Hey there, beloved viewer!
How hectic is your work schedule?
You said you were having trouble sleeping, so I was wondering if your job is what’s
causing it, Trust me, you’re not the only one.
Did you know that 40 million people in the United States alone suffer from chronic sleep
disorders?
And not just one type.
There are over 70 of them!
While you should always consult your doctor for medications, there are several natural
remedies for bad sleeping habits.
Let’s discuss 9 Natural Ways To Help You Sleep.
Do you like doing yoga?
How about keeping a journal?
Do I really have to stop eating spice?
We’re talking all that AND more.
Eating Cheese Yes, you heard that correctly...
Cheese, particularly swiss and cheddar, contain large amounts of tryptophan.
This is an amino acid that releases melatonin.
Once released, the melatonin will help you get to sleep quicker.
It can also help you snooze longer than usual.
But don’t rummage through your dairy products just yet.
The average single slice of cheddar is around 113 calories.
Any of you cheese enthusiasts would know that once you eat one slice, it’s hard not to
eat more.
Within the span of just minutes, you could be having not one, but five slices of cheese.
This is well over 500 calories right before bed time.
It may be wise for you to leave a decent space between eating cheese and catching z’s.
Dabble In Yoga I know what you’re thinking, “But isn’t
yoga supposed to pump you up with energy?”
Well in a way, yes.
Yoga has several benefits.
One of them is to help you relax.
The ancient art can be a great way to relieve stress, which much of the time is keeping
us from the proper sleep we deserve.
It can be just as helpful as meditation.
In a survey conducted, over 55% of subjects stated that yoga helps them get better sleeps.
Another 85% say yoga helps them reduce stress.
Yoga poses such as Wide-Knee Child’s Pose, the Standing Forward Bend, and Legs Up the
Wall are suggested by experts as great exercises to do before bed.
So if you’re feeling active and would like to stretch your body out of its comfort zone,
give yoga a try.
Have a Banana Like cheese, bananas are another great source
of melatonin.
They also contain a healthy amount of magnesium and potassium, both of which encourage your
muscles to relax.
A single banana is around 26 grams of carbohydrates.
This mix of carbs and tryptophan will help you fall asleep quicker as your muscles become
less tense.
So if you have any bananas on hand, try eating one about an hour before bed.
It may just be the remedy you need for that proper snooze.
Stop Eating Spice We’ve talked about adding foods to your
diet..
Now let’s talk subtracting them.
Gorging on a hot, spicy meal before bed can be a recipe for disaster.
No pun intended.
Whether it’s your burning chicken wings, the sizzling salsa on your nachos, or too
many drops of Frank’s in your pasta, spicy food can give you a really bad case of heartburn.
Try getting some shut eye while your chest feels like it’s on fire.
See if that works.
Not only does spice reduce the amount of sleep you get, it also raises your body temperature.
In a study conducted on healthy young men, their quality of sleep reduced after consuming
hot condiments such as mustard and Tabasco.
When they did not consume the spice, their sleep was much better.
So keep that in mind the next time your scouring the menu for those scolding hot appetizer.
Speaking of heat, are you trying to burn away some excess fat from your body?
Well check out our video on How to Turn Your Body Fat Into Body Heat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhVUPvB_Nlg While we’re on the subject, are you looking
to lose weight in an unconventional way?
Click on our clip for The Weirdest Ways To Lose Weight Ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FelPdIeRziE Now back to our list of 9 Natural Ways To
Help You Sleep...
Keep a Journal I know, this has nothing to do with diet or
physical exercise.
But what about ‘mental’ exercise?
Writing our feelings down helps us relieve stress.
If you jot them into a journal right before bed, psychologists state it helps people unload
many of their negative emotions.
Perhaps thoughts that are keeping us up at night.
Think of it as an outlet.
The more we write our feelings onto a physical surface, the less we may worry.
Maybe even write a to-do list.
One study showed that putting together a list of goals for the following day helped participants
sleep an average of 9 minutes faster.
So channel that writer and jot away.
Chew Some Cherries Keeping with the theme of melatonin, cherries
are among its only natural food sources.
One study showed that women with insomnia who guzzled 2 daily glasses of cherry juice
were able to sleep an additional hour and a half.
If you’d like to stick to the conventional way, health professionals suggest you eat
a bowl of cherries one hour before bedtime.
Have Some Popcorn We’ve touched on cheese, bananas and cherries,
so we thought we’d cut you a break here and add some fun food to the mix.
You don’t have to be at the movies or carnival to enjoy this treat.
Believe it or not, popcorn can be a great before-bed snack.
It’s carbs carry just the right amount of tryptophan to put you out.
With its high fiber concentration, popcorn is easily digested.
If you are going to get popcorn, just try to make sure that you get the low calorie
kind.
The average serving of low fat popcorn is just around 93 calories.
Drink Green Tea This is one you were probably expecting to
pop up on this list somewhere.
Green tea has several benefit.
Not only can it help you lose weight and burn fat, it also lessens your risk of cancer.
But a little known fact…
green tea helps reduce stress.
We have the amino acid theanine to thank for that.
The reduction of stress on your body can help you get to sleep quicker.
There’s a catch though.
When you drink green tea, make sure it’s decaffeinated.
If you down a cup of high caffeine green tea, it can have the exact opposite effect before
bed.
Normally the average cut off time for tea is 2pm in the afternoon, but if the tea has
low caffeine, you can drink it all night.
Quit Drinking…
Booze We would hate to burst your bubble, but getting
blackout drunk isn’t exactly a healthy way to pass out at night.
Many of us have felt the effects of a hangover, right?
Good, I’m glad it’s not just me.
While too much alcohol can help you fall asleep, it’s waking up in the morning that works
as a deterrent.
Even if you slept ten hours, you would wake up feeling like you had been hit by a freight
train.
Drinking booze before bed can also cause you to wake up in the middle of the night.
Here’s what happens.
During sleep, alcohol will turn on the brain pattern known as alpha activity, which normally
works when you’re awake.
This coincides with your sleeping pattern known as delta activity.
This alters your sleeping pattern and gets in the way of restorative sleep.
Alcohol can also hurt your body’s ability to breathe during sleep.
While you are out, you are prone to sleep apnea and snoring.
Have you had trouble falling asleep?
Would you consider any of these methods on our list?
Let us know in the comments.