SLEEP REMEDIES
by Nikki Moses, NC
(some of the included information is from articles by Dr. Wilson)
© 2010
Sleep is vitally important to healing. Unfortunately, today many people have trouble sleeping. There are many causes for this. Adrenal fatigue, toxic metal accumulation, stress, deficiencies of calming nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and zinc, poor diet choices, electromagnetic stress, and other imbalances all can play a role. While there are many sleep remedies one can try, the only real long-term solution is to balance one's body chemistry, which in my opinion, is best accomplished through a hair analysis test and a properly-designed nutritional balancing program. But it can take time on a nutritional balancing program to fully handle the problem or problems causing the sleep difficulties, so the following suggestions may help in the meantime.
Also, for those who may not have had difficulty sleeping when they started on a nutritional balancing program, various bio-chemical changes taking place can cause temporary sleep problems for which the following remedies may be helpful.
Lifestyle suggestions for sleep:
- Reduce your salt intake if you are eating a lot of salt and especially do not eat salty foods in the evening.
- Avoid any sugars and sweets at night.
- Try to have a protein-rich snack before bed (like yogurt, a small piece of chicken, some raw or goat cheese, almond butter, etc.), and keep something by the bed to snack on if you wake up in the night. You may need this food even if you don’t feel hungry. This is especially important for those who have hypoglycemic tendencies -- when the body's blood sugar level dips, the brain will wake you up to make sure you eat something.
- Try to be in bed by 8 or 9 p.m. If you stay up, your sympathetic (stress) nervous system starts to kick in and can interfere with sleep the entire night.
- Rub your feet and especially the toes before bed. This can help relax and balance the body.
- Lie down and take long, deep breaths for up to 15 minutes.
- An infra-red lamp sauna before bed is excellent for sleep.
- Keep the room very dark. In fact, keep the house as dark as possible leading up to bedtime so your body recognizes it is nighttime and produces the proper sleep hormones. This includes not using your computer at night, and for some people, dimming their TV’s or keeping them off some time before bed.
- Take a slow, quiet, relaxed walk in the evening or even before bed (of course, this only works if you live in a safe neighborhood). This can be very calming and takes your mind off of things. Often you will find yourself starting to yawn while walking.
- Keep all plugged-in electronics at least 10 feet from the bed. The magnetic fields generated by these things can interfere with sleep. If you need a clock by the bed, try using one that is battery operated.
- If you are anxious or have mind-racing, reading something very light or inspiring may be helpful. Also, some people have found it beneficial to find movies that they've seen before to watch in bed. They should be happy, calming or inspiring movies and should not be movies you've never seen. This way you know what happens already and don't force yourself to stay awake to see the ending. Replaying the same movie every night can actually train your body to fall asleep because you have fallen asleep to it many times. For some who have done this for a while, all it takes is to hear the soundtrack music start to play, and they start to yawn and are ready to drift off to sleep. Be sure to lower the volume as needed, and set a sleep timer so that the television turns off after 30-90 minutes. Another suggestion is to listen to some light classical or other soothing music.
Some other sleep remedies:
Use the remedies discussed below on an as needed basis. One can become dependent on them, which is not optimal. Sleep remedies are most often excellent while on trips or in situations when you are under stress that interferes with your rest and sleep. They should not be needed as your body heals on a nutritional balancing program.
Note that the best time to take sleep remedies is while you are quiet and preparing for bed at an early hour. They may be less helpful when one is anxious and tense, or at a late hour when the sympathetic nervous system has kicked in to give you extra energy because you did not rest when you should have.
Remedies are just that. They are not a substitute for correcting situations that interfere with your healthful early-to-bed, daily sleeping habits.
- A chi machine can be fabulous just before bed. This is a box that sits on the floor and you place your ankles in cradles on top of the box. When activated, the machine gently moves your legs back and forth, relaxing the spine and the entire body. These are not expensive, as a simple one usually works just fine and costs about $120.00 new.
- A small cup of warm, preferably raw, milk can be very good.
- A cup of strong, freshly brewed chamomile tea, valerian root, herbal combinations, Sleepytime teas and homeopathic remedies that are available at health food stores can help.
- Endo-met carries a product called Calm Caps with GABA and Valerian root and other herbs and minerals which may be helpful.
- Endo-met carries a Melatonin product you can try, or you can find one at your local health food store. Be conservative with Melatonin use, especially men -- more is not necessarily better.
- Endo-met’s 5-Hydroxy L-Tryptophan (but do not take if you are on MAO inhibitors or prescription anti-depressants).
Occasionally for people on a nutritional balancing program, toxins will dump at night and can interfere with sleep. The following can help:
- You may do a coffee enema at night, even in the middle of the night if you have a headache or other toxic symptoms. But perhaps use a little less coffee than usual at night.
- You may also use a sauna in the middle of the night, and it may help move a toxic reaction along faster or stop pain so you can sleep. Be sure to drink a little water afterwards.
