We spend up to a third of our lives asleep. Although some hard-driving people may view sleep as an inconvenience that curtails productivity and leisure activities, slumber is certainly no waste of time. In fact, sleep may play a more crucial role than diet or exercise in fostering optimal health.
A natural restorative, sleep offers an antidote to the damage done to our bodies during the day. It allows the body to replenish its immune system, eliminate free radicals, and ward off heart disease and mood imbalances. When sleep is disrupted--whether by lifestyle factors, insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome, jet lag, sleepwalking, night terrors, hormonal imbalance, or some other disorder--emotional and physiological health suffers.
But you don't have to accept sleep deprivation and the ills that accompany it. Nor must you resort to pharmaceutical sleeping aids, which generally bring on their own set of disabling symptoms. Before you take a tranquilizer, which will invariably mask your symptoms, consider trying these seven natural remedies--they can gently and effectively help you snooze your way back to health.
1. Improve your dietWhat you eat definitely influences the quality of your sleep. Fortunately, you have a great deal of control over these factors even though it can sometimes be hard to exercise. Here are the golden rules for a sleep-conducive diet:
• Avoid alcohol consumption or curtail it markedly.
• Avoid caffeine in all forms.
• Identify and eliminate allergenic foods. Common culprits include wheat, eggs, and chocolate, as well as milk and corn.
• Eat to boost levels of tryptophan, a building block for melatonin. To do that, eat an evening or bedtime snack consisting primarily of carbohydrates, but with a small amount of a food rich in tryptophan like turkey, chicken, eggs, dairy products, nuts and seeds, soy products, oatmeal, or bananas.
• Eat more raw vegetables and salad greens.
• Eat whole grains and high-fiber foods, and avoid sugary or processed simple carbohydrates. Whole grains contain many B vitamins, which act as natural sedatives for calming irritability and tension that may hinder deep sleep.
• Eat more protein during the day in the form of moderate amounts of lean meat, seafood, eggs, nuts, brown rice, beans, and avocados. Protein is digested more slowly and doesn't cause an insulin spike, which may interfere with sleep.
• Eat a wide variety of foods to ensure that you are getting sufficient nutrition.
• Be aware of the fat content of foods. Incorporate healthy fats such as olive oil and flaxseed oil, which contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
• Take 1 gram of niacinamide (vitamin B3) at bedtime. This is useful for those who fall sleep easily but awaken and cannot get back to sleep.
• Take 500 mg of chlorella or other algae products at bedtime, as a source of tryptophan.
2. Detoxify your bodyIncreasingly, researchers have identified toxicity as the predisposing factor in a long list of acute and chronic illnesses, including sleep disorders, environmental illness, chronic fatigue, degenerative diseases, and cancer. "The current level of chemicals in the food and water supply and the indoor and outdoor environment has lowered our threshold of resistance to disease and has altered our body's metabolism, causing enzyme dysfunction, nutritional deficiencies, and hormonal imbalances," says Marshall Mandell, MD, a pioneer in environmental medicine.
Detoxification of the colon and liver can play an important role in both preventing and healing many of these conditions. There are two basic approaches to colon cleansing: taking herbs and supplements and internally bathing the colon via enemas or colonic irrigation. The cleanse formulas we recommend include Ultimate Cleanse from Nature's Secret; Whole Body and Colon Program made by the Pure Body Institute, and Cleanse 28 available from Arise and Shine Herbal products.
Colon-cleansing supplements can work quite well, but someone who has a more toxic colon might benefit from augmenting these formulas with enemas or colonic irrigation. Using either of these therapies at the very beginning of any colon-cleansing program may help achieve better results more quickly. The number and frequency of colonics or enemas needed will vary depending on the condition of the colon and the nature of the overall cleansing program. It's not unusual to require anywhere from 6 to 18 treatments, which can be given daily or weekly. Your colon therapist should be a trained, licensed professional, though they need not be a doctor.
Annual liver-cleansing treatments can also help prevent an excess buildup of liver toxins. It is surprisingly easy to use nutrients and herbs like dandelion root, Oregon grape root, and chlorophyll to safely and effectively cleanse these organs. "Liver flushes are also used to stimulate the elimination of wastes from the body, to open and cool the liver, to increase bile flow, and to improve overall liver function," says herbalist Christopher Hobbs, LAc.
Finally, yeast overgrowth causes a lengthy and diverse list of allergic reactions, ranging from sleep disturbances, fatigue, and digestive difficulties to joint pains, food cravings, and emotional problems. Chlorophyll, probiotics, garlic, and caprylic acid can help against candida.
3. Reset your body clockThe body clock and circadian rhythms primarily determine our sleep-wake patterns. When these functions are thrown off course--by jet lag or shift work, for example--sleep problems ensue. Other factors, including inadequate exposure to light, improper diet, pharmaceutical drugs, electromagnetic fields, and stress can impair the pineal gland's ability to produce the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, drastically altering sleep patterns. You can reverse sleep problems caused by disrupted circadian rhythms if you take the following steps to reset your body clock.
• Avoid caffeine and alcohol.
• Exercise, and spend more time outdoors.
• Get bright light therapy. The premise behind light therapy is simple: Get more light exposure during the day (which inhibits melatonin secretion) and less at night (which stimulates secretion). This allows the body to naturally reset its sleep-wake rhythms. One way you can increase exposure to bright light in the day is by going outdoors for one hour or more each day. Or install full-spectrum light bulbs in your home and office. Additionally, you may consider using a light box; these specially designed devices use full-spectrum fluorescent lights to simulate early-morning sunlight. Light boxes typically cost $100 to $450. Most standard therapy protocols recommend 10,000 lux (units of illuminance) for at least 30 minutes daily or 2,500 lux for at least two hours
• Try magnets. Controlled use of magnetic fields can benefit those who suffer from sleep disorders by reversing the detrimental effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (emanating from electrical appliances around us) on the pineal gland. Commercially available, negative-polarity mattress pads are the easiest way to use magnet therapy for sleep disorders. You simply place the pad on top of the mattress (for maximum strength) or between the mattress and box spring. However, mattress pads can be costly, and your doctor may determine that magnets placed on your eyes or abdomen will be more effective for your condition.
• Supplement with melatonin. This hormone effectively relieves insomnia (including cases associated with jet lag and shift work), sleep-phase syndromes, and REM behavior disorders in all age groups. Melatonin has also been found to significantly increase deep sleep, REM sleep, and sleep efficiency (time spent in sound asleep), all without the "hangover" or stupor effects common with other over-the-counter and prescription sleeping aids.
People taking this hormone generally need to experiment with different dosages before finding the right one for their needs. For sleep onset and other types of insomnia, the standard dosage of melatonin is between 0.2 mg and 10 mg taken approximately 30 minutes before bedtime. Seek out a source of bioidentical melatonin, which is exactly like the melatonin the body produces.
A cautionary note, however: The long-term effects of melatonin supplementation are unknown. As with any hormone-replacement therapy, there is a chance the endocrine system could stop producing its own melatonin. We advise against self-dosing melatonin supplements on a long-term basis or in certain conditions without first consulting a healthcare practitioner who can monitor your levels of melatonin.
Additionally, while melatonin has been shown to be very safe in short-term use, pregnant women and people with severe allergies, severe mental illness or depression, autoimmune diseases, and immune-system cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia are advised to avoid melatonin supplements since the hormone may exacerbate these conditions.
4. Resolve emotional issuesStress is a common part of everyday life, but it can become harmful to the body when it is prolonged or chronic. It affects the body in very real physical ways by influencing the immune and endocrine systems. One result can be poor sleep quality, restless nights, and development of sleep disorders. A number of studies have also found a connection between stress and disturbed sleeping patterns. One study, for example, indicated that on average 41 percent of insomnia cases were related to stress or other emotional factors.
Fortunately, mind-body medicine offers many methods for reducing stress or enhancing your ability to cope with it, including meditation, biofeedback, counseling, hypnotherapy, aromatherapy, guided imagery, cranial electrical stimulation, flower remedies, and acupuncture.
And take heart insomniacs--just as stress and sleep problems can create a terrible negative feedback loop, the opposite is also true. Many mind-body techniques for stress reduction have also been proven to improve sleep. In 1995, a panel of the National Institutes of Health announced that their review of the clinical data showed that meditation and other relaxation techniques (such as biofeedback and hypnosis) can be effective treatments for insomnia and chronic pain.
5. Protect yourself from environmental factors Electromagnetic fields (EMFs), a type of low-level radiation generated by computer monitors, televisions, fluorescent lights, electronic devices, and sometimes wiring, are generated when electric currents flow through wire coils. Researchers once thought EMFs, especially very low frequency and extremely low frequency EMFs, were harmless because they were of such low strength compared to other forms of radiation, such as those from a nuclear reactor or X-rays. But now, as technology proliferates and people use more electronic devices, some researchers suspect EMFs are contributing to a subtle assault on people's immune systems and overall health.
EMFs interact with living systems, affecting cell division and multiplication, enzymes related to growth regulation, and the functioning of the pineal gland, which regulates the sleep hormone, melatonin. Evidence of a connection between melatonin and EMFs gets stronger with each passing study. For example, in 1996 a team of researchers found that blood melatonin levels in female rats decreased after exposure to 50 hertz magnetic fields, about the same frequency as most household appliances. The greatest concern about EMFs is not from a one-time use of a hair dryer or an hour in front of a computer, but from cumulative exposures: continuous high levels of EMFs hour after hour, day after day.
To limit your exposure, try the following:
• In the bedroom, place all electric devices at least 3 feet from the bed, including lamps, alarm clocks, televisions, and heaters. (You may even want to try turning off all circuit breakers before going to bed for three nights to see if there is any improvement in your sleep.) Unplug electric blankets before you get in the bed.
• In the bathroom, avoid or reduce use of a hair dryer. Use a safety razor instead of an electric one.
• In the kitchen, don't stand in close proximity to the microwave, dishwasher, or other appliances while they are in operation. Consider converting to a gas range if your stove is electric.
• Vacuum cleaners and portable electric heaters generate fairly strong EMFs, as do power tools.
• Turn off computer monitors, TVs, and other electronic devices when not in use.
• When possible, avoid or minimize proximity to transmission lines, especially high-voltage lines.
• Optimize the flow of qi in your bedroom by applying feng shui principles when decorating and arranging furniture. For example, the bed should be diagonally across the room from the entrance so that people in the bed have a full view of anyone entering.
6. Balance your hormonesThe word
hormone comes from the Greek
hormon, meaning "to stir up." Hormones are released by the various endocrine glands in the body in order to regulate energy production, growth, sexual development, stress responses, and many other functions. Because minute quantities of hormones can "stir up" so many activities in the body, when they are thrown out of balance the results can affect the entire body. Hormonal imbalances often manifest as insomnia and other sleep problems. Key factors that can upset hormone levels include thyroid dysfunctions, perimenopause and menopause (in fact, disturbed sleep is one of the complaints that cause women to seek treatment for menopause and perimenopause), and andropause (the male form of menopause). Although hormone levels generally decline as a result of aging, they can also be affected by dietary choices, mineral deficiencies, environmental toxins and synthetic chemicals, medications, smoking, and stress.
Rather than artificially manipulating your estrogen levels with synthetic hormones and ignoring the reasons behind any imbalances, it is more valuable to determine why you have hormonal imbalances in the first place. Depending on the reason, restoring hormonal balance may be more effectively achieved with dietary changes, nutritional supplements, natural progesterone cream, herbal therapy, or traditional Chinese medicine tailored to the specific factors causing the imbalance.
7. Correct structural imbalances Physical stress and muscular tension may be keeping you awake at night as well. While exercise and physical activity are important components of any healthy lifestyle, they are an absolute necessity for people who suffer from sleep disorders. Researchers have consistently found that people leading more sedentary lives have a higher incidence of insomnia. Your exercise program should target flexibility, circulation of blood and lymph fluid through cardiovascular and strength-training programs, and relaxation. Exercises from the East, such as qigong and yoga, increase flexibility and also help relax an anxious mind. Don't worry though: You don't need to run marathons or lift weights to benefit from regular exercise.
Daily workouts should be augmented by various forms of bodywork, such as chiropractic, massage, acupressure, or other physical therapies that promote relaxation and improve the circulation of nerve impulses, blood, and lymphatic fluid.
As you implement these seven steps, be aware of which therapies and approaches seem to help you sleep. You have very little to lose and a great deal to gain--not just sound, restorative sleep, but overall health and well-being as well. Good night.
By Herbert Ross, DC, with Keri Brenner, LAc.
Excerpted from
Alternative Medicine magazine's
Definitive Guide to Sleep Disorders: 7 Smart Ways to Help You Get a Good Night's Rest (Celestial Arts, 2007).
Here is an excellent slide show on the Mayo Clinic site that suggests good sleeping positions.
Caffeine stays in your system as long as 14 hours, increases the number of times you awaken at night and decreases the total amount of sleep time. This subsequently affects daytime anxiety and performance.
