SLEEP
If you are having trouble sleeping as a result of stress and tension from current events we have some suggestions to help your body break the cycle. These suggestions promote balance of your sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) and the parasympathetic nervous system (calming) and help support your body’s production of serotonin and melatonin.
Why is abundant good quality sleep important?
Getting enough quality sleep is one of the most important things you can do for optimal health. It is as critical as the food you eat, and even more essential than exercise.
You need deep, restful sleep to help your body repair itself from daily stresses. You need it for proper immune function and for heart health and to resist disease.
Sleep plays a major role in your brain health, mood and cognition. Toxins build up in your brain during waking hours and are flushed away during deep stages of sleep. Your body’s cellular repair and normal cellular detoxification processes peak while you’re asleep at night.
Insufficient or poor sleep takes a toll on the entire body and the longer sleep deprivation continues, the greater the potential threat to your overall well-being.
Factors involved with poor sleep:
Unhealthy sleep habits
Too much wake drive or too little sleep drive in your brain
Issues such as allergies, pain, gastric reflux, neurological conditions
Medications
Underlying sleep disorder (i.e., sleep apnea)
Stress, worry, tension
Poor sleep environment
Aging
What to do that can help you settle in for a comfortable night of sleep:
13 Steps to a Good Night’s Sleep:
Expose yourself to 30 to 60 minutes of bright outdoor light during the morning or mid-day
Avoid eating at least three hours before bedtime
Caffeine stays in your system for up to 8 hours, so don’t consume it late in the day
Of course NO ALCOHOL
Minimize bright artificial lighting after sunset
Avoid the use of electronics (and TV) two hours before bedtime
Maintain a consistent bedtime, seven days a week
Avoid long naps in the afternoon
Sleep in complete darkness using blackout shades or drapes if need be
Maintain your bedroom temperature at 70 degrees F or below
Eliminate electromagnetic field emission in the bedroom (cell phones, computers, wifi, etc)
Establish a relaxing bedtime routine, which could include deep breathing, meditation, a hot bath or shower, and aromatherapy
A daily routine of regular exercise involving aerobic activity and resistance training for at least 30 minutes, five days per week, will improve your sleep quality
Maintaining a normal sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythm) is very important. Optimizing your melatonin levels, a natural occurring hormone in the body secreted by the pineal gland, is important for supporting restful sleep, ideally through exposure to bright sunlight during the daytime and complete darkness at night.
As one ages, melatonin levels gradually decline, leading to less efficient sleep and circadian rhythm disruption.
Supplements and other alternative natural remedies for sleep:
Melatonin: Supplementing with oral melatonin can help.
Suggested dose is 3-5 mg about 1-2 hours before sleep.
Glycine: (2-aminoacetic acid) is an amino acid that the body produces. It is also found in high protein foods. It influences your heart, brain, digestion, blood sugar levels, immune function and vascular and metabolic health in many ways. It can function as a neurotransmitter and can calm the brain and nervous system activity. It also influences sleep by helping the body make serotonin, one of the primary sleep and mood hormones. Serotonin is also used by the body to make melatonin, at higher levels glycine may improve sleep quality, and promote deep restful sleep, increase sleep efficiency, and help you fall asleep faster. Studies show that glycine allows you to spend more time in REM sleep and move more quickly into deep sleep.
Magnesium: Experts believe that up to 80% of Americans are not getting enough magnesium. Diabetics, pre diabetics are especially vulnerable to magnesium deficiency as are the elderly.
Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and is involved in more than 600 enzymatic reactions. It is used by every cell and organ for their proper functioning. It is essential for bone, brain, heart and muscle health. Magnesium is also important for sleep and your nervous system. Research shows it may help reverse the sleep pattern changes that can occur with aging and promote greater amounts of deep sleep in older adults.
To fall asleep and stay asleep you must be relaxed and the brain must be quiet. Magnesium helps create a feeling of calm and relaxation by supporting your parasympathetic nervous system activity.
Magnesium:
Regulates neurotansmitters, which send signals throughout the nervous system and brain
Regulates melatonin, modulating the sleep–wake cycle
Maintains healthy levels of GABA (gamma amino butyric acid), a neurotransmitter that reduces excess brain activity and promotes relaxation and sleep
Blocks more excitable molecules from binding to nerve cells to help calm the nervous system
Suggested dose (as Magnesium Glycinate) 400 mg to 500 mg by mouth nightly.
Vitamin D3: Blood level should be between 50-80. Most people do require Vitamin D supplementation.
Lavender: a natural herb with effects causing muscle relaxation, reduction of stress and anxiety, increases deep slow wave sleep.
Lavender soft gel 80 mg, 1-2 times daily with a full glass of water.
Isophos (phosphatidylserine) (Thorne): 1-4 capsules at night before sleep. Phosphatidylserine is in this product, and is the primary phospholipid in brain cell membranes. It improves cell communication to support memory, and focus and helps regulate cortisol during stress. It helps remove impediments to sleep.
Valerian Root: works on the hippocampus in the brain. Dose 400-600 mg before sleep.
Seditol (Pure Encapsulations): contains the following herbs: Magnolia bark officialis, ziziphus jujube. Both are Chinese medicine herbs to reduce stress, promote restful sleep. Dose: 1 capsule one hour before sleep.
Herbal Sleep PM (Life Extensions): contains three plant-based ingredients that target the brain’s sleep center to promote restful sleep patterns. This sleep aid contains lemon balm (an herb in the mint family contains rosmarinic acid which enhances GABA neurotransmitter activity in the brain by inhibiting the enzyme that degrades GABA, promoting sleep and reducing anxiety); honkiol (a compound found in the magnolia tree, which interacts with GABA receptors), and apigenin (an ingredient found in Chamomile). This should be 30-60 minutes before bedtime.
Information courtesy of Dr. Joseph Mercola, D.O., and the following nutraceutical companies: Life Extensions, Pure Encapsulations, and Thorne.