Dr. Michael Breus

So here's what I can tell you is I would argue that most sleep-related problems, not sleep disorders, not apnea or narcolepsy, but sleep problems like, oh, I don't get good quality sleep, is due to exactly what you're talking about, bad habits.

Let me give you a couple of examples of some habits that affect your sleep.

So the easiest one to think about is alcohol or caffeine.

Caffeine is actually a better one because most people will drink caffeine every day, whereas a lot of people don't necessarily drink alcohol every day.

The first liquid that crosses your lips every morning should not, I repeat, not be caffeinated.

Now, you might be saying, why?

So here's how this works.

There's two factors here that are important.

Number one is sleep in and of itself is a dehydrated event, meaning when you wake up in the morning, your body's actually dehydrated.

You lose almost a full liter of water every night just from the humidity in your breath.

And so when you wake up in the morning, if you drink caffeine, remember, caffeine's a diuretic.

It makes you have to pee.

You've already lost a liter of water, okay?

So if you drink caffeine as the first thing, it's going to make you lose more water.

I want you to hydrate before you caffeinate.

Number two is another interesting fact.

In order to exit a state of unconsciousness, you need two hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, and they actually have to be very, very high in order to pull your brain out of a state of unconsciousness.

Here's what gets interesting.

When adrenaline and cortisol are wandering around your brain, they stay there for a good 90 minutes after you wake up.

Here's what's fascinating.