Natural Sleep Aid

Always Tired? Follow These Sleep Tips To Get the Rest You Need!

admin — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:20:57 +0000

As many as 70 million Americans suffer from sleep deprivation, regularly getting fewer hours of sleep than they need. It is affecting their physical and mental health and possibly even shortening their lives. According to Stanford University Psychiatry Professor William Dement, there is plenty of compelling evidence that sleep is the most important predictor of how long you will live - perhaps more important than whether you smoke, exercise or have high blood pressure or cholesterol levels.

Yet the average American is sleeping less - down from about 8.5 hours a night in 1960 to fewer than 7 today. Many people are in bed only 5 to 6 hours a night on a regular basis. Longer hours at work and longer commutes are what threaten sleep most, according to a new study. Moreover, once home, weary workers may unwisely choose TV or Internet surfing over a good nighttime sleep.

Compromised sleep elevates stress hormones and impairs metabolism, which can lead to depression, obesity and life-threatening illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. According to a survey a third of couples have problems in their relationships because of a partner’s abnormal sleep (usually snoring). Nearly a fourth say they flee to a different bed or room and that they are just too sleepy for sex.

Here are some tips to help you get the rest you desperately need.

1. Change Your Sleeping Habits

* Make your bedroom sleep-friendly-cool, dark, quiet, uncluttered. Go there only for sleep and/or sex - no TV, no computer, no reading in bed.

* Listen to calming music or a relaxation tape or CD before bed.

* Indulge in caffeine only in the morning. It can stay in your system for as long as 20 hours.

* Make sure your medications aren’t interfering with sleep. Some prescription drugs for heart conditions, blood pressure, asthma and depression as well as some over-the-counter remedies for coughs, colds or allergies may interrupt your sleep. Ask your physician about comparable substitutions for your medications.

* Sleep aids. More than 40 million Americans now use prescription insomnia drugs to help them get a good nighttime sleep. Your physician can help you understand the benefits and risks of their use.

* Avoid Alcohol. A drink before bed initially may sedate you, but it can disrupt sleep later in the night.

* Over-the-counter medications. While antihistamines might help you sleep, they can lead to daytime drowsiness and dry mouth.

2. Reset Your Body Clock

* Light therapy is a promising treatment for correcting a mixed-up body clock. Studies show that even an hour’s exposure to bright light early in the day—from the sun or a 10,000-lux light box—may help bring on sleep earlier in the night. And bright light later in the day may defer sleepiness by helping to suppress the production of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone.

* Don't sleep late to compensate for missed sleep. In fact, oversleeping just throws your body’s natural rhythms further out of sync.

3. Fix Your Snoring

* Losing 5 to 10 pounds can improve sleep-disordered breathing in most people.

* Bedmates of snorers may find relief in a good pair of noise-blocking earplugs or a loud fan.

* Avoid sleeping on your back. Your tongue can fall backward and partially block your throat, making a smaller passage for air.

* Avoid sleep medications and drowsiness-inducing antihistamines can aggravate snoring.

4. Get Daytime Energy

* Taking a power nap. Research shows that a 10 to 30 minute nap (longer may make you drowsier) can recharge your batteries better than a shot of caffeine. A brisk walk in the sun also can help, reminding your body that it is daytime and revving up your circulation.

* Toughing it out. You can't adapt to sleep deprivation without a mental or physical toll, so get some rest!

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Things you Can Do to Get a Better Night Sleep

admin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:19:23 +0000

Let’s face it… we live in a “go-go” world! Our lifestyle is harried, our food is fast and statistics now show it’s taking a toll on one of the most important parts of our life–our sleep. The 2002 National Sleep Foundation (NSF) Sleep in America poll found that 74 percent of American adults are experiencing a sleeping problem a few nights a week or more, 39% get less than seven hours of sleep each weeknight, and more than one in three (37%) are so sleepy during the day that it interferes with daily activities. Our fast paced way of life is getting the best of us. What about you?

Answer True or False?

1. Five hours of sleep at night is good enough.

2. It's ok to skimp on sleep during the work week as long as you make up the time over the weekends.

3. The effects of sleep deprivation are short-term (e.g., darkness under the eyes and dull and/or splotchy skin after a bad night's sleep) and has no effect on long-term health.

4. Drinking caffeine early in the evening does not affect sleep.

5. Keeping a TV or computer in the bedroom has no effect on sleep.

6. The amount of sleep I get has nothing to do with my weight.

If you answered “true” to two or more questions you may need to make a few changes in order to achieve the highly coveted “good” night’s sleep and keep yourself in optimal health.

Experts suggest that most people need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night but that doesn’t apply to everyone. Some people only require 6 hours while those who are more active or have an illness may require more.

So how do you know if you are getting enough quality sleep? Those who are sleep deprived often look the part. Dark circles and the “sleepy” look are common, but they also can have unpredictable moods, drowsiness during the day, have difficulty concentrating, weak immune systems, recover poorly from injury and get sick more often. Sounding a little too familiar?

In fact, poor sleep has been found to impair the ability to perform tasks involving memory, learning, and logical reasoning. This may contribute to mistakes or unfulfilled potential at school or on the job as well as strained relationships at home. Even more disturbing, inadequate amounts of sleep have been linked to an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, weight gain, obesity, heart disease and depression, to name just a few.

But what if you go to bed early, have every intention on logging in your 7-9 hours but only to lie awake watching the clock…eyes wide open? Well, there are several simple adjustments you can make to stack the cards in favor of a better night’s sleep.

1) Avoid watching TV before bed…especially in bed!- The bed should be reserved for two things…sleep and romance…not Desperate Housewives or football! Research shows that those who experienced the most sleep disturbances had televisions in their bedrooms and used the TV to fall asleep.

2) Try a different pillow or mattress. It’s scary to think how long some of us have been sleeping on the same pillows and mattresses for years and years. Does your mattress provide the support you like? Do you wake with your back aching? Is there enough room for you and your sleep partner? Do you sleep better, or worse, when you sleep away from home? These are all things to ask yourself to determine if your mattress could be the “sabotager” of your good night’s sleep. Or more simply, just replacing your pillow with a new, fresh, higher quality version could be all that you need.

3) Avoid caffeine late in the day. Did you know that even a small amount of caffeine even 10-12 hours before bedtime can cause problems falling asleep! Try eliminating the tea, soda and even chocolate and see if sleep improves.

4) Listen to relaxing music. Establishing a relaxing bedtime routine, such as listening to music, could be just the thing you need to signal your body it is time to sleep. So, dim the lights and throw some slow jazz or purchase a “relaxing sounds” CD to help slow your mind and body down for an evening of peaceful sleep.

5) Try mind- body techniques. After an action-packed day, your brain and body need to unwind and detox before sleep can occur (a.k.a. you need to chill!) Create a “ritual” for bedtime - take a bath, meditate, do some easy stretches or yoga. Try to do your “ritual” in the same way, in the same place, at the same time each night. The repetition will trigger your mind and body that it is time to relax and sleep.

6) Try a natural sleep aid. For many people, while the above tips and suggestions may help, it often isn’t enough. if you are one of those people who really have a hard time getting to sleep and staying asleep, you may want to try a natural sleep aid.

While over the counter sleep medications may help you fall asleep, they cannot be taken long-term and have risky side effects. A sleep aid that uses natural ingredients is a better approach to getting a solid night’s sleep.

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Natural Effective Treatments for Insomnia

admin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:19:16 +0000

Natural treatments for insomnia are winning over more insomnia sufferers as the public becomes better informed of the benefits of applying natural treatments. People have come to understand that it is not a good long term solution to depend on sleep medications. Even though insomnia could be due to many reasons, however for most people, natural treatments for insomnia could bring great relief to their sleeping woes.

First of all, we need to understand why it is not advisable to rely on commonly prescribed and over-the-counter medications such as sedative-hynoptics, tranquilizers and sedative antidepressants as a long term solution to insomnia. Some patients have complained about suffering from short-term effects like dizziness, blurred vision and abdominal problems. Others have reported longer-lasting effects such as impaired memory, drug addiction and in some cases, their insomnia worsened after regular intake of sleeping medications. While it is true that some of the symptoms can be stopped by stopping the medication, the impact it has caused to your health could be damaging.

Let us see what are some of the natural treatments for insomnia that could help you find back your beauty sleep.

1. Diet Changes as Natural Treatments For Insomnia

Eat two kinds of food - one high in trytophan, and the other kind of foods rich in carbohydrates. Food with high trytophan content helps to increase melatonin production which is responsible for sleep induction. Examples of such foods are eggs, nuts, fish and dairy products like cheese and milk are perfect.

High carbohydrate low protein foods are great in inducing sleep. Our body responds to such food intake by releasing more serotonin. Examples include pasta, breads, cereals, sugar, figs, chocolate, milk, ice cream, fruit tarts and honey.

Remember to eat in moderation. Too much of it daily would lead to other health problems like obesity, heart issues, high blood pressure, etc. Also, make sure you do not sleep with a full stomach as digestion normally takes longer so eat hours before you go to bed. You would not want to be awoken because of heartburn or intestinal rumblings.

2. Relaxation Tips as Natural Treatments For Insomnia

a. Toe wiggling

Toe wiggling is a simple exercise to put our body in a relaxed mode to prepare for sleep. Wiggle your toes while lying on your bed. Repeat that for at least 10 times. You would realize that your body feels less tensed.

b. Reading a Book

Read a book that does not invoke much stimulation and excitement. Depending on your interest, you might want to pick up a simple novel or a story book. The whole idea is to relax your mind and body. So please do yourself a favour by not reading science fiction or intriguing thrillers that arouse too much brain activity.

c. Listening to Soothing Music

Listening to soothing music for 30 minutes before bed would prepare your body to rest. But no heavy metal or rock unless you intend to stay awake till the next morning.

3. Herbal Cures as Natural Treatments For Insomnia

Some common herbal cures like chamomile, lavender, catnip, black cohosh and valerian are great natural treatments for insomnia. Most herbs can be brewed as drinking tea individually or mixed. They are perfect for calming our nerves.

Study more blog to learn more about effective natural treatments for insomnia. This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

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Lack Of Better Sleep Can Be A Factor Why Your Diets Fail

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:06:23 +0000

Sleep is vitally important part of your healthy lifestyle or weight loss program since it is the time when your body repairs and rejuvenates itself. However, not all of us are fortunate enough to get a restful sleep so that is why thousands of people suffer from sleep deprivation. Lack of better sleep or insufficient sleep may arise out of a host of factors; improper personal habits and physiological imbalances could loss of sleep. Apparently, your personality is reflected by the number of hours you sleep and the overall quality of sleep.

In addition, not getting enough sleep is also a factor that can prevent you from reaching your weight-loss goals even if you are eating a nutritious diet. As you can see, lack of sleep can also lower your metabolism, which means your body will burn fewer calories and thus slow the weight-loss process. So, even though you are making an effort to eat a healthy, balanced diet but are struggling to get an adequate amount of sleep, then it could be a problem that might be a common pitfalls that you do not even realize are an issue.

Trying to do everything all at once is a common mistake many people make when embarking on a weight-loss program. Aside from the fact, that you did not gain the weight overnight it is so unrealistic to expect that you will lose a few pounds right away. In that case, you have to set realistic goal and change your bad habits one or two at a time for old habits can start sneaking back in slowly if you take the “all or nothing” approach.

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