Alcohol, Wine, and Sleep in Adults: Insights from a Narrative Review

Alcohol is widely consumed across cultures and is often used to facilitate relaxation or sleep initiation. This narrative review critically examines evidence published over the past decade (2015-2025) on the effects of alcohol, including wine, on sleep health in community-dwelling adults. Priority was given to systematic reviews and meta-analyses, followed by high-quality observational and experimental studies. Across study designs, evidence consistently shows that although alcohol may reduce sleep onset latency, it disrupts sleep architecture, suppresses rapid eye movement sleep, increases sleep fragmentation, and impairs breathing during sleep, particularly in the second half of the night. Habitual alcohol consumption is associated with poorer subjective sleep quality, insomnia symptoms, and increased risk of sleep-disordered breathing. Mechanistic pathways include effects on neurotransmission, sleep homeostasis, circadian regulation, thermoregulation, and alcohol metabolism during sleep. Evidence also suggests that the timing of alcohol intake and alignment with circadian rhythms may modify these effects, with earlier consumption potentially reducing some adverse outcomes. A brief section addresses the reciprocal relationship, showing that circadian disruption, shift work, and evening chronotype are associated with higher alcohol use. Although wine contains bioactive compounds such as melatonin and polyphenols, current evidence indicates that these components are present at levels insufficient to provide meaningful sleep benefits. Overall, alcohol, including wine, should not be considered a sleep aid, and public health messaging should emphasize dose, timing, and regularity of alcohol consumption in relation to sleep health.