Here’s what to know about how alcohol and melatonin affect the body individually and when taken in tandem.

Alcohol & sleep.

However, as the night goes on, this effect wears off.

Emma Loewe

That’s because as alcohol gets metabolized in the night, itdisrupts essential deep sleep stages like REM sleep1.

Melatonin & sleep.

Like alcohol, melatonin is often used for its relaxing properties to get the body ready for bed.

Ashley Jordan Ferira, Ph.D., RDN

For this reason,experts agreethat it is not effective as a long-term sleep aid.

Mixing melatonin and alcohol.

It turns out, neither melatonin nor alcohol will do much to improve your sleep qualityespecially when combined.

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He notes that the combination can lead to dizziness and overwhelming fatigue, plus further sleep fragmentation.

Potential interactions with melatonin and alcohol:

Melatonin alternatives.

This will help keep your internal clock steady and reliable and ensure melatonin production is consistent.

The takeaway.