Natural Remedies For Insomnia

Insomnia, or sleeplessness, afflicts one third of the population. A lack of sleep will make you irritable and tired, weaken your immune system and decrease your ability to concentrate. In many cases insomnia can be effectively treated with natural remedies.

• 5-HTP and vitamin B6 are serotonin precursors. Serotonin, when exposure to light decreases, is converted into melatonin, which promotes sleep.
• Melatonin is a naturally occuring hormone which regulates the sleep/wake cycle. It is most effective as a sleep aid for people with irregular or broken sleep patterns, such as shift workers or people suffering from jet lag. It will help you fall asleep, as well as prolong your sleep if you normally wake up prematurely. It's my favorite sleep aid, but some people report it makes them groggy the next morning.
• Passionflower promotes good, deep sleep, and has a positive effect on dreams.
  
• Kava is primarily an anti-anxiety herb, so it works best for anxiety-related insomnia. Traditional kava preparations only use the root, and there is a good reason for that. The green parts of the plant, only recently, have been found to be toxic to the liver, so if you choose to use kava, I advise you to only use products made from the root, which is non-toxic.
  
• Valerian is another anxiolytic herb. Its effects are not well understood, but it seems to affect the neurotransmitter GABA in the brain, which has a calming effect, much like pharmaceutical sleep medications. It is believed to be non-addictive, but anecdotal reports suggest it may be habit-forming if used regularly for an extended period.
  It doesn't work for everyone though. Personally I don't find it very effective.
  
• Minerals such as calcium and magnesium can improve your sleep if you have a deficiency of those.

Other herbs that you may find helpful are chamomile, ashwagandha, and lemon balm.

Foods rich in magnesium include green vegetables, legumes, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Whole grain crackers may help you sleep better as long as they're sugar-free.

A cup of hot milk before bedtime, with or without honey, will help you sleep better. Apart from calcium, milk contains L-tryptophan, which, being another serotonin (and, in turn, melatonin) precursor, promotes good sleep.

Other foods containing L-tryptophan are cottage cheese, eggs, potatoes, cashew nuts, dates, tuna and poultry.

Things to avoid

• Alcohol, although may initially seem soothing, disrupts the deep, restorative sleep later into the night when it metabolizes.
• Refined sugars. They cause uneven glucose levels and disrupt sleep in the middle of the night.
• Caffeine can cause insomnia and restlessness, so cut down on coffee, tea, and soft drinks such as Coke, and avoid chocolate before sleep. Caffeine is also found in many over-the-counter medicines.
• Same with nicotine.
• Avoid eating late at night. No large meals for 4 hours before bedtime.

The set-up of your room may make a big difference. Try to keep it as dark as possible. Remove illuminated clocks or block their light at night by covering them with something.

Make sure the room is well aired, especially in the summer. The optimal temperature is between 60-65 degrees. Keep the thermostat low and use blankets.

Cover yourself with a blanket. This is important not only for adjusting the temperature, but also to keep the light from reaching your skin. Light exposure tells your body it's daytime, even if it's artificial light in the middle of the night.

Physical activity improves the quality of sleep by stimulating the elimination of lactic acid from the body and relieving the muscle tension. Exercise actively during the day (walking, jogging, cycling, etc.). However, if you practice intensely too late at night it will heighten your adrenaline levels, which will have an adverse effect on your sleep.

Take a warm shower or bath before bedtime. The resulting vasodilation lowers your blood pressure and makes you sleepier. Bath salts will relax you further.

If you wake up in the middle of the night, don't toss and turn trying to fall back to sleep for too long. Get up and do something non-stimulating. You will quickly start to feel tired again, which will be the best time to go back to bed.

If you've awakened not too far from your planned wake-up time, get up and start your day.

Lull yourself to sleep with gentle, slow, soothing music. It's best to use a player that will turn off automatically at the end of the recording.

You can also use special CD's composed for this very purpose, with either music or sounds of nature such as waves, or brainwave entrainment tracks designed to synchronize your brain waves to the frequencies corresponding to sleep.

Some people find that watching unengaging or boring TV shows in bed is their best sleep remedy.

If the cause of your insomnia are external stimuli, a sleep mask and a pair of earplugs may be what you need. I highly recommend formable earplugs, they're most comfortable for sleeping.

Pick a reasonable time to go to bed every night and to wake up every morning, and stick to it, even on weekends and holidays. You many not like it, but your body does.

Establish a routine. Do the same sequence of things every night before going to bed, for example: having a cup of warm milk, taking a shower, and brushing your teeth. Let your subconscious mind associate these things with sleeping.

For the same reason, reserve your bed for sleep. Don't read, work, eat or watch TV in bed during the day.