We all get tired. After a hard day of work, a stressful period in our lives, or a lot of physical activity, our body needs rest. In our younger years, we probably didn’t think about sleep, night came, we fell asleep and our bodies did the necessary work of repair — end of story. But as we age, things get a bit more complicated, poor sleep patterns that have gone unchecked for years can and often do remap our natural sleep cycle, compromising our immune system and ultimately our health.
At any age, our bodies perform miracles in self-repair with every cat nap, through every night, muscle, organs, and tissue cells regenerate. Sleep is when we heal, when the systems of our body get to work. It’s when inflammation is reduced, hormone levels balance and T-Cells (white blood cells) work to strengthen the immune system. Studies at the American Physiological Society (APS) show sleep T cell numbers remained high in subjects who were not allowed to sleep.
But how do you fix a broken sleep clock and begin to heal again? It’s important to first recognize how important sleep is to our core health. Without sleep, we can become ill. Many have died from sleep deprivation, yes, but sleep deprivation is largely self-induced.
Fixing sleep is alarmingly easy, as it turns out. By making simple changes to our routines, the body will find its Circadium Rhythm once again, as the body always seeks to heal itself. The problem is us. We stick to bad habits that keep us from healing, and forsake the healthy options for unhealthy, and in turn, perpetuate and compound poor sleep cycles, turning ourselves into our own worst enemies.
By eliminating chronic sleep disruptors, like caffeine and alcohol, first, and enjoying the often immediate positive results, we can then be encouraged to take recovery to the next level, to try more adjustments, and before we know it, we are sleeping like a baby again.
Following the suggested changes step by step, can lead you to not only a better night sleep, but a more positive and healthier life.
ONE. Eliminate Caffeine, Sugar and Alcohol.
The goal here is to “Kick Start” your sleep clock back to ticking again and eliminating foods that disrupt our nocturnal down-time and these three are the most common offenders.
Caffeine is the most obvious. A stimulant, caffeine can make it hard for you to fall asleep by delaying the timing of your body clock, effectively reducing your total sleep time.
Sugar affects sleep patterns too, by remapping our hormones, those same hormones that help us sleep. Sugar causes profound sleeplessness by leaving us craving more sugar. A 2016 study found that people who have diets high in sugar tend to sleep less deeply and display greater restlessness at night. Alcohol disrupts sleep because the body, which job it is to rid the body of toxins, has to work overtime and puts all its efforts into the kidneys and liver to dispense of the alcohol. All that extra work sees us waking up groggy and unrefreshed because the body wasn’t able to perform it’s normal “cleaning” tasks.
TWO. Cut the Fat.
Being overweight is the number one reason people struggle with their sleep. Aside from the many obesity-related illnesses, like heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, gallbladder disease, gallstones, osteoarthritis, gout, and breathing problems (sleep apnea), there are many minor, day-to-day issues with sleep that build up to larger problems overtime, and a poor diet is often at the heart of these issues.
So much is going on when we sleep. Muscles, organs, and tissue cells all regenerate. Inflammation is reduced, hormone levels balance and T-Cells (white blood cells) work to strengthen the immune system, that when we don’t get enough our systems suffer.
Eating fatty, highly salted snacks and sugary foods during the day can play havoc with your sleep schedule. During our sleeping hours the body performs miracles in self-repair and cleansing. When our natural cleaning process is overloaded, sleep issues begin to crop up and interrupt sleep. Intermittent sleep, then has a knock-on effect to our waking hours with headaches, mood shift, and poor concentration.
THREE. Regular Exercise.
Getting regular exercise is one of the keys to improving poor sleep patterns. Almost instantly our bodies reward us with a better, more restful night.
When we remain stationary for most of our day, sitting at a desk or standing at a counter, like many people, our muscles atrophy and over-time we lose strength and health problems can compound.
Aside from a better night’s sleep, here are the top ten benefits of regular exercise.
1. Can make you feel happier.
2. It can help with weight loss.
3. It is good for your muscles and bones.
4. Exercise can increase your energy levels.
5. It can reduce your risk of chronic disease.
6. It can help skin health.
7. It can help your brain health and memory.
8. Reduces chronic pain.
9. Can increase potency.
10. Regular exercise can balance hormone levels.
Adding regular exercise has a profound effect on resetting our circadian rhythms too, as more and more regular sleep helps the body fall back into its natural cycles.
FOUR. Stay Off Your Phone an Hour Before Bedtime.
The blue light emitted by screens on cell phones, computers, tablets, and televisions restrain the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep/wake cycle or circadian rhythm. Reducing melatonin makes it harder to fall and stay asleep.
Our smart phones are also a major source of entertainment, the algorithms can lead us down a rabbit hole, from one story to the next, keeping our attention by making us laugh or enraging us — neither being friends of a good night’s sleep.
Reaching for your phone might seem relaxing, but it has the direct and opposite effect. Reducing to the point of eliminating screen time will rework the nasty pattern of a forced wakened state we’ve set in place.
FIVE. Minimize Use of Sleep Aids.
More and more people are choosing natural solutions like teas and herbs to get them to sleep at night over harsh drugs, which often have unwelcomed side-effects. A smart herbal supplement regime is the most effective next step in maintaining a healthy sleep schedule, or during times when you just need to wind down and calm the mind.
Proprietary blends of sleep supporting herbs like those containing the powerful Jujube Seed are therapeutic dynamos and go far beyond just sleep support. The Jujube fruit is packed with vitamins, minerals and fatty acids, and has been used for centuries to treat insomnia, chronic pain, stress, and stomach upset. Jujube also relaxes the body and the mind, boosting levels of the calming neurotransmitters GABA and serotonin.
Natural sleep formulas that includes earthy, bioactive compounds which work to reduce inflammation, strengthen the immune system, and lower blood sugar, as well as support heart, brain and digestive function are the intelligent choice when it comes to choosing the best products to ensure a return to healthy sleep.
Approaching sleep problems from the root cause of why sleep has become a problem, goes a long way to rediscovering a healthy, restful night’s sleep once again.
