, because while you will suffer today, there are a couple of ways you can make things tolerable.

One of the best hangover cure tips is to try and drink a glass of water for every alcoholic drink you consumed. While there are plenty of myths about hangover cure foods, water is probably the most effective thing you can consume when you have a hangover.

This is because the largest symptom of a hangover is intense dehydration – primarily because the ethanol in that Champagne causes you to urinate out a lot of potassium, narrowing your blood vessels and causing an almighty headache.

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Obstructive sleep apnoea is a serious sleep disorder in which people stop breathing for 10 seconds or more at a time.

The condition caused the death of Indian singer and composer Bappi Lahiri, who died on Tuesday in Mumbai, according to a statement from his doctor. He was 69.

What are the warning signs of obstructive sleep apnoea and what can you do about it? We asked sleep experts to explain.

Snoring can be a key sign of obstructive sleep apnoea — but at some point in our lives, we all snore. A cold or allergy can block nasal passages, a few drinks too close to bed will automatically relax tongue, palate and throat muscles — and before we know it, we’re unconsciously forcing air past soft tissues, causing vibrations that escape as a snore.

“Snoring can be normal and not something to worry about,” said sleep specialist Rebecca Robbins, an instructor in the division of sleep medicine for Harvard Medical School.

“When it’s loud, raucous snoring, or it’s interrupted by pauses in breathing, that’s where we start to get concerned,” Robbins said.

It’s estimated that at least 936 million people worldwide may suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea, with many more undiagnosed.

READ MORE: Sleep expert warns against new bizarre ‘mouth taping’ technique

‘It can be very, very scary’

It’s called “obstructive” sleep apnoea because unlike central sleep apnoea — in which the brain occasionally skips telling the body to breathe — obstructive sleep apnoea is due to a blockage of the airways by weak, heavy or relaxed soft tissues.

“You’re making the effort with your belly and your chest to try to get the air in and out, but because of the obstruction in the upper airway, you can’t. Often you aren’t aware of this struggle, but it can be very, very scary for anyone watching,” said sleep specialist Dr Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

If left untreated, obstructive sleep apnoea puts you at high risk for hypertension, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes or depression, even early death, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

How can you tell when your snoring has become dangerous to your health? Sleep experts use a sleep questionnaire with an easy-to-follow acronym: STOP BANG.

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S stands for snoring

Snoring is a key indicator, so it’s a no-duh that it leads the list of potential warnings signs. But this is no pitiful, whimpy snore, and certainly not a snore that anyone could ever call “cute.”

“We’re talking loud, obnoxious snoring, the type that would drown out conversations or be heard through closed doors,” Dasgupta said.

“Some of the very descriptive bed partners of my patients with obstructive sleep apnoea describe their partners’ snores as listening to a ‘dying bear’ or a scene from ‘Jurassic Park,'” he added.

T stands for tired

Being really tired during the day is a prime indicator of poor sleep. Combined with snoring, it can be a telltale symptom of sleep apnoea.

“Daytime sleepiness is one of the strong predictors of sleep apnoea,” Robbins said.

“Falling asleep anytime you have a moment — sitting down for a break after lunch, in a movie theatre — those are all hallmark symptoms along with fatigue and taking the house down with your snores,” said Robbins, who co-authored the book Sleep for Success! Everything You Must Know About Sleep But are Too Tired to Ask.

READ MORE: I tried three sleep tracking devices over the course of two weeks

O stands for ‘observed’

Many people — if not most — have no idea that they snore at night. Nor do they know they stop breathing during the night — unless the blockage is so bad that they wake up gasping and choking.

“The O stands for observed apnoea, and that’s actually worse than just snoring,” Dasgupta said. “An apnoea means no flow of air — no air coming in no air going out. You’re not breathing. Observed apnoea is really a red flag.”

Bed partners are often key to the identification of obstructive sleep apnoea.

“Watching your partner stop breathing, snore, cough or gasp for air are all signs the snoring might not be normal, and then it is something that deserves attention from a sleep specialist,” Robbins said.

P stands for pressure — high blood pressure

Obstructive sleep apnoea can lead to hypertension. Every time a person stops breathing for a few seconds, the body’s sympathetic nervous system goes into action and raises blood pressure. In addition, the body releases stress hormones called catecholamines, which can also raise blood pressure over time.

While having hypertension by itself is not a sign of a sleep disorder, it can be a warning sign when combined with other telltale signals. Fortunately, treatments for obstructive sleep apnoea, like continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, have not only been shown to help with sleep apnoea, but they also lower blood pressure.

B stands for BMI

Body mass index is a score commonly used to indicate levels of weight. To measure BMI, health professionals use height and weight data to track changes in weight relative to height. Your weight is considered normal if your BMI falls between 18.5 and 24.9. You are deemed overweight when your BMI is between 25 and 29.9 — and a BMI of 30 or more indicates you are obese.

People who are obese or extremely obese — with a BMI of 35 and above — are frequently found to suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea because the extra weight in the mouth, tongue and neck collapses those soft tissues, making it more difficult to easily breathe without snoring.

“Weight loss can be a big part of the recommendation from a health care provider for addressing sleep apnoea,” Robbins said.

Obstructive sleep apnoea has been on the rise around the world as obesity has reached epidemic proportions, but it wasn’t seen as frequently before the 1970s, she added.

“In sleep medicine we joke that Humpty Dumpty was one of the first cases of obstructive sleep apnoea because he had a big belly and probably extra tissue around the soft palate. He was at risk for falling asleep all the time and falling off the wall,” Robbins said.

“That was a nursery rhyme and at the time, an anomaly. But now, unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly common with the increased body mass index we’re seeing across the country and the world,” she added.

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A is for age

Muscle tone weakens as we age, including in our soft palate and neck. So being over age 50 is another potential signal that your snoring may be — or turn into — obstructive sleep apnoea.

There is some good news — studies are beginning to find that sleep apnoea in the elderly tends to be of a mild to moderate kind, with the more severe cases occurring at younger ages.

N is for neck

Having a large neck circumference, either from being overweight or genetics, is also a key indicator of potential obstructive sleep apnoea.

“Now you don’t want to be a weirdo and start measuring your loved one’s neck build at night,” Dasgupta said. “The rule of thumb is always going to be a collar size of greater than 17 inches (43 centimetres) for a male, and greater than 16 inches (40.6 centimetres) for a female will put you at a higher risk for sleep apnoea.”

G is for gender

Are you a man? Then, unfortunately, that, too, makes you at increased risk for obstructive sleep apnoea. Some of the reasons may be that men tend to have fatter tongues and carry more fat in their upper bodies than women, especially in the neck. Men also tend to have more “belly fat,” which can make breathing in general more difficult.

“However, we definitely see a lot more obstructive sleep apnoea in women after menopause,” Dasgupta said.

High-risk needs evaluation

Now it’s time to score your risk. Give yourself a point for every “yes” answer. If you scored between 5 and 8, you are at high risk of having obstructive sleep apnoea and should be evaluated by a sleep specialist.

“Sleep tests nowadays are much, much easier to get than in prior years when you could only go to a sleep lab,” Dasgupta said. “You don’t have to be stuck in the lab with all these wires on you, looking like Frankenstein. You can do an at-home sleep test in your own bed, which is nice.”

But don’t ignore your symptoms, as the negative effects on health should not be ignored, says the American Academy of Sleep Medicine: “Like a fire alarm, snoring is a warning of danger that demands your attention.”

If your score is between 0 and 2, your risk is obviously low, so snoring isn’t likely to be a big concern for your health. A score of 3 to 4 puts you at an intermediate risk, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore your symptoms, especially if you share your bed with a loved one, Dasgupta said.

“It’s always good to be a nice person, and if it affects your bed partner, I think it’s worthwhile getting evaluated,” he said. “If your bed partner is wakened multiple times during the night by your snoring or can’t fall asleep because of your snores, then that bed partner is going to be sleep-deprived, and that is not good for their health. So it’s not always about yourself.”

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Treatments

The treatment of choice for sleep apnoea is the use of a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP. By pushing air into the lungs through a nose mask, the device helps keep the airway unobstructed throughout the night.

Weight loss can significantly decrease — or even eliminate obstructive sleep apnoea, as the loss of tissue mass in the mouth, tongue and neck eases pressure on the airway. Doctors can also prescribe an oral appliance designed to enlarge the airway by moving the tongue or jaw forward.

If anatomical issues, such as nasal polyps, enlarged tonsils or adenoids or a deviated septum, are contributing to the apnoea, surgery may be recommended.

Mild cases of sleep apnoea may respond to “positional therapy,” a fancy way of saying keeping sleepers on their sides instead of back during sleep, which can improve airway flow and reduce snoring.

“I’m a big fan of simple, homemade solutions, such as sewing tennis balls into the back of pyjamas to keep people from turning onto their backs,” Dasgupta said.

“You can get even more creative by putting a bra on someone in reverse and then putting tennis balls in the cups,” Robbins suggested.

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You can sleep when you’re dead… unless you want to live day-to-day with more energy, have better overall fitness and a decreased risk of heart disease, obesity, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke. Sleep sounds kind of good, doesn’t it?

But with late-night phone use, varying bed times, the ‘revenge bedtime procrastination’ phenomenon and everyday stress, getting good sleep isn’t always easy.

In my journey to achieve better sleep hygiene, I decided to start tracking my sleep. I used three different trackers in the form of an app, a watch and a sensor-filled mat placed under my mattress.

READ MORE: What to eat to help you sleep better tonight

I learned that I have a fairly regular sleep schedule (asleep by 11.30pm and awake by 6.30am) and my sleep score is typically around 70/100. I don’t snore (phew) and my heart rate sits at about 58 bpm when I’m sleeping, which is considered ‘normal’ but not ‘optimal’, according to one of the trackers.

I spent nowhere near enough time in the deep sleep phase — the phase of sleep that helps a person recover from physical fatigue so that you wake up feeling refreshed. If you’ve ever found that you struggle to get out of bed in the morning, and you feel quite groggy for a few hours, it’s possible you’ve not had enough deep sleep.

I generally do get enough light sleep (which is physiologically important but the least restorative stage) and REM (rapid eye movement, which is good for emotion regulation and memory consolidation).

I used these three trackers for two weeks, often all three in one night, and here’s what I found.

Withings Sleep Analyser

READ MORE: Fitness guru tests military trick to fall asleep in under two minutes

How does it work?: This was by far the most convenient of the three. It’s a slim mat with sensors you place under your mattress and plug in. You download the free Withings App (which, if you own any of their watches or smart scales, you’ll already have on your phone) and the data will automatically sync via Wi-Fi. As soon as you get out of bed you can check the app and find your data.

What does it tell you?: It tells you what your sleep score is, how long you slept for, how many times your sleep was interrupted, how long it took you to go to sleep and to get up, and how long you were in the REM, light and deep phases of sleep. Using the sound sensors, it can detect sleep apnoea. It knows when you’re sleeping and when you’re having a mid-afternoon app.

How much does it cost?: A $199.00 one-time cost.

Pros: Once it’s plugged in, you don’t have to think about it. You’ll never have to turn it on or off. If you slept for five days, forgetting that it existed, all your data would be in the Withings app waiting for you when you remembered. It’s a non-wearable device, so if you’re like me and don’t love sleeping with a watch on, you’ll be very comfortable. Plus it tells you if you snore, and if you don’t you can brag about this to your sleep partner.

Cons: It’s expensive, and if you have a slatted bed frame you’ll need to be creative when placing the mat under your mattress so it doesn’t slip through.

Sleep Score

READ MORE: 20 people share how they wind down before going to sleep

How does it work?: It’s a paid app on your phone and can be used on iOS and Android. You put the phone on your bedside table, facing up, with the screen locked or unlocked. The phone height should be aligned to your chest and sitting about an arm’s length away, with the base of the phone pointed towards your body. Your phone should be kept charged throughout the night. You need to make sure nothing is obstructing your phone speakers.

What does it tell you?: The app tells you your sleep score which is based on data including your sleep duration, how long it took you to fall asleep, light sleep, deep sleep, REM sleep, breathing disturbances and your wake time. It tells you you when you were experiencing each phase of sleep, and how many times you woke up throughout the night.

How much does it cost?: After a seven-day free trial, the app costs $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year.

Pros: The startup process was straightforward. It tracks your caffeine, alcohol, exercise and stress levels each night before you go to sleep which you can check back on when comparing different nights of sleep.

Cons: You have to remember to set it up properly each night. The app is only effective if it’s positioned the right way. Some mornings I woke up and found out that the sleep didn’t record because it was positioned slightly too high or too low and had difficulty detecting my movement.

Apple Watch Sleep

READ MORE: Why some people are ‘too hot’ to sleep with

How does it work?: The Apple Watch’s Sleep app has built-in sleep tracking. There’s a bedtime mode, which puts your watch on do not disturb mode, and it works alongside the iPhone to provide you your sleep data.

What does it tell you?: You can see your average time in bed, average sleep and the duration of your sleep. You can find this data both on the Apple Watch and in the Health app on your iPhone.

How much does it cost?: From $299, depending on the Apple Watch you choose.

Pros: The data, though limited, appears to be the most accurate in terms of sleep duration. It automatically tracks your sleep as long as the Sleeping Tracking is on and you’re wearing the watch.

Cons: The data is basic compared to the other trackers in this article, and it’s a pretty expensive sleep tracker if you only want it for that! You’ll need to sleep with the watch on your wrist which, depending on your sleep position, can be uncomfortable. It doesn’t show your sleep stages, just duration.

I’ve tracked my sleep. Now what?

After using all three devices, I definitely found the Withings Sleep Analyser to be the most useful because it was required the least amount of effort on my part — except for hiding the cord from my wire-chewing puppy. It also provided the most data and got me thinking about my results. While I got more than enough light sleep and REM, my deep sleep stage needs work.

READ MORE: What actually happens inside your brain when you sleep

So how do I up that deep sleep and improve my sleep score? The answer might be in a sleep routine.

According to Australian sleep expert Olivia Arezzolo, this is the best routine before bed to ensure good sleep hygiene.

1. Three hours before bed, start blocking out blue light from your devices. She recommends investing in blue light blocking glasses like these. “They block 100 per cent of the harmful light rays which can otherwise keep you up,” she tells 9Honey.

2. Take some lavender capsules, which have been found to improve sleep quality by 45 per cent and reduce anxiety by 59 per cent.

3. Arezzolo suggests setting an alarm for one hour before bed. This alarm is to remind you to disconnect from technology completely.

4. A shower is next — also best done an hour before bed time.

5. Take a magnesium-based sleep supplement. A University of Leeds paper from 2017 highlighted magnesium could reduce anxiety by 31 per cent, which can otherwise contribute to bedtime resistance.

6. Meditate or read.

7. And finally, put on an eye mask and go to sleep. “Blocking out light is the number one way to improve your sleep,” Arezzolo says.

The writer was provided some of these products for review, but all opinions are her own.

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Thanks to the glorious event that is sleep, we spend about a third of our life unconscious, with mother nature repairing our bodies and minds the best she can. This is something we all have in common.

But what about those quiet few hours before bed, when we try to unwind after a long day? It’s different for everyone.

Whether it’s doomscrolling on our phones while watching trash TV or lighting a scented candle before beginning a 10-step skincare regimen, we all tend to follow a routine before bedtime.

We’ve asked 20 people to share theirs.

Name: Freya
Bedtime: Between 11pm and midnight.
Wind-down routine: I like to shower before bed, do my teeth and my skincare routine. My partner and I do a thing called “Three Best Things” when we get into bed, where we reflect on the good from the day. In contrast to my partner who falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow, much to my rage, it takes me quite a while to fall asleep once I am in bed. I will usually put on a podcast (my fave for bedtime is Atlas Obscura) or listen to a Sleep Story on the Calm App.

Name: Kerri
Bedtime: Depends if I’ve fallen asleep on the lounge beforehand. Usually around 10.30pm.
Wind-down routine: I go to bed and pretend I’m not going to use my device, while all the while, really intending to use both my iPhone and iPad. I check the news sites and do some Instagram scrolling before my eyelids close. I silently wish I’d remembered to put on some kind of face cream, before falling asleep to the sounds of husband and/or one dog snoring on my pillow (true story), while the other two sleep at my feet. Bliss!

Name: Samuel
Bedtime: I usually get into bed between 1am and 2am, expecting to actually try to fall asleep an hour or so after that. People usually freak out when I say this is my usual schedule, but I’m a total night owl so it works for me.
Wind-down routine: I basically do everything that any guide to getting better sleep tells you not to do… and I refuse to change my ways. The only thing I do right is brush my teeth before bed. When I get in bed I’ll respond to all of the messages from friends that I didn’t get to during the day, probably check my work emails (I’m toxic, I know), and do the day’s Wordle. After that, I’ll scroll my Reddit feed until my eyes start to hurt, at which point I know I’ll be able to get to sleep soundly. I know we’re told not to scroll on our smartphones before going to sleep, but I’ve curated my Reddit feed to only show wholesome, light content (I really like r/whatisthisthing, r/whatswrongwithyourdog, and r/oddlysatisfying), so I actually find that it helps to shut my brain down and relax before trying to sleep.

Name: April
Bedtime: Between 10.45 and 11pm.
Wind-down routine: I’ll have a shower and clean my teeth around 9pm so when I’m falling asleep on the couch watching Netflix I can crawl into bed. I usually try and do a three-step skin routine (vitamin C oil, night cream, bio oil) and if I’m struggling to fall asleep, I’ll listen to some ASMR. Sometimes I’ll read a few pages of a book on my bedside table or do the daily TikTok 10 quiz.

READ MORE: Fitness guru tests military trick to fall asleep in under two minutes

Name: Heidi
Bedtime: Around 9 to 9.30pm. Lame? Sure, but I’m old.
Wind-down routine: Drag kids to bed and collapse on couch with the dogs. Think about having a bath or watching Netflix. Fantasise about watching an entire movie or reading a book. Scroll through phone mindlessly. Wonder why I didn’t just have dogs instead of kids. Crawl to bed.

Name: Brandon
Bedtime: Between 10 and 10.30pm.
Wind-down routine: I asked my wife and she said, “You are literally on your phone until you decide for some reason you don’t want to be on your phone and then you put it down. You don’t even plug it in which is the most annoying thing. And it buzzes all night with messages and alerts and then you just fall asleep without any problem and it’s infuriating.”

Name: Sindy
Bedtime: 10.30pm. It used to be midnight, but now as a dog owner, I am tired all the time. Dog also insists on waking up at 6.30am every day, so I am (begrudgingly) now a morning person.
Wind-down routine: No phone 30 mins before bed, if I can help it. Diligently apply skincare routine, lather on creams and lie very still in bed, letting it all baste. Go over the day with my partner. Pat dog. If having trouble falling asleep, I read the book on my bedside table.

Name: Nick
Bedtime: Eight hours before I need to wake up (typically 11.30pm).
Wind-down routine: After brushing my teeth, I do 60 push-ups, a 60-second plank and a few stretches designed to improve my terrible posture. I’ll read in bed for about half an hour before turning out the lights. Then for the next hour or so I’ll lie in the dark, sitting up every five minutes to look something up on Wikipedia. It takes between 30 minutes and 90 minutes for me to fall asleep, even when I don’t look at my phone at all.

READ MORE: Beat the ‘heat hangover’: Why you sleep awfully on humid nights

Name: Aine
Bedtime: Usually around midnight, as I work quite late and the idea of going straight to sleep after work feels wrong!
Wind-down routine: Lately I’ve been pouring myself a giant hydro flask of icy water to get me into the habit of drinking first thing when I wake up. I usually listen to a true-crime podcast until I fall asleep, and my boyfriend (who is slightly disturbed by my listening habits) diligently pauses it when I do. If I happen to still be awake by 12.01am, I’ll do the daily Wordle.

Name: Joe
Bedtime: Between 10.30 and 11pm since COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, I used to be asleep by 9pm.
Wind-down routine: I always start with a shower, then I apply my various skin products, starting with neck, eyes, face and head (I’m bald). Then, I also do my body so I feel delicious and refreshed and ready to lay down. Usually, I’ll light a candle and turn the fan on so the room is cool and well fragranced. After an episode or two and some unhealthy social media scrolling, I’ll try and convince my partner, who is a night owl, to come to sleep. Depending on whether or not he concedes, we’ll then watch an episode of Real Housewives together or lights off. If he’s out, I try to read and then rest. I always have chilled water by my bed and earplugs.

Name: Jess
Bedtime: 11.30pm (but my aim is 10.30pm).
Wind-down routine: I usually shower before bed because I like to be squeaky clean. I do my skincare routine but do things between applying certain products so I can let them sink in. I fill my water bottle with hot water (I like to drink warm/hot water in the morning) and spritz my pillow with lavender spray (I don’t know if it does anything, but it smells nice!). I try to read a book for about 30 minutes (just finished Diana Reid’s Love & Virtue), but I usually get drawn back to my phone for a few final Instagram scrolls… Then right before bed I’ll pop on my night cream and hand cream, and try to fall asleep to whatever sleep story my partner has turned on.

READ MORE: Why some people are ‘too hot’ to sleep with

Name: Rosalyn
Bedtime: Different work times means different bedtimes. If I’m up early it’s about 10pm, if I start late, it’s about 11.30pm.
Wind-down routine: Shower, brush teeth, facial cleanser and moisturise. I make sure the cats are settled and scroll through Facebook for about 40 minutes before lights are off. If my mind is still active, I’ll do some deep breathing exercises to relax and drift off.

Name: Nicholai
Bedtime: Between 9.30 and 10pm.
Wind-down routine: Around the 8.30-9pm mark I make sure I’ve got lunches and my work stuff all ready to go. Then I’ll wash my face and teeth before aimlessly scrolling on YouTube and getting through a couple of pages of whatever I’m reading. At around 9.30 or 10pm, I’ll put on white noise then off to sleep. If I’m not sleeping by 12 then I’ll take melatonin.

Name: Carina
Bedtime: Between 10 and 10.30pm.
Wind-down routine: I know I shouldn’t, but I’m usually watching TV to wind down right before bed. But within the hour leading up to the moment I jump into bed, I start turning most of the lights off in the apartment so the TV is the only thing glowing. This usually (depending on what’s on) leaves me falling asleep on the couch. It’s not for everyone, but as someone who’s pretty good at falling asleep, it works for me!

Name: Gerome
Bedtime: Between 12 and 1am.
Wind-down routine: I can ONLY sleep if I’ve showered. So I usually shower around 12am, followed by a quick skincare routine (I watch too much K-Drama so I’m all about it now), once I’m done with that I’ll chuck on Netflix with my latest K-Drama show (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha) and I’ll probably be asleep by the second episode in. I always fall asleep on the couch and wake up around 4 or 5am and then move to the bed. I don’t really use my phone from 8pm until 9am the next morning. I feel like the absence of any social media during that time makes the sleep so much more peaceful.

READ MORE: When to stop drinking caffeine to get a good night’s sleep

Name: Julia
Bedtime: 8.30 to 9.30pm. 10pm at the very latest.
Wind-down routine: First, I will get my dog ready for bed which involves a quick brush and some kisses on the head. Then I will clean my teeth, get into bed and either read my book or listen to a podcast until I fall asleep. Always by myself because my fiancé doesn’t go to bed until about 11.

Name: Emily
Bedtime: An ambitious 10pm but 11pm in reality.
Wind-down routine: I will do my skincare routine after a shower and sometimes have a cup of tea before brushing my teeth. I’ll then scroll TikTok or watch something on my laptop before going to sleep.

Name: Sarah
Bedtime: Usually between 9.30pm and 10pm depending on what time I start work the next day. Sometimes I struggle with insomnia and going to bed late makes me anxious.
Wind-down routine: Clean my teeth, pluck my eyebrows, put on my face creams and get it to bed while waiting for my partner to finish up his work (he’s a writer and is not a morning person so often is still typing). We then watch whatever show we’re on in bed on my iPad or his laptop (The Leftovers currently, just finished Sex Lives of College Girls). We then go through a whole soppy routine where he brings the cat from wherever he’s wandering so I can kiss him goodnight before he goes to ‘his room’ (the laundry) as otherwise, he won’t sleep the whole night without waking us up by jumping on us within 10 minutes of switching the light off. He likes my partner to put him to bed. After the show, I scroll through Instagram and read Apple News one last time (must stop).

Name: Matt
Bedtime: Between 10.30 and 11pm.
Wind-down routine: I usually chill out by watching some TV before having a shower and brushing my teeth. I’ll hop into bed, and if I can’t sleep or if my dog Pip is snoring loudly, I’ll chuck on a boring podcast.

Name: Tim
Bedtime: Between 12.30 and 1am.
Wind-down routine: I am definitely one to keep delaying going to bed to extend the day as long as I can, even if I know I have to be up early the next day. There’s a sense of not wanting to waste my free time despite knowing full well sleep is good for me. My partner goes to bed much earlier than I do so I like to use the last few hours of the day alone, catching up on things I’ve set aside to read or shows I’m watching to get my mind away from work. The only thing I do right before bed is brush my teeth. I try not to doomscroll in bed but how long I last depends on how tired I am. If I can’t sleep I’ll put on headphones and play some calmer music, that usually works.

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Relaxing with drinks and friends is fun at the time — until you wake up the next morning with nausea and a major headache. Not to worry, because while you will suffer today, there are a couple of ways you can make things tolerable.

One of the best hangover cure tips is to try and drink a glass of water for every alcoholic drink you consumed. While there are plenty of myths about hangover cure foods, water is probably the most effective thing you can consume when you have a hangover.

This is because the largest symptom of a hangover is intense dehydration — primarily because the ethanol in that Champagne causes you to urinate out a lot of potassium, narrowing your blood vessels and causing an almighty headache.

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“Go on, have a drink. Go ooooooon! What’s wrong with you? Stop being so boring.”

If you’ve ever tried giving up alcohol, even for one night, you’re bound to have heard a version of the above from at least one of your friends. In the past I’d only made half-hearted attempts to stop drinking and this was always enough to undo me. But the good news is that once you’ve decided you want to stop, overcoming this hurdle is about as hard as it gets.

For many of the people I spoke to for this article, and for me as I hit six months of not drinking, social situations are the hardest. Throughout our evolution as humans we’ve been hardwired to follow the crowd — our ancestors who did were more likely to survive to pass on their genes. But there are ways to re-frame things to make it easier for you to stand your ground.

Not drinking: the new rebellion

When I was younger, a big part of drinking was about rebelling. But as adults there isn’t anything more mainstream than drinking. It’s so deeply woven into our society to go mostly unremarked. Can you imagine many of our societal rituals without it — weddings, birthdays, Christmas parties, even funerals? Embracing the spirit of rebellion that drew many of us to alcohol in the first place is one way you can resist peer pressure.

“Drinking and being wild used to be a form of rebellion in a way,” says Nic, a 34-year-old property developer who gave up alcohol just after New Year. “Now I find that not drinking is going against the grain, and I weirdly enjoy being the odd one out.”

The spirit of rebellion against what the generation before did is one of the reason many younger people are choosing not to drink.

Research showed the number of under-25s opting for total abstinence from alcohol leapt by 40 percent in just eight years, with young people overtaking the elderly as the most sober generation.

As well as the health and rebellion aspects there’s also a theory that a generation that entered their drinking years when social media was already around quickly learned to moderate their behaviour rather than being publicly humiliated. For my generation, any evidence of drunken indiscretions would first need to be developed and then physically handed around.

Giving up is easier than you think

Once you get past your friends pressuring you to drinking at the beginning of a night out, going alcohol-free gets much easier.

“I actually haven’t found it hard — first few weeks breaking habits was the hardest,” says Sarah, a 42-year-old personal trainer. “But now it’s more normal. Social pressure is the toughest — it’s really socially unacceptable to not drink and that’s crazy when you think about it.”

Nic agrees that after you get over the initial phase it’s plain sailing. “The initial month or so was tough,” he says. “But that quickly subsided. Other than that, the temptations have been very few and far between.”

You make better decisions

While there are obvious direct health benefits from not consuming alcohol, there are many more benefits that result from you being in the right state of mind to make better decisions — about what you eat or, for me, how I spend my money. I bought a lot of things I didn’t need last year and much of that came from hungover comfort shopping for gadgets online.

For some people it means thinking more about how and who they date — and how far they will go on a date.

“I wanted to make conscious choices especially when it came to men,” says Camille, a 37-year-old wellness facilitator. “I’ve really slowed things down when it comes to being intimate when dating, and that has allowed other areas to develop, and more connection to build which I wasn’t expecting.”

The battle between your higher self and your animal urges

In my meditation teaching, I talk about how one of the basic aspects of the human condition is that we have contradictory voices in our heads. We’re both the goal-orientated thinkers who make plans towards our glorious futures and the product of our more animalistic pasts, creatures that can only think about now and take every pleasure that comes along.

In fact, we have different parts of our brains that control these different parts of “us”. What we think of as our more rational self lives in the pre-frontal cortex, the outer part of the brain that came along relatively late in our evolution.

This “higher self” has to contend with our more primal urges, which come from the limbic and reptilian parts of the brain. These are concerned with survival and basic functions — eating, fighting, mating — just your regular Saturday night out!

When we drink, alcohol decreases activity in the pre-frontal cortex which is why we often make bad decisions when we’re drinking.

The pre-frontal cortex part of you can say in the taxi on the way out, “Just two drinks and that’s it – I’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.” But the later you who’s had two drinks is operating from a different part of the brain and is much more likely to overrule that.

(Incidentally, meditation helps strengthen the pre-frontal cortex and means your “higher self” will be in the driving seat more of the time.)

Related: Meditation technique to help you quit drinking

Moderation vs going all in

One option to consider — and one that a lot of people have pushed me on — is to cut down rather than cut it out completely. While this is better than continuing to drink heavily, it can be a lot harder to manage. It’s rare to meet people who can maintain their willpower after a couple of drinks (see above).

“I definitely had dependency issues and a propensity to self-medicate, especially in high stress situations which is frequent with the business I own,” says Nic. “The obvious answer, once I was honest enough to face it, was eliminate alcohol entirely from my life, as moderation was simply not something that I was capable of.”

As well as your will power crumbling in the moderation approach, it’s much easier for your friends to twist your arm. “I’m not drinking” is a much stronger position than “I’m just having a couple”.

No absolute truths

What I’ve learned these last six months is that there are no absolute truths when it comes to alcohol — it’s not all good, but it’s not all bad either.

We all have our personal relationship with it. People will try to tell you what the best approach to alcohol is, but everyone is different and everyone is at a different stage. What’s right for someone else isn’t necessarily right for you. And what was right for you yesterday isn’t necessarily right for you today.

I’ve had countless amazing times drunk and wouldn’t swap them for anything. But now it feels right not to drink — for the time being at least. And if it’s the right time for you too, then you should respect that and go with it. It might not be the right time for some of your friends but they’re on their own journeys. Embrace the new rebellion and follow your own path.

Reports from the field

Nic, 34, property developer – Day 170 off alcohol

What inspired you to stop drinking? I felt controlled by my habits which I deeply disliked. I could also see a correlation with alcohol use and poor decisions and bad moods. I wanted to gain control of these situations, as well as to generally improve my health.

Number one benefit? It’s aided my relationships, I’ve recovered my hunger and motivation, improved my health (training again and have lost 10kg) and it’s given me the time and drive to do many more extracurricular activities.

Toughest challenge? The toughest part is probably people understanding why I’m doing it, and not feeling uncomfortable or confronted by my decision. I find a lot of friends don’t know how to socialise or spend quality time without having alcohol, and there are a few people I’ve seen less since stopping drinking.

Camille, 37, wellbeing facilitator – Day 247 off alcohol

What inspired you to stop drinking? I wanted to feel more connected consciously, not numb or avoiding my emotions.

Number one benefit? A more stabilised mood, weight loss and having much more awareness in regards to my emotions and being able to process them in a loving way.

Toughest challenge? Friends who I used to drink with feeling uncomfortable around me because they feel they can’t drink in front of me.

Kylie, 48, public speaker – Day 80 off alcohol

What inspired you to stop drinking? My grandfather died from alcohol poisoning and my mother and siblings are big binge drinkers — I wanted to stop history repeating itself.

Number one benefit? Instead of pouring a drink at bubble-o-clock (5pm each night) and watching mind-numbing TV, I now use this time to work on my business, so I now get much more productivity out of my day.

Toughest challenge? By far the toughest has been maintaining my social life sober — going to bars, pubs, social events and drinking water. For the first three weeks I was a hermit. I’m now going out most weekends but I’d be lying if I said I’m enjoying the experience!

Sarah, 42, personal trainer – Day 87 off alcohol

What inspired you to stop drinking? I felt intuitively like I needed a break. I wanted to break the need to drink every weekend, every time I went to dinner, etc.

Number one benefit? I like how I feel so clear all the time. And the money I’m saving! I never drank during the week but now feel I’ve released the need for always drinking on weekends.

Quentin, 39, journalist – Day 177 off alcohol

What inspired you to stop drinking? It started as a bet with a friend, but I kept going after he gave up. I’ve done this before and I find that after a couple of months, not drinking gains a momentum of its own.

Number one benefit? The feeling of being in control: you become more even-tempered and more decisive. So I don’t hang around for hours at events I’m not really enjoying, for example. And I find it easier to stick to other plans, like working on my distance running.

Toughest challenge? It made me a bit anti-social, at least to start with. Once you’ve been talking to people for half an hour or so, it’s easy to forget you’re not drinking. But I don’t always want to show up in the first place.

READ MORE: What happened when I gave up drinking for 100 days

Rory Kinsella teaches Vedic Meditation in Sydney, which he credits with giving him the willpower to stop drinking. He also hosts a podcast ‘Not-Quite Alcoholic’ — find it here!

Sign up to his online meditation course designed to help people cut down or quit alcohol.

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There’s a reason why you could handle a bit of dustiness in your early 20s so much more easily than in later adulthood.

Not only do our life responsibilities tend to mean we can’t afford a day languishing on the couch, but our diminishing body water and muscle levels mean we feel the toxic affects more acutely. 

“As you get older, because of changes in body water, the same amount of alcohol results in a higher blood alcohol level,” Professor Steve Allsop, from the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, tells 9Honey Coach.

“A key to how severe your hangover is, is what blood alcohol level you reached. That’s why the more alcohol you drink, the worse you feel.

“I’m an old man, so if I drank four glasses of wine now, my blood alcohol level would be higher than it would have been when I was 35.”

RELATED: How to train when you’re super hungover

Older people are also probably less efficient at metabolising alcohol.

“When we metabolise alcohol, the first thing we metabolise is acetaldehyde, which is highly toxic and makes you feel very poorly,” Professor Allsop explains.

“Our liver helps us metabolise acetaldehyde into acetyl and water, but it may be that as you got a little bit older, you might be a little less efficient.”

Older people tend not to sleep as well as their younger drinking buddies either, which can also add fuel to the hangover fire.

“One of the contributors to hangovers is poor sleep [and] people who are older might already have poor sleeping patterns or sleeping patterns that are easily disrupted,” Professor Allsop says.

“They may not have the opportunity to sleep in [due to life responsibilities] and may have other health conditions that keep them up at night. They also may be on other medications [and] all of those things combined make it a more painful experience.”

Of course, this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule that ageing makes alcohol recovery hurt more – some people still seem to get off scot-free.

“There are individual differences – there will be some people who drink exactly the same as you, and you feel crap and they seem to feel alright,” Professor Allsop points out.

“They’ve got more efficient livers. [But] that’s not necessarily a good thing, because they don’t have an off-switch.”

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RELATED: Science confirms when you’re drunk, you have no idea how drunk you are

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There are two types of people in this world: those who shower in the morning, and those who shower before bed.

The title of ‘best showerers’ can be a cause for fierce discussion and divide; we’re passionate about the time of day we choose to cleanse.

RELATED: Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis say they don’t believe in bathing their kids or themselves too much

Morning showerers think there’s no better way to start the day than by waking up under a stream of hot water, and anyone not partaking in said morning ritual is insane. It’s the ‘shine’ part of ‘rise and shine’.

Night showerers take the stance that getting into bed without washing off the days’ dirt and grime (and even negative vibes) means you’re basically festering in a pool of your own personal garbage. How can you relax enough to go to sleep when you haven’t washed the day away?

We asked dermatologist Dr Natasha Cook for her expert opinion on the benefits of both shower times, to see if one came out on top.

The benefits of your shower, by time of day

According to Dr Cook, there are benefits to showering at both times of day.

Morning showerers mainly benefit from “waking up the body and getting the circulation going,” says Cook. “Especially if you oscillate the temperature from warm to very cold for as long as you can stand it, and then back to warm again.”

Varying your shower temperature is like a DIY ice bath and sauna combo, but in the shower.

RELATED: 10 ways to wake up without coffee

“It wakes up the cells by shutting down the circulation with the cold water, then reopening with the hot water,” explains Cook. She recommends trying to do it three times. “You generally feel fresher.”

Meanwhile, evening showerers are “removing the pollution of the day,” says Cook.

This is “actual environmental pollution,” she explains. “A lot accumulates on the skin producing free radical damage and inflammation.”

But Cook also talks of metaphorical pollution, by soothing your frayed nerves and preparing you for slumber.

“Having a warm shower relaxes muscles helping you sleep.”

By the sounds of things, evening showering serves an actual function (to rid the body of pollution) whereas you morning showerers just feel more ‘awake’.

Cook, however, isn’t as concerned about when you have your shower, as much as how often and how hot.

The problem with scalding hot showers

The temptation to keep turning the ‘H’ dial is strong, especially in winter, but high temperatures can damage the skin.

“[Showers that are] too hot do damage the skin by over evaporating and drying out the skin. Especially if you have dry skin or eczema,” warns Cook.

In fact, water doesn’t provide moisture to the skin.

“[Water] takes moisture out via evaporation, and dries out the skin,” explains Cook.

“This strips out the moisture from the epidermal barrier layer and compromises its protective function.”

The problem with having too many showers

You might be thinking, “if there are positives to both, why don’t I shower morning and night?’ – but this can cause some harm to your body’s largest organ if you’re not careful.

“If you have OK skin, and no problems with eczema and dryness, and you take appropriate measures to protect against the evaporating and drying effects of water, then having two showers a day isn’t a problem,” says Cook.

However, there is a very large, soapy caveat.

Forget everything you knew about soap

“Don’t use soap. Soap contains surfactants — the ingredients that make a product foam,” she says.

“Foaming products ‘strip’ the skin, wearing down and damaging the epidermal barrier layer and function. This layer is imperative to protect your skin and it needs to be functioning in order to have healthy skin.”

But buying soap-free isn’t an easy solution.

“Even if a product says ‘soap free’, if it foams, it has soap and [you should] avoid it! We over wash and damage our skin,” says Cook.

Cook’s favourite cleansing product is a skin bath and shower oil.

“Rub it into the skin then wash off in the shower,” she advises. “It provides protective moisture into the skin while showering, leaving a light layer of oil or hydration. Pat dry when you get out.”

She understands it can feel a little different at first, “but give it time to soak in and absorb. Your skin will feel soft, hydrated and amazing.”

If you avoid all foaming products and moisturise after a shower when your skin is still moist, Cook believes you can prevent dryness via evaporation and reap the full benefits of your shower — no matter what time of day that may be.

RELATED: Hygiene hacked: How often should you clean, wash or replace day-to-day items?

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So tired of waking up tired?

There’s nothing worse than getting the recommended eight hours under the doona, only to find that come morning, it takes a superhuman effort to pry your eyelids apart.

We’re always being told about the importance of good sleep for our mental and physical health — not to mention our waistlines — so it’s super frustrating when sleep doesn’t provide all the energy answers.

Here are some of the key things to look at if you’re getting enough sleep but you’re still so damn tired.

You’re trying to get too much sleep

When you’re knackered, it’s tempting to tottle yourself off to bed at 8pm to give yourself a generous amount of Zzzzs.

But sleep experts warn this is often counter-productive because if you’re in bed too long, you might just have a longer period of broken rest.

“Only go to bed when you’re actually sleepy,” Professor Dorothy Bruck from the Sleep Health Foundation tells 9Honey Coach.

“Many people with accumulated sleep deprivation get to 9pm and go, ‘I’m so tired, I’m just going to go to bed’ but then they’re in bed until 7am and their sleep becomes fragmented because they only really need eight hours’ sleep. You’re more likely to have success going off to sleep at a reasonable time because you’ve got a bit more sleep pressure.”

You’re emotionally exhausted

While there’s no shortage of physical conditions that can rob you of energy (everything from iron deficiency to an underactive thyroid to sleep apnoea to ME-CFS), it’s actually more common for psychological issues to wear us out.

Whether it’s grief, depression, stress or anxiety, if you’re feeling mentally drained there’s a high chance that even a good night’s sleep won’t completely rejuvenate you.

“If you’re exhausted all the time and you don’t feel like you’re sleeping enough or well, then go to your GP,” Monash University sleep researcher Dr Elise Facer-Childs says.

“Sleep is probably the most important biological process that we have … and I don’t think we always give it the level of importance that it deserves.”

You haven’t had enough downtime

If your days are run at break-neck pace, you may find that the only time you have for reflection is the moment your head lands on the pillow.

“A lot of people tend to get into bed, then start thinking about all of the things they haven’t had time to think about during the day, and then that rumination starts affecting your sleep onset,” Dr Facer-Childs says.

“One thing that people could do is really try to manage that time before bed, [by] allowing yourself a good wind-down time, maybe practising some mindfulness meditation [to give] yourself some reflective time before you get into bed.”

You need to adjust your bedtime

More and more research is being done into the importance of our chronotypes (in-built body clocks) and the power they have over our functioning.

Dr Facer-Childs says that if you’re a natural night owl and try to force yourself to bed – and to rise – earlier, you may not be honouring your body’s optimal natural rhythms.

“If a night owl sleeps really early, they might not be getting as good sleep as when they have a sleep that’s aligned with when their biological ‘night’ is,” she explains.

You’re not at your optimal weight

Being overweight can be exhausting because the body has to work harder to pull off everyday activities.

At the same time, being underweight can also sap your energy, particularly given poor muscle strength can make you tire more easily, not to mention the role nutrient deficiencies can have on our energy levels.

Yet another reason to visit your GP if you’re feeling worn out for a quick once-over to confirm everything is as it should be.

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If you’ve ever stood outside in winter, breathing hot air onto your hands while your friends seem unbothered, you’ll know what it’s like to feel the cold more than most.

So why do some people’s hands and feet feel like blocks of ice sometimes, but not others?

It could just be a sensitivity to cooler temperatures, but there’s also a medical condition called Raynaud’s disease that results in icy hands and feet.

READ MORE: Petite people are stuck with cold hands — sorry!

What is Raynaud’s disease?

Raynaud’s disease disrupts blood flow to a person’s hands and feet, causing their extremities to become uncomfortably cold.

“Raynaud’s is an exaggeration of a normal response to cold,” Dr Fred Wigley, a rheumatology specialist from America’s Johns Hopkins Hospital told 9Honey Coach.

“It affects on average three to five percent of the population, but it can be as high as 12 to 15 percent among young women.”

Dr Wigley said there are signs a doctor should look for to diagnose Raynaud’s.

“Firstly, if a person says they are more sensitive to cold than the average person. The next thing is if a person witnesses colour changes on the skin of their fingers.”

“In a typical Raynaud’s event, the patient will have a white discoloration because there is no blood flow to the skin, and they’ll then have a blue coloration due to some congestion of the blood in the fingers,” Wigley explained.

“They will also get a blush in recovery when the artery’s little blood vessels open up.”

This condition, called primary Raynaud’s, while uncomfortable, isn’t anything to be concerned about.

“It’s an annoyance, but it doesn’t reach the level of pain and isn’t associated with breakdown of the skin, open sores or with any other health problem.”

However, there’s also secondary Raynaud’s, which tends to develop suddenly rather than in the teens or twenties like primary Raynaud’s, and is more severe.

“Secondary Raynaud’s can be dangerous because the blood vessels are damaged.

“It can lead to sores on the fingers or even amputation of the finger if it is severe enough, and it can be associated with systemic diseases.”

How to treat Raynaud’s disease

The number one trigger for Raynaud’s is, you guessed it, the cold.

Wearing gloves or thick socks will help, but it’s also important to raise your core temperature by putting on extra layers of clothing.

“Keep your whole body warm, because if you sense cold it’ll trigger Raynaud’s,” explained Wigley.

Anxiety is another cause of Raynaud’s, so it might be an idea to keep a diary of when your hands and feet feel particularly cold to see if it’s linked to stress.

As for secondary Raynaud’s, you’ll need a doctor’s help to determine the cause and a strategy for managing it, and you may be prescribed a vasodilator medication.

“Some medications, such as ADHD and cancer drugs, and conditions including thyroid disorder, can cause bad cases of Raynaud’s,” Wigley said.

“Trauma to the fingers, such as the use of tools like jackhammers and saws, may also cause it.”

So how do you know if you need to see a doctor, or just rug up a bit more?

“If it’s so striking that it’s affecting the quality of your life, and if a person experiences those dramatic colour changes, I think that they should see a doctor,” Wigley said.

RELATED: Why on Earth are people taking cold showers?

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