Food, Nutrition, and Herbs for Insomnia

If your mantra in life is, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” you might want to take 5 minutes to rethink this strategy. Driver fatigue is responsible for an estimated 25% of all fatal and serious car accidents and a continual lack of quality sleep is directly linked to weight gain, diabetes, and cardiovascular disorders. You can pump the weights and crank up the cardio, but if you are not balancing your body with the healing powers of sleep, you won’t be able to stave off these debilitating symptoms and conditions forever. In fact, pushing your mind and body beyond its natural limits without rewarding it with well-earned sleep can result in chronic fatigue, adrenal dysfunction, and hormone dysregulation.

Not convinced? Research confirms that lack of sleep is also directly linked to:

  • Shrinking of the brain
  • Organ failure
  • Infertility
  • Memory reduction
  • Cancer
  • Depression
  • Obesity
  • Chronic illness
  • Premature aging
  • Reduced life expectancy

Luckily, stacking your fork with slumber-inducing snacks is easier than you think. But can you really eat yourself to sleep? Is it possible to create your best dreamscape while stuffing your face? Is your dinner your best doctor? Yes, yes, and definitely yes.

The Science of Sleep

There are more than a dozen interconnected hormones and chemicals responsible for the onset and execution of a successful sleep session. They’re all important ingredients for a dream feast, but having a bite-sized understanding of these primary components will see you to sleep in no time.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone that is produced by the pineal gland in the brain. It’s a vital element of the system that regulates your internal body clock and natural sleep-wake rhythms.

How and when your body creates and releases melatonin is contingent upon light exposure in the day and the gradual onset of darkness in the evening. Levels start to rise from early evening, remain high and steady throughout the night, and begin to drop off in the early morning hours.

Healthy levels are attributed to the ability to fall asleep quickly, to reduced or eliminated sleep interruptions, and to being able to wake easily at consistent times. In addition, melatonin is a powerful antioxidant. It is capable of free radical scavenging throughout the entire body due to its ability to penetrate cell membranes and navigate the blood-brain barrier.

Though there is still much to learn about this heroic hormone, there is growing evidence that supports the positive impact melatonin may have on countless biological functions. From heavy metal chelation, Alzheimer’s Disease treatments, and obesity prevention to insomnia, immune function, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) treatment, melatonin is king.

Studies show, melatonin has a hand in:

  • Immune function
  • Jet lag recovery
  • Headache reduction (particularly cluster headaches)
  • Managing sleep cycle disruption due to night or shift work
  • Delayed sleep phase syndrome treatment
  • Controlling sleep disorders associated with autism, cerebral palsy, blindness, and ADHD
  • Reducing withdrawal symptoms after quitting smoking
  • Medication or pharmaceutical induced insomnia
  • Helping to fight certain types of cancer (particularly brain, breast, colon, lung, and renal)
  • Reducing the side effects associated with chemotherapy
  • Reducing the impact and instance of tinnitus
  • Protection from radioactivity
  • Prevention of gallstone development
  • Improved fertility

Studies suggest that it may be especially useful to treat sleep issues that are due to behavioral, developmental, or mental disorders.

Tryptophan

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that is responsible for making melatonin and serotonin. Humans cannot synthesize it, and a lack of tryptophan would be lethal; it must be obtained from plant or animal sources.

This vital molecule is helpful in dealing with sleep disorders including sleep apnea, insomnia, and bruxism. It may also have a serious psychological impact, with low levels showing a correlation with depression, anxiety, irritability, and aggression. Conditions such as PMS, ADHD, and Tourette’s syndrome all show symptom relief when consistently healthy tryptophan levels are present.

Due to the link with both serotonin and melatonin, tryptophan induces feelings of calm, relaxation, well-being and sleepiness. It also assists your body in manufacturing and assimilating proteins for cellular function and efficiently assists with niacin production and conversion.

Cortisol

Cortisol is the flight-or-fight hormone responsible for a wide range of functions and reactions in the body. Produced in the adrenal glands, it is transported throughout the body via the bloodstream. Cortisol creates the rise and shine impulse that wakes you up in the morning. Maintaining homeostasis of this hormone is an essential component to finding that sweet sleep spot.

Cortisol levels peak between 8-9 am. and respond to daily activity levels. Production sharply declines between midnight and 4am. This balance creates what is known as a diurnal rhythm (being awake during the day, sleeping at night).

Depending upon the cells it is interacting with, cortisol can have a directly positive impact on your stress response, blood pressure, and inflammation reduction. It also influences blood sugar control, metabolism regulation, and memory formation.

However, both high and low cortisol levels will have a negative influence on your ability to fall and stay asleep.

Cortisol regulates energy by selecting the right nutrients the body needs to function. When elevated for extended periods of time, cortisol can interfere with weight, immune function, and chronic disease.

Experiencing a spike of cortisol late in the day or evening can induce an elongated stress response due to adrenaline release that prevents the yummy wind down after a long day. Similarly, dysregulation can cause unhelpful hiccups of cortisol through the night that interfere with a solid sleep state and those vital REM periods.

Excess cortisol may present as an inability to shut your brain down at night and racing thoughts that often focus on negative experiences in the past or worries about the future – otherwise known as being “tired but wired”.

Overproduction of cortisol can be caused by being overworked, routinely stressed, worn down, or chronically ill. Over time, this can manifest as adrenal fatigue, insomnia, sleep disruption, and depression.

Low levels will reduce the “cortisol awakening response”. Energy is often at a bare minimum, inducing a state of chronic fatigue. This can prevent initiation of other hormone cycles or incite overreaction of others, creating a negative feedback loop.

GABA (Gamma Aminobutyric Acid)

GABA is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter and the most important amino acid for sleep, muscle relaxation, and anxiety reduction. In short, it turns off the worrying thoughts that impede restful sleep and prepares the mind for mood balancing subconscious decongesting. These sedating effects have a huge impact on sleep quality and quantity.

GABA can be helpful with relaxation and the ability to fall and stay asleep. It has also useful in dealing with restless leg syndrome, muscle spasms, and even epilepsy.

Low levels of GABA can prevent you from going into a deep sleep, which allows minor distractions to wake you up and prevent you from nodding off again. In addition, low GABA is linked to depression, anxiety and other psychiatric disorders.

Poor diet, illness, age, and exposure to environmental toxins can all affect the GABA levels.

When to Eat

Eating yourself to sleep involves diet consciousness. Get familiar with the best foods for supporting those 40 winks.

Make sure you’re not consuming the wrong stuff at the wrong time. It confuses the natural flow of chemicals and hormones that orchestrate revitalizing rest, which can be a tripwire for general system dysregulation. All sources of caffeine should be consumed before 2 pm. For sensitive folk, this includes chocolate. Additionally, avoid taking Vitamin D supplements or Fermented Cod Liver Oil after 2 pm. Ideally, you should stop eating for 4 hours before bed, but at the very least, skip heavy, spicy, and/or difficult to digest meals within that time frame.

If necessary, eat a small high protein/high fat snack at 7pm or earlier to tide you over and keep your blood sugar balanced. A handful of nuts promotes tryptophan production. To keep nighttime interruptions to a minimum, stop drinking about 2 hours prior to bed.

Foods and Substances That Prevent Sleep

Trans fatty acids and industrial seed oils (vegetable, canola, margarines, and shortenings) promote systemic inflammation, that encourage biological stress. Foods with a high glycemic index will also interfere with natural sleep patterns by spiking blood sugar and cortisol response. These include simple carbs, sugar, fruit juices, sodas, and energy drinks.

Pharmaceuticals, Over the Counter Meds, and Substances

Medications can be seriously disruptive to sleep, but also very sneaky. It’s often difficult to ascertain whether those tablets are tampering with your sleep, particularly if you are taking multiple medications. Have a rifle through your medicine cabinet to check whether one of these top culprits is causing problems.

  • Alpha-blockers and Beta Blockers
  • SSRI antidepressants
  • Angiotensin II-receptor blockers (ARBs)
  • Cholinesterase inhibitors and ACE inhibitors
  • Second-generation (nonsedating) H1 antagonists
  • Glucosamine and chondroitin
  • Statins
  • Corticosteroids

Nicotine and THC (marijuana) could also be a factor.

The Best Sleep Diet

Let’s eat! It’s time to breakfast, lunch, and dinner ourselves into bed. These dietary additions will manufacture the building blocks of structural hormone and chemicals to balance and promote the best sleep.

Follow an organic, anti-inflammatory diet that excludes processed products and is high in whole foods, healthy fats, vegetables, and some fruits. Along with plenty of nuts and seeds, you’ll be able to load up on important antioxidants and phytonutrients while maximizing fiber intake. Be sure to keep your Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acid intake ratio within the 1:3-1:4 range.

Top Foods for Melatonin Management

  • Tart cherry juice
  • Bananas, oranges, pineapple
  • Tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet corn
  • Barley, oats, rice
  • Flaxseed, walnuts, almonds
  • Fenugreek and mustard seeds

Top Foods for Tryptophan Production

  • Seeds and nuts
  • Soy
  • Cheese
  • Red meat
  • Poultry
  • Fish and shellfish
  • Beans and lentils
  • Eggs

Top Foods for Cortisol Control

  • Cold water fish
  • Beef liver
  • Eggs
  • Greek or fermented yogurt
  • Flaxseed and walnuts
  • Chard (swiss, ruby, rainbow)
  • Citrus fruits and papaya
  • White beans

Top Foods That Promote GABA

  • Black, green, oolong tea
  • Halibut, mackerel, shrimp
  • Beef liver
  • Fermented foods
  • Jumbo oats and rice bran
  • Almonds and walnuts
  • Lentils

Other Foods for Sleep

There are lots of additional options and substitutes for getting the most delicious sleep. Switch regular potatoes for beta-carotene rich sweet potatoes, and that greasy side dish for some steamed dark leafy greens. Cook with coconut oil and drizzle a fresh salad with extra virgin olive or avocado oils. Incorporate grass fed gelatin and a dash of creamy milk into your smoothies.

In the evening, make up a brew of your favorite herbal tea. Chamomile, mint, lavender and St. John’s Wort are particularly soothing.

What Supplements Promote Good Sleep

Finding the right combination of supplemental additions to your diet and routine is extremely personal. There is no one-size-fits all approach, so careful experimentation and observation is an important part of finding what’s right for you.

Herbs

Vitamins and Minerals

Supplements and Extracts

Final Thoughts

Stop hiding your sleep worries under the bed. Make integrating these balancing practices into your routine a daily, lifetime habit. Eat yourself to sleep, sleep yourself to life.`

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Sleep More, Sleep Better

Sleep deprivation is responsible for an estimated 100,000 car accidents every year. This equates to an average of 1,550 deaths and 71,000 injuries. It has been linked to such disasters as the Chernobyl nuclear power plant blow-up, the Challenger space shuttle explosion, devastating oil spills in the ocean, and commercial airline crashes.

Sleep is non-negotiable. It’s an integral component of health, wellness, and basic functionality. Our bodies rely on this sacred time to heal, assimilate nutrition, and decode the subconscious. Yet, so many of our daily habits sabotage the integrity of this essential ritual and the natural balance of melatonin, serotonin, and cortisol.

The loss of a single night’s sleep will have a negative effect on mental clarity, work efficiency, and physical capability. It can even obscure your brain’s ability to articulate ideas and its decision-making faculties. Long-running sleep deficiency is linked to increased systemic inflammation and hormone dysregulation. These, in turn, can be the catalyst for disease, dysfunction, and chronic illness.

A lack of sleep is associated with, but not limited to:

  • Diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • High blood pressure
  • Stroke
  • Heart attack
  • Memory loss
  • Depression
  • Immunity suppression
  • Libido reduction
  • Decreased fertility
  • Stress
  • Premature aging

The solution: sleep more, sleep better. Sleep is a vital function your body is desperate to experience at regular intervals. Let yourself steep in the optimal rest your body craves so it can thrive every single day.

By employing some simple strategies, you can dramatically improve both the quality and quantity of your shut-eye. Let sleep do the work, so you don’t have to.

Bedding

The average person spends roughly 25-30% of their life in bed. Though we often give much consideration to the plush design and comfort of our clothing, cars, and couches, the way we equip our beds tends to be sorely lacking. However, given the crucial role sleep plays, it is absolutely worth spending the time and effort getting the details right. Your health literally depends on it.

What to Look For

Mattresses, Pillows, and Padding

Over the course of ten years, a mattress can double its weight due to the accumulation of  dead skin cells and dust mites! Opt for a 100% natural latex-filled mattress. They are antimicrobial, antibacterial, dust mite free, and they inhibit the growth of mold and mildew.

According to materials published by Ohio State University, a typical used mattress may have 100,000 to 10 million mites inside. Ten percent of the weight of a two-year-old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings. Mites prefer warm, moist surroundings such as the inside of a mattress when someone is on it. One of their favorite foods is dead skin, and people shed about one-fifth of an ounce of the stuff every week, some of which surely ends up flaking into your mattress.” -Live Science

Conventional mattresses are full of harmful chemicals and fire retardants – up to 4 ½  gallons per mattress! Modern beds are rife with petroleum based foams, synthetic substances, and toxic industrial byproducts.

[…]  the chemicals in a mattress can be a big source of exposure and have been linked to problems like allergies, asthma, fertility problems/hormone imbalance and even autism in sensitive individuals.“ -Wellness Mama

With all natural mattresses and bedding (trusted source), you don’t want to skimp on quality. Check for legitimate organic certifications, check into the businesses, and be wary of labels that tout “all natural materials,” as these labels are not reliable.  There are some very nice, high quality all natural mattresses labeled as such, but there are also many more brands using the label meaninglessly.

Linens

You can produce up to 26 gallons of sweat per year – while sleeping! Going for organic, chemical-free linens will help with this issue by absorbing and dispersing that moisture. Wool stuffing, cotton, and silk bedding are excellent choices that provide both lasting comfort and hygiene. These materials optimize body temperature and prevent sweating. Avoid down filled pillows and duvets, as they are prone to mold and dust mites, which add an average of 7 lbs per year in mite droppings and debris!

Grounding/Earthing Mat

Earthing is credited with everything from lowered blood pressure and reduced pain and inflammation to an increased quality of sleep, allowing you to feel calmer and more energetic.

Earthing can be accomplished by connecting your body to the ground or a natural body of water (think sitting in the park, taking your shoes off outside, playing on the beach), but for many, it is a difficult practice to do every day. Grounding mats provide a convenient way of connecting to the many benefits of earthing for those who cannot incorporate daily doses of rivers and tree climbing into their routine.

Grounding restores the healing energy that can get depleted through modern lifestyles, over exposure to electromagnetic field (EMF) sources, and a lack of connection to nature. Various sizes and shapes of mats are available, from those that fit comfortably into your shoes or on your desk chair, to sheets that you sleep on.

Your Room

The second factor to consider when developing better sleeping habits is your room. Even the softest organic cotton sheets aren’t going to mean much if you’re setting up camp in the middle of Grand Central Station. Calm it down and create a gentle ambiance that balances your cycles and rhythms of sleep, making the most out of your shut-eye hours.

How to Create an Amazing Sleep Space/Sanctuary

Feng Shui

Implement a little ancient Chinese wisdom in the form of Feng Shui. This practice is all about creating a sense of energy balance and flow that will calm the senses and encourage restfulness in your temple of sleep.

Disconnect from Technology

The blue light emitted by most modern bulbs, electrical appliances, and devices is extremely disruptive to our circadian rhythms. Avoid watching TV or using phones, tablets, and computers for 90 minutes before bed.

Fill your home and bedroom with warm light sources. Bulbs that give off yellow, orange, or red tones send signals to your brain that it is time to wind down.

Use light filtering glasses with orange lenses to reduce the effect of blue light exposure or try the free computer app f.lux that warms the light of your screen. By sunset, a sedating copper filter ensures easy night viewing.

Declutter and Make it Sacred

If a pile of unmatched socks, old magazines, and the looming treadmill are the last thing you see before tucking yourself in, the physical clutter will amount to mental clutter. This is never a winning sleep formula.

Fire up the Feng Shui to keep your to-do list out of sight by making your bedroom a sacred space. Don’t let chores and projects spill into it. Remove anything that activates your mind away from a resting state. Books, paperwork, exercise equipment and anything that stimulates a stress response should be removed.

House Plants

Thriving green life in your bedroom naturally and efficiently filters and detoxifies the air, reducing the impact any disruptive chemicals may have on your sleep cycles.

Plants have a calming effect on the nervous system that promotes a sense of well-being. This is beneficial both upon waking and before turning in for the night.

Air Flow

Opening windows is the simplest and most effective way to introduce a fresh, de-ionized airflow into your room and house, creating a rejuvenating breathing environment.

Positive pressure systems can provide a non-intrusive solution to managing humid climates and preventing toxic mold accumulation.

Plenty of open space above and below the bed allows clean, replenishing air to circulate and prevent mold and dust build up.

Light Balance

Sleeping in darkness is essential for balancing circadian rhythms. Light pollution disrupts sleep, particularly in an urban environment. Black out curtains reduce exposure to artificial sources of light. The cumulative effect of small (often blinking) lights from electronic devices in your bedroom can add up. Remove devices from your bedroom (alarm clocks, phones, night-lights, chargers, etc.) or use dark electrical tape to cover the lights.

Conversely, sunlight exposure early in the morning increases cortisol production and helps regulate circadian rhythms. Open those curtains wide straight away! Getting outside during the day, even if it’s only for a short lunchtime walk, dramatically increases circadian balance and melatonin production later in the day.

Temperature

This is a popular topic of discussion (or disagreement) between men and women, but stats show that the optimal temperature for sleeping is between 60 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. If you start decreasing the temperature a little before the PJs come out, you’ll send signals to your brain and body that it’s time for bed.

A bedroom that is too hot or too cold can significantly interfere with quality REM sleep. Make sure you have the best bedding to help regulate body temperature. Try natural fabrics that breathe properly for the your climate you’re in.

Carpets

Carpets contain around 4,000 times more bacteria than your toilet. Additionally, they can be horribly toxic to humans and have a terrible impact on the environment, both through their production and disposal. Like conventional bed linens, synthetic carpets are petroleum based and laden with chemicals such as fire retardants.

Dust, dust mites (and their droppings!), moisture, and mold all accumulate in carpets. Opt instead for non-toxic, environmentally sustainable carpets and floor coverings. Better yet, remove carpets altogether and choose natural wood or stone flooring. If finances are a limiting factor, consider eco-friendly linoleum options.

Bright Colors in Room

Surround yourself with color and stimulate your nervous system with a bright pallet to welcome yourself awake. Striking up your senses in the morning helps to regulate your cortisol, the wake-up and activate hormone.

Always choose low VOC, organic, or water based paints to maintain low toxicity in your home.

Your Body

Sleep can also be deeply affected by what we put into our bodies. Take care to notice where these sneaky substances are cropping up, as some are much more obvious than others.

Both stimulants and depressants can disrupt sleep. Investigate, minimize, or eliminate the following for best dream-catching:

  • Caffeine
  • Nicotine
  • Sugar
  • Energy Drinks
  • Alcohol
  • THC/marijuana
  • Prescription medication
  • Over the counter drugs

Anyone suffering from regular insomnia should work on detoxifying the home, and balancing the body’s hormones. If the gut isn’t healthy, the endocrine system won’t be healthy, the body will not sleep well. It takes energy to sleep and to heal while we sleep. Check out Healing the Endocrine System and Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Autoimmune Diseases, and also see How Negative Ions and Positive Ions Affect our Health (click on the image).

Final Thoughts

Sleep is not a peripheral adjunct to a healthy existence; it is the lifeblood. It’s time to overcome the modern model of perpetual exhaustion and rebuild the ritual of sleep. Adopt conscientious strategies and revitalize your waking life.

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The Phantom Menace – The Superbug

It sounds like the latest Star Wars movie or a villain from Marvel Comics, but this “phantom menace” is not fiction. It’s a deadly superbug with a twist. Classified as a Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, this class of bacteria is not only antibiotic resistant to last-resort antibiotics, it has the ability to pass on its antibiotic resistance to other bacteria in the body. Like other superbugs, the phantom menace is associated with healthcare centers (like hospitals, nursing homes, and long-term care facilities) and results in a high mortality rate of 50% or more.

From 2010 through 2015, the CDC has confirmed 43 phantom menace cases in the U.S. from 19 states. The CDC reports that the majority of patients were exposed and infected outside of the United States. While 43 is a very small number, the CDC is concerned because they believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. These types of superbugs are believed to be on the rise and under diagnosed.

The phantom menace bacteria pass on antibiotic resistance through a plasmid, a small DNA molecule with the ability to replicate independently. It includes an enzyme that breaks down antibiotics. It is this plasmid that can transfer antibiotic resistance to other bacteria in our bodies. Basically, the non-superbug bacteria become infected with a resistant gene from the superbug bacteria and then continue spreading the resistant gene creating new strains of superbugs.

The worst-case scenario is not far fetched. The Washing Post quotes Lance Price, director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at George Washington University’s Milken Institute of Public Health, as saying, “History shows that these mobile resistance genes can spread around the world quickly, silently riding in people, animals and food.”

The superbug gene, MCR-1, is becoming more common in China and has recently shown up in Demark, fueling the concern that it will spread worldwide. Researchers in China tested marketplace meats and slaughterhouse pigs looking for the gene. It was found in 20% of the pigs and 15% of the meat.

Once again this very real threat is man-made. Researchers have concluded that drugs given the pigs in China provided the breeding grounds for the bacteria. If we continue the inhumane and dangerous practice of factory farming, feeding animals both prophylactic and indicated antibiotics, we will continue to breed new threats to worldwide health.

If we as individuals continue to use antibiotics when they are not needed along with antibiotic soaps, hand wipes, and cleaning solutions, we are part of the problem. We are aiding bacteria in their natural progression toward antibiotic resistance.

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Insomnia – A Comprehensive Look with Natural Remedies

I must have counted millions of sheep back when I regularly suffered from insomnia. I would lie in bed staring at the ceiling, or worse, staring at the clock. Minutes passed. Hours passed. I’d count the hours until I had to get up. Six hours. Five hours. Four. Regardless of how tired–how utterly exhausted my body and mind felt– I could not sleep.

Insomnia can be both debilitating and dangerous. According to The National Highway Safety Administration, 100,000 or more auto crashes each year are due to fatigue, with a resultant 1,550 deaths and 71,000 injuries. Some studies have shown that driving while exhausted can be even more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol.

When you have insomnia, you’re never really asleep… and you’re never really awake. – Fight Club

A chronic lack of sleep not only affects your work, your relationships, and your enjoyment of life, it also wreaks havoc with your hormonal system, your immune system, and your body’s ability to heal in every way (we regenerate while we sleep).

You don’t need to resort to pharmaceuticals with dangerous side effects and residual fatigue upon waking. Use these natural remedies to reset your sleep cycle and end insomnia.

Contents

The # 1 Insomnia Cure – Earthing While Camping

Let’s cut to the chase before we get into everything else.For most people, camping is simply the best cure for insomnia. If you can get away for a few days, bring lots of organic produce and other healthy foods, forage if you know how, and go sleep outside! Leave your electronic devices at home. Leave your phone in the car. Take some time to meditate. Write. Do some yoga. Most importantly, sleep on the ground – not in a camper, your car, or a cabin. Get grounded. Reset. Your goal is to de-stress, to take a break from distractions and the EFTs, to avoid artificial light, and to use natural light and magnetic fields to re-set your circadian rhythms. By the third day, almost anyone will be falling asleep shortly after nightfall, as nature intended.

Camping and proper diet will work for most people’s insomnia, but for many people, camping is not an option right now. And for some, the need for significant dietary and lifestyle changes may need to happen before the benefits of camping.

The Different Kinds of Insomnia

There is onset insomnia, which is trouble falling asleep, and there is maintenance insomnia, which is waking from sleep prematurely and not being able to go back to sleep (marijuana and alcohol).

Onset insomnia is often caused by anxiety, depression, pain, sleep-shift disorder, and an active mind. Some studies have shown that very intelligent people often have a very hard time going to sleep, not so much because they can’t, but because they choose not to. After time, this can disturb the body’s sleep rhythm causing insomnia. When they try to get to sleep earlier, regardless of how tired they are, their bodies don’t cooperate. Imagine how much easier it was to go to sleep at the most opportune time before technology, before artificial light, even before candlelight. Camping is an obvious choice for those who just need to reset their biological rhythms and find some peace.

Depression, anxiety, and other altered mental states can cause insomnia by working the overactive mind that doesn’t want to go to sleep, but these conditions can be connected to health issues. When someone regularly gets depressed their brain is not working right, and this can typically be traced back to vitamin and mineral deficiencies and toxicity in the body.

Short-term Insomnia and Chronic Insomnia

Short term maintenance insomnia could be a result of drug use, chemical exposure, allergies, and sleep shift disorder. Short term onset insomnia is typically due to stress. Chronic onset insomnia can be caused by a wide variety of factors from poor health to an overactive imagination to high intelligence. Chronic maintenance insomnia is a sign that one’s health is seriously flawed.

Causes for Insomnia

  • Marijuana – While marijuana can cure insomnia, chronic use of marijuana can lead to chronic maintenance sleep insomnia, and it can lead to onset insomnia when the person quits using it.
  • Allergies – A runny nose; itchy, watering eyes; painful sinuses; and itchy rashes are not conducive to sleep.
  • Diet – Poor diet equals poor health, and anything can go wrong.
  • Toxicity – Chemical toxicity and heavy metal toxicity interferes with the neurological system, the endocrine system, the immune system and every function of the body.
  • Medications – Pharmaceuticals are toxic, which is why all of them have side effects.
  • Gastrointestinal problems – Candida overgrowth, leaky gut, bacterial and parasitic infections, and autoimmune disease lead to insomnia and originate with poor diet.
  • Asthma – It is very difficult to sleep when breathing is impaired by bronchiospasms and mucous.
  • Neurological conditions – Multiple Sclerosis, Restless Leg Syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, etc.
  • Chronic pain – Lower back pain, headaches, arthritis, migraines, injuries, etc.
  • Coffee – Other stimulants including nicotine, teas, energy drinks, and drugs.
  • Hormones – Thyroid, adrenal system, endocrine system (see gut health).
  • Brain Health – If the endocrine system (see above) is unwell, or blood is toxic, so is the brain.
  • Vitamin B deficiency – Almost anyone with any mental or emotional issues from schizophrenia to depression has a vitamin B deficiency.
  • Depression – See brain health.
  • Sleep Shift Disorder – When the circadian rhythm is disrupted, hormones that aid in sleep are not released at the appropriate time.

Natural Remedies for Insomnia

There are many more well-known causes of insomnia than we can go over here, and the same is true for solutions. From meditation to warm milk, everyone has their solution to prevent a sleepless night. Most will also admit, if probed, that their solution doesn’t always work that well.

If camping is impossible, prolonged exposure to early morning light and regular contact with the earth (try grounding for 15 minutes a day) will reset your biological clock. Spend two hours in the early morning sun for one or two days. Set your alarm if necessary, and go back to sleep outside (on the deck or in the yard).

Eliminate stimulants from your diet. Coffee, tea, chocolate, soft drinks, energy drinks… If you won’t give these up, be sure to limit them to the early hours of the day.

For those who are too stressed out to sleep due to anxiety, consider stress management. Chronic anxiety should also be addressed as a physical health issue and addressed with nutrition. Don’t underestimate exercise, which has been proven in multiple studies to beat many prescription drugs in studies involving anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Studies also support the importance of getting out into nature. Take a walk in the woods, breathe the cleaner air, and just feel connected with nature. It’s also a good time to get grounded. Earthing, absorbing the energy, the electrical fields that we have been connected to for most of our existence, can improve health in a multitude of ways.

The aforementioned we should all be doing regularly regardless of how well we sleep. But, the best way to put an end to insomnia is to address the cause, or in most cases, the causes. While typically one of most common multiple causes of insomnia is a result of EMF exposure and not coming into contact with earth regularly, but there are many other common factors at play as well. Thyroid and adrenal fatigue can lead to insomnia and poor quality sleep, so address those glands, and the whole endocrine system, if needed. B vitamins are essential to the nervous system and deficiencies can result in disruption of sleep cycles. Take a high-quality B complex vitamin each day. If you do not get daily exposure to sunlight or you live north of Atlanta, Georgia or Los Angeles, California, supplement with vitamin D. A lack of healthy fats can also impair hormone production and proper vitamin B and D assimilation.

The only problem with getting healthier to get better sleep is that health doesn’t happen overnight, especially when said night is not restful, and it’s pretty hard to make good choices and take care of yourself when you’re chronically exhausted. Fortunately, there are plenty of herbal approaches that have been shown to put most to sleep without the side effects of pharmaceuticals.

Herbal Remedies and Supplements for Insomnia

To fix the biological clock long term, diet is key. B vitamins, thyroid health, and exercise are paramount, but the right combination of the following herbal remedies will knock almost anyone out at least for the first few nights they’re used, without the pharmaceutical side effects.

Tryptophan

Our bodies require tryptophan, an amino acid, to make serotonin and melatonin. It can help you fall asleep and improve your quality of sleep by lengthening the time you spend in deep sleep. In addition, studies have shown an increase in alertness upon waking. Tryptophan is plentiful in many different foods including tart cherries, spirulina, soy, many different kinds of meat, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, eggs, oats, lentils, and much more. The problem is that eating foods with tryptophan has been shown to not increase the tryptophan levels in the blood. Supplementation works better, but the need for tryptophan shows a need to address the endocrine system and balance the body’s hormones.

5 HTP (hydroxytryptophan)

5 HTP is produced in the body from tryptophan. You won’t get 5 HTP directly from your diet. The 5 HTP used in supplements is obtained from the seeds of Griffonia simplicifolia, a plant native to Africa. 5 HTP is a direct precursor of serotonin and it’s an intermediate for synthesis of melatonin.

Valerian Root

Valerian root aids in sleep onset as well as the quality of sleep. The best results are found when combining valerian root with melatonin or hops. Take 400-500 mg at bedtime.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland and may be also synthesized in the gastrointestinal tract from L-tryptophan. There are those who cannot convert tryptophan into melatonin as well, which is likely the reason why many find melatonin works better than tryptophan. For some, melatonin can help with the length of sleep or the quality of sleep, but many say it helps with sleep onset, but they find themselves waking after four or five hours. Side effects may include strange dreams, nightmares, and daytime drowsiness. Dosage ranges from 1-10 mg.

Must Read: How To Heal Your Gut

Hops

Hops extract is another sleep aid that helps one get to sleep and  improves sleep quality. It works well with valerian extract and the combination may help increase alpha brain waves.

Black Cohosh

Black cohosh minimizes sleep disturbances which is great for relief from maintenance insomnia, and it also reduces irritability and mood swings.

Passionflower

Passionflower clears anxiety and restores the body to a more peaceful state.

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha is known as an adaptogen that blocks stress messages in the body, promoting relaxation and peacefulness.

Chamomile flower

Chamomile flower and leaf soothes anxiety and has sedative properties. Check out Organic Solutions Cal-Calm Tea, with chamomile, red clover, and raspberry leaf.

Skullcap

Skullcap promotes calmness and increases the body’s ability to adapt to stress. It also acts as a sedative for aches and pain.

Marijuana for Insomnia

Cannabis works so well to put people to sleep that is truly a miracle drug/plant for many. Unfortunately, it’s not without its problems. Smoking anything is toxic to the body. Vaporizing is too, but with the right equipment, “vaping” can be much less toxic (the industry is new, and there are lots of toxic vaporizing products out there, so be careful). THC has both positive and negative side effects on the body.

Using marijuana is very hard on the thyroid, the pineal gland, the prostate, and probably the entire endocrine system (the endocrine system regulates our hormones and much more). Marijuana acts a lot like alcohol and other drugs to the body with sleep quality. The sleep isn’t deep enough and sleep is often interrupted. Many also find that marijuana use makes them more tired, groggy, and sometimes irritable during the day.

On the other hand, it really does work amazingly well to put someone to sleep. Used sparingly, combined with the right diet, exercise, and a few supplements will result in fewer side effects than simply smoking oneself to sleep. This is a very smart approach for anyone who is suffering from chronic pain, and need the powerful effects of marijuana to sleep while trying to repair the body and get well.

Music and Sounds for Insomnia

My Own Protocol for Insomnia

Having a family with a small child and having a business I love makes insomnia much less common. I don’t get nearly enough sleep, but it’s typically by choice. It’s hard for me to stop working at night when everyone else is finally quiet and letting me work undisturbed. Growing up, I suffered from severe insomnia and depression. It was more of a health issue. Today, if insomnia does grip me, it’s usually because I’ve been staying up working too late for too long and I need to push back my sleep schedule. When I was younger, I used this protocol to reset my sleep rhythms and improve my sleep quality, and to ensure that I slept for as long as I needed for optimum health and woke up feeling alert and refreshed.

  • Anytime I need to get to sleep on time, no matter what, I make sure I exercised that day. I also stay active throughout the day, too.
  • I like naps, but of course, I skip them if I am having trouble sleeping at night.
  • When I am adjusting my internal sleep clock from weeks or months of going to bed too late, I always make sure to wake up at the same time every morning, and I stay up, regardless of when I went to bed. Make sure your bedtime allows for enough sleep, regardless of when you fall asleep, and get up at the same time every morning no matter what.
  • I also get grounded and take that time to do some peaceful meditation in the mornings and before bed.
  • I make sure I get sunlight during the day, and I take vitamin D and B vitamins.
  • Before going to sleep, all the lights should be turned off or covered (those little blue, red, flashing lights on electronics inhibit proper sleep rhythms). Absolute darkness aids in melatonin production. If thoughts are swirling in my mind, I write them down. A bedside journal can be a great sleep aid.
  • L-Tryptophan or melatonin, Shillington’s Nerve Sedative Formula, and some B vitamins will knock me out within a half an hour every time. I like L-Tryptophan better than a melatonin supplement because it increases production of melatonin and serotonin, and I know my gut is healthy enough to convert it as it should. I have also had very good results with using both.

30 mins Before Bed

Laying In Bed

When I lay down to go to sleep, I make sure I am breathing properly (see How to Breathe) and I do math in my head. If the math problems are big or complex (or both), it’s something I can focus on without drifting into thoughts that are more likely to keep me up, and it will eventually put me to sleep. I also like to make up a dream for myself, roleplay it out in my head, and imagine it is a dream. I try to feel it like a dream, which is not easy to explain, but it also works well for me.

Shillington’s Nerve Sedative Recipe (or click here to purchase):

  • 2 – parts Valerian Root
  • 2 – parts Lobelia Seed Pods
  • 2 – parts Passion Flower
  • 1 – part Hops Flowers
  • 1 – part Black Cohosh
  • 1 – part Blue Cohosh
  • 1 – part Skullcap
  • 1 – part Wild Yam

A “part” is a measurement by volume.  Blend all ingredients together and make into a tincture using a 50 – 50 blend of alcohol and distilled water. For more, see How to Make a Tincture.

A dropperfull is considered to be about 1/2 way up the dropper from a two-ounce bottle.

Be sure to shake well before each use.

Other Steps You Can Take

Eliminating EMFs can help keep your sleep schedule consistent and rejuvenating. Try pulling mattresses away from outlets and keep electronic devices at a distance, or better yet, out of the bedroom.

A humidifier can help some people with dry sinuses, allergies, and those who snore.

Sleep on nontoxic bedding with nontoxic pillows, sheets, and blankets. This is a big deal! As previously mentioned, there are multiple causes for any one case of insomnia. One of those causes, and in fact, one of the causes for overall poor health and diseases is toxicity. Conventional mattresses are very toxic. Laying on them and breathing in the offgasses all night makes for a very toxic toll on the body. Fortunately, our bodies can take a very high toxic load without much complaint if the diet is healthy. Unfortunately, for those who suffer from autoimmune diseases and other health issues, a toxic mattress may inhibit them from restoring their body to optimum health and getting enough sleep even when their diet is improved for a consistent period of time.

Conclusion

For those who just need to reset their sleep rhythms, once you get your biological clock reset, your new sleep habits will require discipline, but you will reap the benefits of healthy, restful sleep. The trick to having a set sleep schedule (besides health) is all in the wakeup time. If 7 a.m. is when you want to wake up, then that’s when you wake up, no matter what, for the next 6 weeks. This includes your days off work and the morning after staying up late on purpose.

If you suffer from chronic insomnia, be it onset, maintenance, or both, your hormones are off, your health is not well, and your gut flora is unbalanced. The thyroid, the adrenal glands, and the entire endocrine system will need to be healed, and to do that, you’ll need to fix the digestive system. The following articles will help you address these conditions.

Again, get off the caffeine!

Let us know the tricks and tips you have to get to sleep easily. If none of these tips work for you, the least you can do is spend your time wisely. You can always develop a case of multiple personality disorder and spend your nights setting up a band of violent misfits to topple our banking system via high-powered cheap explosives. (Yes, I saw Fight Club too many times.)

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How Organic Bamboo Bedding Reduces Allergies

Allergies make you feel like you’re lumbering through life, grateful for just making it through the day. Most of us just accept allergies and try to deal with them as best we can. However, there are some ways that you can reduce your allergies. One way is to switch to organic bamboo bedding.

While switching your bedding may not be your first thought when trying to reduce your allergies, it is a surprisingly effective method. Many of us don’t realize how much traditional cotton bedding actually irritates our allergies and disrupts our sleep, causing us to wake up already tired and drained.

Below are a few ways that organic bamboo sheets and an organic bamboo comforter eliminate many of the allergies caused by traditional cotton bedding.

Hypoallergenic

The primary reason why organic bamboo bedding reduces allergies is because it is hypoallergenic. While many people suffer from allergic reactions to cotton, very few people are allergic to bamboo. In fact, organic bamboo bed sheets have been known to help relieve many skin allergies, such as eczema.

Fewer Dust Mites

The second reason why organic bamboo helps to relieve allergies is because it makes your bed less hospitable to dust mites. Dust mites are often the culprits of aggravating respiratory allergies, such as asthma.

How exactly does organic bamboo bedding make your bed less hospitable to these tiny culprits? Well, dust mites love warm, moist environments and organic bamboo sheets reduce the moisture in your bed. Organic bamboo bedding is able to do this because it wicks water away twice as fast as cotton, reducing the moisture by 50%. Less moisture means fewer dust mites and fewer dust mites means your allergies won’t act up as much.

Antibacterial

Just like dust mites, bacteria love warm, moist environments. Another byproduct of reducing moisture with organic bamboo bedding is that there is less bacterial growth in your bed. In order to grow and thrive, bacteria need water and without this moisture, their growth is inhibited. Bacteria can exacerbate any allergic reactions you’re having, such as worsening your eczema. Inhibiting bacterial growth will prevent any allergies you have from getting worse.

No Harsh Chemical or Dyes

Bacteria aren’t the only things that can aggravate an allergic reaction; harsh chemicals and dyes can as well. Even after washing your traditional cotton bedding, the residue of the harsh chemicals and dyes remains. Breathing in and being in constant contact with these chemicals isn’t healthy and can provoke respiratory and skin allergic reactions.

However, organic bamboo sheets are never treated with harsh chemicals and dyes. Since organic bamboo bedding is never treated with chemicals, you don’t have to worry about these chemicals finding their way into your bed. You can breathe and sleep easier knowing your bed doesn’t have any chemicals or dyes to irritate your skin or aggravate your respiratory allergies.

In conclusion, organic bamboo bedding reduces your allergies because it is hypoallergenic, is less hospitable to dust mites and bacteria, and isn’t treated with harsh chemicals or dyes. However, reducing your allergies isn’t the only benefit of organic bamboo bedding.



Why We Need Sleep

We spend, on average, a third of our lives asleep. Most Westerners don’t value that time very much, considering it unproductive. We set our alarm clocks to keep us from oversleeping, and many of us consume stimulants in an effort to extend our waking hours. After all, no one pays us to sleep.

When we’re sleeping, it doesn’t look like much is going on. We barely move and we rarely speak. But our bodies are very much at work, repairing our tissues and recharging our minds to prepare us for the next day. There are many health benefits to sleep, which are not fully realized until we get enough.

Sleep Balances the Body’s Hormone Levels

Turns out, hormones are not just for sex. Hormones are chemical signals produced by the body’s endocrine glands that regulate all kinds of bodily functions. Metabolism, mood, behavior, libido, immune function, growth, weight loss, and muscle gain are all strongly influenced by hormones. All of these hormones are needed at precise levels in the body.

Sleep helps to regulate cortisol. The right amount of cortisol enables us to metabolize proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. It is needed to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure. Even the immune system is dependent upon proper levels of cortisol for optimum functioning. But lack of sleep can cause the body to produce too much.

Excessive cortisol makes us irritable, anxious, and depressed. We put on extra weight and are even prone to insomnia, which creates a vicious cycle. Over the long term, very high levels of cortisol can do even more serious damage to our systems. Excessive levels of cortisol impair digestion, damage muscle and bones, interfere with healing and regeneration, disrupt mental functions, hinder immune response, and further disrupt the proper levels of other hormones in our bodies. The easiest, cheapest, and most natural way to regulate cortisol levels is to get adequate sleep.

Our bodies produce growth hormone when we are sleeping. This is the main hormone that stimulates children’s bodies to grow. In adults, this is one of the hormones that helps to regulate muscle mass. Growth hormone also helps to control body fat. Like cortisol, too much is not a good thing. The best way to get the correct nightly dose of growth hormone is to get enough sleep every night.

Grehlin and leptin are additional hormones that are produced during sleep. Grehlin and leptin both play an important role in regulating our urges to eat. An out of control appetite is arguably the most crippling obstacle to controlling weight. Without adequate leptin, it is difficult to find satiety at the end of a meal. In order to get a properly balanced dose of these hormones, we need to get a full night’s sleep.

How Sleep Affects Brain Waves

Cells, known as neurons, use electricity to send signals throughout the brain. The combined electrical activity of the brain is referred to as brainwaves because of the oscillating, wave-like effect of the electrical activity. Science has denoted four different types of brain waves: delta, theta, alpha and beta. Each type of brainwave is distinct due to the different speeds of oscillating charges that make up the brain activity.

Beta brainwaves make up the fastest cycles, firing at 13 to 60 pulses per second. Generally, when we are awake, we tend to exhibit more beta brainwave activity than any other. Routine stressors of everyday life typically require us to be able process information quickly, and beta waves are perfect for that. We don’t exhibit beta brainwaves when we are sleeping.

Alpha brainwaves are somewhat slower, oscillating at 8-13 pulses per second. Alpha brainwaves can occur when we are sleeping or awake. Alpha brainwaves are present during REM sleep, but they are more common when an individual is awake, relaxed, and in a state of focused calm. When our brainwaves slow to alpha speed, we put ourselves in the ideal frame of mind to handle complex information, to create art, to acquire a foreign language, or to analyze concepts at a deep level.

Theta brainwaves are present in deep meditation and light sleep. Theta brainwaves are common in stage 1 sleep. Theta brain waves are markedly slower, oscillating at 4-7 pulses per second.

Delta brainwaves, oscillating at speeds of 0.1 to 4 pulses per second, are the slowest brainwaves. Typically, this is the rhythm the brain favors during stage 3, deep sleep.

What Happens When We Sleep

The experts have previously broken down sleep into five stages. Recently this has been changed to combine stages 3 and 4 into one stage. The first three stages are unimaginatively called stage 1, stage 2, and stage 3. The other commonly used term for stages 1-3 is NREM or nonrapid eye movement sleep. The last, and most important stage, is REM or rapid eye movement sleep.

Stage 1

State 1 is the borderland between consciousness and sleeping. In this stage of sleep, we are still somewhat aware of our surroundings, as this is the lightest stage of sleep. At this stage, many of us don’t realize that we are asleep yet, and it is very common for someone when woken up from this stage of sleep to say that they weren’t sleeping.

At this stage of sleep, brainwaves move from fast pulsing beta waves to a more relaxed state, producing slower alpha waves; and then even slower theta brainwaves.

It is not unusual at this stage of sleep to experience something known as hypnagogic hallucinations. These are extremely vivid sensations experienced as one is falling asleep. A sensation of weightlessness, the feeling of falling, the sensation of being touched, or hearing someone call your name are prime examples of hypnagogic hallucinations.

Another typical but jarring experience in this stage of sleep is the myoclonic jerk. Have you ever been falling asleep and then abruptly startled awake, but seemingly without any cause? This is the experience of a type of myoclonus reflex. Although very disconcerting, myoclonic jerks are common during stage 1 sleep.

Stage 2

This is a deeper onset of unconsciousness. At this stage of sleep we are unaware of our surroundings. Breathing and heartbeat are regular, and the body’s temperature drops slightly. This temperature drop is only by a couple of degrees Fahrenheit, but it is crucial in order get to deeper stages of sleep. This is why sleeping in a cool room helps; most prefer temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Stage 3

Dreams are more likely to occur in stage 3 than in the previous stages of NREM sleep. A small drop in blood pressure occurs. Breathing slows. Brain activity slows. Delta brainwaves are common in this stage. Many different hormones are released. Blood supply to muscles increases, tissues are repaired, and growth occurs. This stage also restores energy to the body.

Stage 4 or REM Sleep

REM sleep stands for rapid eye movement. Many changes in the body take place. The cardiovascular system speeds up, heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, and our breathing becomes more rapid. Brainwave activity increases. In this stage of sleep, alpha waves are common.

It used to be believed that dreams only took place during REM sleep. Actually, dreaming is more common in REM sleep than in the other stages of sleep, but dreams can occur at every stage of sleep.

During REM sleep, dreams tend to be more intense. This is why our bodies paralyze us until we cycle out of REM sleep. This paralysis is caused by chemical signals sent from the brain that inhibit us from acting out our dreams.

REM sleep plays a crucial role in our mental health, and REM sleep is the stage of sleep needed for memory consolidation.

Stages Revisited

After stage 4, or REM sleep, the stages are repeated, excluding stage 1. So on a typical night, we first experience stages 1,2,3, and 4, then we experience stages 2,3,4, and 2,3,4 over and over until we wake up. The length of each stage depends on many factors, including our quality of sleep. With optimal rest, REM sleep usually lasts 90 min.

Dreams

Everyone dreams, and usually we have several dreams a night. If you don’t remember your dreams, there is a good chance that your sleep cycle is disrupted.

Dreams can vary a great deal from person to person, due to different life experiences. There are, however, a few common themes that many of us experience in our dreams. Dreams of falling are very common, as are dreams of flying. Dreams involving violence are also commonplace. Dreams of being chased and dreams of being followed are experienced by nearly everyone. Everyone dreams about sex. Forgetting to get dressed is also a common theme shared by many.

Lucid dreams are the dreams wherein we are aware that we are dreaming and we have some control over the dream. The extent of control over the dream varies, and in order for the dream to be under our control, we must first be aware that we are dreaming. Lucid dreaming is a skill that can be practiced and later mastered. If, before going to sleep, we focus on our desire to control our dreams, then we are more likely to be able to do so, at first to a limited extent, and later to a large extent. However, complete control of our dreams all night, every night, is beyond human ability.

Nightmares happen to everyone from time to time. If they occur frequently, they can be a symptom of an underlying neurological or psychological condition. One of the most effective treatments for frequent nightmares is to practice lucid dreaming. Life isn’t always pleasant, so it only makes sense that dreams are not always pleasant either.

Sleep Revs Up The Immune System

Individuals who sleep nine hours a night, instead of seven hours a night, have greatly enhanced NK cells, or natural killer cells. NK cells are special white blood cells. They are the special forces of the immune system that patrol the body in search of pathogens. They can kill cells infected with cancer or cells infected with viruses. They can also kill viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and helminthes.

NK cells are just one component of our complex immune system. All parts of our immune system work more efficiently with adequate rest.

Snoring

What causes snoring? Like many things in life, it is a combination of factors, not just one. We all have differences in anatomy. Variation is found in uvulas (the soft tissue that resides in the back of the throat), tonsils, and nasal passages. Structural differences in these anatomical structures can play a role in snoring.

Most of the people who snore are overweight. More often than not, a lack of muscle tone around the neck area, and excess fat around the neck is the main problem. Usually, weight loss and exercise is the best cure.

Smoking, alcohol, muscle relaxers, tranquilizers, and sleep medications, can all make snoring worse. Smoking cigarettes or smoking marijuana tends to generate excess mucus, which can obstruct the airway, contributing to that aggravating, rasping sound. The other drugs mentioned tend to relax the muscles around the throat, further aggravating a snoring problem.

Insomnia

Insomnia afflicts one half of Americans at some point in their lives, and many people suffer from insomnia on a regular or even nightly basis. There are a number of causes of insomnia. If insomnia has been a persistent problem, lifestyle changes are necessary in order to overcome chronic sleeplessness.

Lifestyle changes include giving up habits that are detrimental to our health. This is easier said than done. In fact, for most people, it is very difficult to give up those things that get in the way of sleep, even when they really do want to sleep well.

Alcohol

Many people think a nightcap or two will help them relax before turning in for the night. It’s true. Alcohol helps us relax, but it doesn’t help us to enter a deep sleep or to stay asleep, making the night’s sleep less rejuvenating.

Coffee and Energy Drinks

Coffee and energy drinks contain harmful substances in addition to caffeine. Caffeine increases levels of adrenaline and cortisol in the body, and increased levels do not help us sleep. Caffeine can stay in your system for up to 20 hrs. The average American downs three cups of coffee a day, usually drinking extra coffee following nights that they don’t sleep well. Unfortunately, this can create a vicious, exhausting, grouchy cycle. Both drinks are also very hard on the kidneys.

Smoking

The nicotine found in cigarettes stimulates the body to release adrenaline. Of course adrenaline interferes with sleep, and the hundreds of other chemicals that are found in cigarettes aren’t likely to help us sleep either.

How to Cure Insomnia

Camping

Camping is one of the most effective cures for insomnia. Time away from urban living helps to clear the mind, as does being immersed in natural surroundings. Being outside helps to get our bodies in tune with our natural circadian rhythms. In other words, it can help reset your biological clock.

Another thing that we can only get from the outdoors is the realignment of our nervous system. This realignment is different than the kind you can get from a chiropractor. Our nervous system runs on electrical impulses, so it needs grounding from time to time. When we are indoors or outside and wearing shoes all the time, the body’s electrical nervous system never gets properly aligned. Try standing outside with no shoes on when camping for fifteen minutes a day. It is amazing how rejuvenating and relaxing it feels at the same time. It will make you feel in sync.

Staring at artificial light sources such as TVs or computers interferes with the body’s production of melatonin, nature’s sleep aid. Electronics can also interfere with our electrical alignment, so leave the electrical devices in the car.

How Much Sleep Do We Need

Sleep needs vary by age. The following are recently revised guidelines from The National Sleep Foundation’s panel on how many hours of sleep we need at different ages.

  • Newborns (0-3 months): 14-17 hours a day.
  • Infants (4-11 months): 12-15 hours a day.
  • Toddlers (1-2 years): 11-14 hours a day.
  • Young children (3-5 years): 10-13 hours a day.
  • Children (6-13): 9-11 hours a day.
  • Teenagers (14-17): 8-10 hours a day.
  • Young adults (18-25): 7-9 hours a day.
  • Adults (26-64): 7-9 hours a day.
  • Older adults (65+): 7-8 hours a day.

How well we sleep is one of the best predictors of our longevity. Sleep slows the aging process. Those who sleep poorly actually age faster. Chronic sleep deprivation can shorten a lifespan by an average of eight to ten years. Instead of trying to get more hours out of the day, we should all be trying to get more years out of our bodies. In the end, isn’t that the best way to get more out of life and to get more done?

Many people boast about how they can function just fine on five or six hours of sleep a night. These are usually the same individuals who chug energy drinks, drink copious amounts of coffee, and pop energy pills. Instead of functioning at full capacity, they have learned to “get by” with only a shadow of their physical and mental capacities. Many of these people don’t realize that they are chronically sleep deprived because they’ve grown accustomed to being low on sleep and stimulated all of the time.

Signs of Sleep Deprivation

The most noticeable sign of sleep deprivation are dark circles under the eyes. Unfortunately raccoon eyes can also be a sign of kidney and liver toxicity, and it can be difficult to tell the difference between dark circles caused by a lack of sleep, dark circles caused by a build up of toxins in the body, or both.

Another common symptom of sleep deprivation is a pronounced difficulty in making decisions. Commonly this manifests as a tendency to delay decision making, to relegate decisions to a spouse or close friend, or to freeze when faced with important, time sensitive decisions. For others this manifests as a tendency to impulsively make the wrong decision or to overreact to an aggravating situation.

Clumsiness is another common symptom of sleep deprivation. No amount of caffeine or other stimulants can mask this symptom completely. The lack of coordination is often caused by dozing off, also referred to as micro sleeps. If we’re lucky, we drop a bowl of food, or the remote control. If unlucky, we have more serious accidents.

According to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) in the U.S. alone at least 100,000 automobile accidents a year are the direct result of driver fatigue. Sadly, of these crashes, there are roughly 1,550 fatalities, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in financial losses. These figures may only be the tip of the iceberg. According to Harvard Medical School those figures are the tip of the iceberg and the real figures are actually much worse.

“Every week, 2 million Americans nod off at the wheel; drowsy drivers get into 1.9 million crashes a year; and 20 percent of all serious motor vehicle accidents—one out of every five—involve sleepy drivers. The annual death toll is 7,500, and serious injuries number 50,000.”

Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

Try this test recommended by Dr. Don Colbert. During waking hours, try sitting in a comfortable chair in a dark room, without any music or noise for five minutes. If after five minutes you feel tired, then you aren’t getting enough sleep.

The Power of Naps

The vast majority of mammals (more than 85%) are polyphasic sleepers, which means that they sleep on and off throughout a 24 hr. period.

It is normal for people to grow tired twice in a 24 hr. period. We are polyphasic sleepers, but more specifically we are bi-phasic sleepers. We are designed to sleep twice a day – a short time in the afternoon and a longer, deeper sleep at night. Interestingly, at both times that we are designed to go to sleep our body temperature drops slightly, in the afternoon and at night.

There is no reason to believe that human beings should only sleep for one long stretch a day. Americans and others in the Western world are often under the impression that if they sleep during the day, they are being lazy. Other cultures have an entirely different take on this.

Throughout much of the world (especially in hot areas near the equator) afternoon commerce comes to a stop, businesses close, and people everywhere turn in for a siesta or a nap. In the Mediterranean, Southern Europe, and Latin America, afternoon naps are seen as necessary to maintain a high level of productivity. Siestas, to them, are a physical necessity, not an extravagant luxury reserved for small children and the elderly.

Not everyone works a job with the flexibility to take naps during the workday. But those who do should take advantage. It will make you more productive. Napping on your days off can also help you to make the most of your time away from work.

Afternoon naps are favored by many of the most successful people in history including Albert Einstein, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, John F. Kennedy, Leonardo Da Vinci, Margaret Thatcher, Napoleon, Ronald Reagan, Thomas Edison, and Winston Churchill.

Naps have been shown to:

  • Improve productivity by 34%
  • Enhance alertness by 100%
  • Reduce the risk of accidents (at work and on the road)
  • Improve negotiation and communication abilities
  • Reduce stress
  • Promote positive emotions
  • Provide extra energy

Conclusion

With today’s busy lifestyle, sleep is often a low priority. Most of us do not fully understand what sleep does for us, other than making us feel less tired. This is why so many substitute stimulants for adequate sleep. But stimulants only make up for our lack of energy, not for our lack of sleep. Even though it takes more time to get adequate sleep, we get more out of our bodies, more out of our minds, and our waking hours are much more productive when do make time to sleep and sleep well.

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Signs of Sleep Deprivation

No one can squeeze more hours into a day, but we certainly try. Unfortunately, too many of us extend the hours of our day by cutting back on sleep. There are many health and safety reasons to consider if you are not getting sufficient sleep. Here are the warning signs telling you that you are overdoing it and probably have been for some time.

You Need an Alarm Clock to Wake Up

If you can’t wake up on time without electronic help, this is a sign that you’re sleep deprived. It’s prudent to set alarm clocks just in case, but if you’re jolted out of a deep sleep every workday or feel the need to repeatedly hit the snooze button, you’re not getting enough sleep. Do you sleep late on weekends when if you went to bed at your usual time? Make-up sleep is a sure sign of sleep deprivation.

Impaired Decision Making

Chronic sleep deprivation impairs our ability to make minor decisions. The decisions could be as inconsequential as where to sit in a movie theatre, what movie to see, or whether to take a window or an aisle seat on a flight. Difficulty ordering from a menu, choosing what clothes to wear, what errands to run, and what order in which to do things are also common examples of impaired minor decision making. Trivial decisions have a way of appearing to be profoundly important when we are overly tired.

An inability to make important decisions is just as common for sleep deprived individuals. This can manifest as a propensity to freeze or panic when faced with highly stressful situations. Delaying major decisions like firing a subordinate when they clearly aren’t a good fit for the job or leaving a job you’re unhappy with are common. It takes a lot of mental energy to look for a new job or fire an employee and replace them. Chronically exhausted people are using everything they have just to get by. They are often caught in a holding pattern, putting off any major decision.

Impulsivity

There is another form of impairment besides an inability to make decisions. Some aren’t paralyzed. Instead, they have lost the ability to think things through and rush into making major decisions on impulse, without thinking through the consequences.

In addition to decision-making, they will react impulsively to aggravating stimuli, sudden desires, or other emotions.

Irritability

We all have our moments, and it can be hard to tell if the real reason is the people around us, or our lack of sleep. If you ask the people around you if you’re often grouchy, you may not get an honest answer. If you ask yourself, you may be kidding yourself. Ask your spouse or partner, he or she will know if you’re irritable.

Your Pillow Looks More Attractive Than Your Partner

Lack of sleep can lower sex hormones and increase stress hormones, which of course further lowers the sex drive. This is more noticeable in the over 30 crowd, because they have already passed their sexual peak, but it can happen to anyone who’s exhausted all the time; young or old.

You Get Sick All The Time

How many times have you been sick in the past year? If you can’t remember, but you know it was a lot, then you probably have an impaired immune system. Many people blame getting sick on germs, and though germs play a factor, with an optimal immune response we rarely, if ever, get sick. Frequent colds and bouts with the flu are a warning sign that you aren’t as healthy as you could be. Our immune system needs adequate rest to function at optimal levels.

You Honestly Can’t Recall

If you don’t know what happened to your memory these days, lack of sleep may be the culprit. All of the mnemonic tricks in the world pale in comparison to adequate rest.

Inability to Concentrate

Similar to an impaired memory, our ability to concentrate is dependent on adequate sleep. Sleep deprivation can lead to lower test scores, reduced productivity at work, and increased distractibility. This also includes lackadaisical staring off into space that sleepy people tend to do.

Clumsy

If you don’t know what happened to your sense of coordination, lack of sleep is quite possibly the problem. Sleep deprived individuals are more clumsy than those who are legally drunk. Video gamers take note: pulling all-nighters makes you less coordinated.

Nodding Off or Micro Sleeps

When we don’t give our bodies needed rest, our bodies will steal it from us. At inopportune times, we fade out, and we don’t necessarily even know that it happened to us. Over half of American drivers have admitted to nodding off at the wheel, and most of them simply keep driving. If you’re fading out during the day, your body is trying to tell you something.

Conclusion

What makes us more clumsy, drinking more than the legal limit?  Or being awake for 19 hours? If you think the answer is staying awake, you’re right. Most of us wouldn’t go to work drunk, but far too many of us go to work sleep drunk and seriously impaired.

Many of us feel the need to push ourselves beyond what we can get done in a day. When something has to give way, we cut into our sleep. But all we are doing is creating a cycle of diminishing returns, wherein we get less and less done during the day, leading us to feel we need to stay awake longer, in order to get more done.

Pushing yourself beyond your limits can be dangerous, even fatal. Falling asleep at the wheel is the most obvious way to kill yourself through sleep deprivation, but it certainly isn’t the only way. Sleep deprivation increases our risk for a multitude of diseases including chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic pain syndrome, autoimmune diseases, hypertension, obesity, and depression, to name a few.

Our bodies tell us in a multitude of ways if we have been pushing ourselves too hard. Take heed and listen to the warning signs.

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