There was a guy talking on NPR about this a while back, it was a really fascinating conversation. He was talking about sleep hygene in general and actually answered a question that goobster and I were having about why boozing it up will knock you out but then a few hours later you're wide awake. Turns out it's nothing to do with sugar or anything, but the fact that alcohol works as a sedative and will put your brain into sleep mode even if it doesn't have enough sleep hormones built up for sustained sleep.
That's so interesting! Yeah, alcohol can do some crazy things to your brain. While it does help you fall asleep faster and you sleep more deeply (generally speaking), it reduces the amount of REM sleep, which is thought to be really important for the cleaning process and helping you have that "refreshed" feeling in the morning. Thanks for watching, btw!