5 BEST FOODS TO PROMOTE SLEEP
1. Cherries -- Fresh, dried and tart cherries are one of the only natural food sources of melatonin, the chemical that controls the body's internal clock to regulate sleep. Researchers who tested tart cherries and found high levels of melatonin recommend eating them an hour before bedtime or before a trip when you want to sleep on the plane.
2. Almonds -- A handful of these heart-healthy nuts can send you snoozing because they contain both tryptophan and a nice dose of muscle-relaxing magnesium. They have the added benefit of supplying proteins that can help maintain a stable blood sugar level while sleeping, and help promote sleep by switching you from your alert adrenaline cycle to your rest-and-digest cycle. Try this bedtime snack: Have a tablespoon of almond butter or a 1-ounce portion of almonds to help your body relax.
3. Honey -- Drizzle a little in your herbal tea. Lots of sugar is stimulating, but a little glucose tells your brain to turn off orexin, a recently discovered neurotransmitter that's linked to alertness. Honey can promote relaxation and help ease you to sleep at night. The natural sugar found in honey raises our insulin slightly and allows tryptophan, to enter our brains more easily. Taking a spoonful of honey before bed can help you get restful sleep.
4. Flaxseeds -- When life goes awry, and feeling down is keeping you up, try sprinkling 2 tablespoons of these healthy little seeds on your bedtime oatmeal. They're rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a natural mood lifter. Many people notice that just 1 tablespoon of flaxseed oil 1 hour before bed promotes a deeper sleep. Generally, fatty acids are involved in initiating and maintaining sleep. There are different categories of fatty acids that we need: omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9 fatty acids. All three types of fatty acids play a role in sleep. Flax oil is a rich source of all three of them.
5. Bananas -- They're practically a sleeping pill in a peel. Potassium and magnesium are natural muscle relaxants, and bananas are a good source of both. They also contain the amino acid L-tryptophan, which gets converted to 5-HTP in the brain. The 5-HTP in turn is converted to serotonin (a relaxing neurotransmitter) and melatonin.
1. Cherries -- Fresh, dried and tart cherries are one of the only natural food sources of melatonin, the chemical that controls the body's internal clock to regulate sleep. Researchers who tested tart cherries and found high levels of melatonin recommend eating them an hour before bedtime or before a trip when you want to sleep on the plane.
2. Almonds -- A handful of these heart-healthy nuts can send you snoozing because they contain both tryptophan and a nice dose of muscle-relaxing magnesium. They have the added benefit of supplying proteins that can help maintain a stable blood sugar level while sleeping, and help promote sleep by switching you from your alert adrenaline cycle to your rest-and-digest cycle. Try this bedtime snack: Have a tablespoon of almond butter or a 1-ounce portion of almonds to help your body relax.
3. Honey -- Drizzle a little in your herbal tea. Lots of sugar is stimulating, but a little glucose tells your brain to turn off orexin, a recently discovered neurotransmitter that's linked to alertness. Honey can promote relaxation and help ease you to sleep at night. The natural sugar found in honey raises our insulin slightly and allows tryptophan, to enter our brains more easily. Taking a spoonful of honey before bed can help you get restful sleep.
4. Flaxseeds -- When life goes awry, and feeling down is keeping you up, try sprinkling 2 tablespoons of these healthy little seeds on your bedtime oatmeal. They're rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a natural mood lifter. Many people notice that just 1 tablespoon of flaxseed oil 1 hour before bed promotes a deeper sleep. Generally, fatty acids are involved in initiating and maintaining sleep. There are different categories of fatty acids that we need: omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9 fatty acids. All three types of fatty acids play a role in sleep. Flax oil is a rich source of all three of them.
5. Bananas -- They're practically a sleeping pill in a peel. Potassium and magnesium are natural muscle relaxants, and bananas are a good source of both. They also contain the amino acid L-tryptophan, which gets converted to 5-HTP in the brain. The 5-HTP in turn is converted to serotonin (a relaxing neurotransmitter) and melatonin.
5 WORST FOODS TO PROMOTE SLEEP
1. Alcohol -- Having a drink (or two) is one way to nod off more quickly, but how restful is an alcohol-induced slumber? While a nightcap may get you to doze off, you’re more likely to wake up during the night and may not feel as rested following your sleep. So although that glass of wine may help you get to sleep faster, the effect of consolidating sleep in the first half of the night is offset by having more disrupted sleep in the second half of the night which creates sleep deprivation in the long-term.
2. Spicy Foods -- Research has shown over the years that a spicy meal at night can indeed lead to poor sleep. The most direct study to show this was published in The International Journal of Psychophysiology by a team of Australian researchers. On the nights that included spicy meals, there were marked changes in the subjects’ sleep patterns. They spent less time in both the light phase of sleep known as Stage 2 and the deep, slow-wave Stages 3 and 4. All of which meant that they experienced less sleep over all and took longer to drift off.
1. Alcohol -- Having a drink (or two) is one way to nod off more quickly, but how restful is an alcohol-induced slumber? While a nightcap may get you to doze off, you’re more likely to wake up during the night and may not feel as rested following your sleep. So although that glass of wine may help you get to sleep faster, the effect of consolidating sleep in the first half of the night is offset by having more disrupted sleep in the second half of the night which creates sleep deprivation in the long-term.
2. Spicy Foods -- Research has shown over the years that a spicy meal at night can indeed lead to poor sleep. The most direct study to show this was published in The International Journal of Psychophysiology by a team of Australian researchers. On the nights that included spicy meals, there were marked changes in the subjects’ sleep patterns. They spent less time in both the light phase of sleep known as Stage 2 and the deep, slow-wave Stages 3 and 4. All of which meant that they experienced less sleep over all and took longer to drift off.
3. Fatty Foods -- Research shows that people who often eat high-fat foods not only gain weight, they also experience a disruption of their sleep cycles. A heavy meal activates digestion, which can lead to nighttime trips to the bathroom. People who eat a lot of fatty foods may also have more difficulty sleeping. There seems to be a strong connection between the circadian processes, sleep and metabolism relating to the processing of fatty foods such as high-fat dairy, fried foods and fatty meats.
4. Coffee -- It's no surprise that an evening cup of coffee might disrupt your sleep. Even moderate caffeine can cause sleep disturbances. But don't forget about less obvious caffeine sources, like, cola, tea, and decaffeinated coffee. For better sleep, cut all caffeine from your diet four to six hours before bedtime.
5. Dark Chocolate -- Besides caffeine, chocolate also contains theobromine, another stimulant that can increase heart rate and sleeplessness. While dark chocolate is excellent for your health, try to avoid ingesting any chocolate 5 hours or less before bed.
A large body of research has documented that people who experience gratitude are happier and healthier.
If you're an older adult who has trouble sleeping, don't assume it's a normal feature of advancing age.
Increasing Magnesium
People with a magnesium deficiency suffer from "Type II insomnia." They fall asleep easily but only experience a relatively short period of deep, restful sleep, that delicious time when your body is able to rebuild muscles, skin and bones. Most of the night they are trapped in light, useless sleep. They toss and they turn. Then, they wake up exhausted.
If you're an older adult who has trouble sleeping, don't assume it's a normal feature of advancing age.
Increasing Magnesium
People with a magnesium deficiency suffer from "Type II insomnia." They fall asleep easily but only experience a relatively short period of deep, restful sleep, that delicious time when your body is able to rebuild muscles, skin and bones. Most of the night they are trapped in light, useless sleep. They toss and they turn. Then, they wake up exhausted.
Ironically, people with too little magnesium in relation to calcium develop this trouble because they don't have enough energy to sleep fitfully. Restful sleep requires a certain amount of energy to reach the stage of rejuvenating rest, which is characterized by rapid eye movement (REM). When you can't maintain REM sleep for a prolonged period, fatigue eventually becomes chronic during your waking hours. (Your energy is zapped because you have too much calcium in relation to magnesium.)
People under stress are prone to this kind of insomnia because stress sops up all the magnesium it can find, creating a shortage.
Increasing Calcium
Insomnia (the Type I kind) has been associated with calcium for centuries. Did your Momma serve you a warm glass of milk and cookies before bedtime?
Insomnia (the Type I kind) has been associated with calcium for centuries. Did your Momma serve you a warm glass of milk and cookies before bedtime?
People who don't have enough calcium have two sleep-related problems. First, they have great difficulty falling asleep. In most cases this occurs because low tissue calcium produces irritability. They're just too upset to be able to fall asleep.
Second, people with low calcium levels are plagued with muscle cramps at night. These painful cramps occur even without any real exertion during the day. A calcium to magnesium imbalance causes these muscles to remain in a constant state of contraction. Ouch!
Warm milk (without the cookies, of course) before bedtime can help people lacking calcium fall asleep faster. But more dietary changes are needed to deal with the muscle cramps.
Too Much Copper
High copper levels affect the neurological system. They also stimulate the right side or creative hemisphere of the brain. (Artists typically have higher copper levels than electrical engineers.) Unfortunately, too much copper causes nightmares. Don't eat chocolate, peanut butter or grapes before bedtime if you want to have sweet dreams.
High copper levels affect the neurological system. They also stimulate the right side or creative hemisphere of the brain. (Artists typically have higher copper levels than electrical engineers.) Unfortunately, too much copper causes nightmares. Don't eat chocolate, peanut butter or grapes before bedtime if you want to have sweet dreams.
So what's weight loss have to do with this?
All four minerals are also crucial to the weight loss process. Calcium and copper can sedate or overstimulate the adrenal and thyroid glands, basically snuffing out your weight loss efforts with an ineffective metabolic rate. Fix the cal/mag and zinc/copper ratios and you can burn off those pounds, even while you sleep!
For the scientific, the proper calcium to magnesium ratio is 3 to 11 milligrams per 100 grams. The healthy zinc to copper ratio is 4 to 12 milligrams per 100 grams.
Melatonin Controls Our Cycles, Mood, Reproduction, Weight and Even Cancer
Melatonin Controls Our Cycles, Mood, Reproduction, Weight and Even Cancer
Melatonin is a wonder hormone that is far too underrated in terms of its dynamic effects on our health. It can control everything from our sleep/wake cycles to our reproduction, weight, mood and even strong anti-aging and anti-tumor effects. Melatonin is found in many foods such as mustard, goji berries, almonds, sunflower seeds, cardamom, fennel, coriander and cherries. However, it also easily absorbed through quality supplementation in therapeutic doses.
There is relatively good evidence that melatonin supplements can influence sleep and fatigue and can help with jet lag and some sleep problems.Melatonin is a well tolerated, non-habit-forming agent which does not produce grogginess. Some research shows that melatonin affects not only how quickly people fall asleep but also the duration and quality of sleep.
More evidence is coming forward showing that melatonin, when taken as a supplement, can stop or slow the spread of cancer, make the immune system stronger, or slow down the aging process.
In most cases, melatonin supplementation is safe in both low doses for short-term and long-term use.
.http://isagenix.com/~/media/system-and-pak/brain-and-sleep-support-system/brain-and-sleep-support-system-pis/us-en-brain-boost-and-sleep-support-system-pis.ashx
More evidence is coming forward showing that melatonin, when taken as a supplement, can stop or slow the spread of cancer, make the immune system stronger, or slow down the aging process.
In most cases, melatonin supplementation is safe in both low doses for short-term and long-term use.
.http://isagenix.com/~/media/system-and-pak/brain-and-sleep-support-system/brain-and-sleep-support-system-pis/us-en-brain-boost-and-sleep-support-system-pis.ashx
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