A Shark Tank star has shared that the best time to drink may be in the morning, as the odd practice would do the most to protect a person’s sleep health.
Kevin O’Leary, better known as ‘Mr Wonderful’ on the hit TV series, warned that sleep was crucial for entrepreneurs looking to be at their best in the business world.
However, O’Leary noted the scientifically backed belief that drinking alcohol before bed prevents a person from reaching REM sleep, the phase where the brain refreshes itself, organizing the mind to think clearly the next day.
O’Leary, 71, said on the Young and Profiting podcast: ‘If you drink wine three hours before you go to bed, you don’t get any REM sleep. It really f**** your sleep. So the strategy you got to go to is drink at breakfast.’
The Canadian businessman and self-made multi-millionaire added that decision making, critical thinking and sleep were all connected, noting that the entrepreneurs working with him were all committed to getting seven hours of quality sleep nightly.
Although scientists have not endorsed O’Leary’s suggestion to drink in the morning, they have backed the idea of avoiding alcohol for several hours before bedtime.
REM (rapid eye movement) sleep has been called one of the most critical sleep stages, allowing the brain to process new memories, learn new things and essentially ‘clean’ itself before starting the entire process all over again the next day.
It is also where most of a person’s dreaming takes place, and getting enough REM sleep has been found to link directly to how sharp and emotionally positive a person feels after waking.
Kevin O’Leary (Pictured) said spacing out alcohol and sleep was best for the human brain, leading him to suggest drinking at breakfast
O’Leary mentioned his reliance on wearable devices, such as the Oura Ring, to track sleep and break down how much deep and REM sleep he gets – noting that drinking cuts down on the body’s restorative dream phase.
‘You want REM sleep. That’s your brain being cleansed for the next day. Unfortunately, sleep doesn’t work with alcohol. And this is a big problem for me… I don’t smoke. I don’t do drugs, but I love wine,’ he explained.
While O’Leary may have laughed off his own suggestion to get all of your day’s drinking out of the way at breakfast, the science behind separating alcohol and sleep has been deeply studied and confirmed.
Multiple peer-reviewed studies and health organizations have shown evidence that consuming alcohol before bed suppresses REM sleep, delays the first REM period and fragments a person’s overall sleep quality – even if they only drink a modest amount.
This includes a 2013 scientific review in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research which found that alcohol helped people fall asleep faster, but the plan backfires during the second half of the night.
In the first half of the night, drinking before bed increased deep sleep and made sleep feel more solid. However, alcohol caused people to also wake up frequently and sleep more lightly during the second half of the night, preventing them from reaching REM sleep.
The effects were even worse when people drank more before going to bed and the alcohol started to metabolize in the body in the middle of the night.
O’Leary shared during the interview, recorded in December, that successful entrepreneurs often follow simple but consistent habits that boost their energy and decision-making abilities.
Studies have recommended that adults get between seven and nine hours of sleep nightly (Stock Image)
Three of the most important included maintaining a good diet, exercising and strong sleep hygiene.
His tips were all aimed at creating higher energy levels, including aiming to eat one gram of protein for every pound you weigh each day. So, a 150-pound person would aim to eat 150 grams of protein.
‘About ten weeks of just following this protocol, your energy level goes through the roof,’ O’Leary said.
‘It’s unf****** real how good you feel. That’s number one. Number two, the classic exercise. All the entrepreneurs that are successful have found a way to spend some portion of the day exercising.’
The Shark Tank star added that successfully exercising did not necessarily mean going to the gym, with some successful CEOs focusing on just getting in 10,000 steps per day to stay active.
O’Leary’s exercise of choice was cycling or a combination of cycling and daily steps.
However, the entrepreneur’s key to successfully navigating each new day was not just getting enough sleep overall, but to get enough dream-heavy REM sleep.
‘And don’t drink again because at the end of the day if you can get those seven hours, the sleep, the diet and the exercise, you can’t believe how you feel as an entrepreneur. You need that energy and you’re going to get it.’
