A Sleep Strategy

GOAL: 8 HOURS A DAY
WHY?

While you enjoy your rest, your body is hard at work. A construction crew consisting of various hormones are rebuilding and recalibrating your body. Some of the things they do:

• Erase fine lines on your face
• Build bone
• Build lean muscle
• Heal tissue
• Decrease sugar cravings
• Help you utilize blood sugar efficiently
• Fortify your cells again cancerous mutations
• Help you process and organize your thoughts
• When they finish, they provide you with a burst of energy to start your day

On the other hand, if you are not giving them a full work day, inevitably there will be a deterioration of your health, both mental and physical.

Here are some tips from the Sleep Disorders Institute at New York’s St. Luke’s Roosevelt hospital and Dr. Mercola to help you get the sleep you need:

• Exercise every day. Even 20 minutes of walking can help keep stress hormones from interfering with your sleep.
• Avoid large meals just before bedtime. An active digestive system can disrupt sleep.
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine or other stimulants within four hours of bedtime.
• Avoid before-bed snacks, particularly grains and sugars. This will raise blood sugar and inhibit sleep. Later, when blood sugar drops too low (hypoglycemia), you might wake up and not be able to fall back asleep.
• Minimize noise and temperature extremes; your bedroom should be comfortably cool, about 68 degrees.
• Don’t read, watch television or work in bed. Use the bed only to sleep. This helps prevent you from developing sleep disorders.
• Listen to white noise or relaxation CDs. Some people find the sound of white noise or nature sounds, such as the ocean or forest, to be soothing for sleep.
• Sleep in complete darkness or as close as possible. If there is even the tiniest bit of light in the room it can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your pineal gland’s production of melatonin and seratonin. There also should be as little light in the bathroom as possible if you get up in the middle of the night.. As soon as you turn on that light you will for that night immediately cease all production of the important sleep aid melatonin.
• Wear socks to bed. Due to the fact that they have the poorest circulation, the feet often feel cold before the rest of the body. A study has shown that this reduces night wakings

Deficiencies in certain vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes also can potentially impair sleep.

SUPPLEMENTS THAT MIGHT HELP 

TURN DOWN [This comes in convenient little packets. It is Isotonic – “It you are going to take a supplement. Take an isotonic]

Some Key Ingredients include 

• Tryptophan (L-tryptophan) is an amino acid that plays a key role in the repair of protein tissues and in creating new protein. In the brain, tryptophan is converted into serotonin, a natural sleep-inducing chemical. It also enhances the brain’s ability to produce melatonin, the hormone that regulates your body’s natural inner clock. L-tryptophan is found in foods such as milk and turkey.
• Vitamin B6 can help to prevent insomnia.
• Calcium, has a sedative effect on the body. A calcium deficiency in the body causes restlessness and wakefulness. .
• Magnesium deficiency is responsible for restlessness that prevents sleep. Magnesium-rich foods include kelp, wheat bran, almonds, cashews, blackstrap molasses, and brewer’s yeast.

AND/OR
MELATONIN

• This is a hormone secreted naturally by the pineal gland. Melatonin is found naturally in plants and in algae. In several studies, supplementation with melatonin has been found helpful in inducing and maintaining sleep. However, it appears melatonin supplementation will only produce a sedative effect when melatonin levels are low.

Remember, if some minor adjustments do not relieve your sleep issues, seek the counsel of a health professional. A cumulative sleep deficit can result in serious health consequences over time.