Sleeping Pills Blog

If you suffer from sleep deprivation and are wary about trying sleeping pills but desperate to cure your problem and have a sound night’s sleep then read on to learn about natural sleep aids.

An age old method is a warm glass of milk before going to bed.  Milk contains amino acid, which works as a sleep enhancing compound in a person’s brain, causing one to relax enough in order to drift off to sleep.  If you do not particularly like milk (as many people don’t) then try different warm drinks, as long as they are caffeine free they can also be effective, for instance green tea.

It is imperative to have a healthy balanced diet, and if you are having difficulty in ding so, take vitamin supplements, these are available for all vitamins, and if in doubt try multivitamin tablets in order to improve your body’s vitamin and mineral content.  Women are also advised to have a doctor’s check up as often iron deficiency in women causes difficulty sleeping.

The herbal remedy valerian is also recommended by some as a natural, herbal non addictive way to promote relaxation.

Aromatherapy oils can also help, for instance chamomile, and lavender are very effective.

Aromatherapy oils can help you to relax and relieve the body and mind of stress and tension.  By inhaling the oils when breathing naturally, hormones like serotonin are stimulated in the blood stream, further promoting relaxation.

Natural sleep aids are often a good alternative to medicated sleeping pills, and have proven to be very popular.  However if you still suffer from sleep deprivation and none of the remedies work, it is best to consult your doctor for further advice.

The above mentioned methods work best when combined with a comfortable bed, trying to sleep and wake at the same time each day so as to create a regular sleeping pattern, and allocating time for personal rest and relaxation daily.

Sleep can typically affect our metabolism in two ways.  The first is how it affects us during sleep.  The second of these is how our metabolism becomes affected after we have experienced sleep deprivation.  In our fast paced society there is an increasing pressure to work very long hours in order to compete in the world of work, which then affects the amount of time we have allocated to sleeping each day.  Often people who suffer from sleep deprivation try to survive and function properly after four hours of sleep every night, which is near impossible due to the necessity of sleep in order to maintain concentration, alertness and so on.
Research indicates that a persons metabolic rate decreases by up to 15% during sleep.  This means that we burn less calories during sleep than we do during the day.  Our basic metabolic rate utilizes around eighty percent of out calorie intake daily.  Out basic metabolic rate is the amount of energy we need to perform tasks, and the amount of energy required to sustain our body and keep out body functioning properly.
When deprived of sleep, we are awake which means our BMR is kept at this higher level, which in turn uses lots of our energy, resulting in a person having less energy than they should and experiencing feelings of drowsiness and tiredness during the day.
As our ability to function adequately is impacted during the day, so too is our ability to perform normal tasks, particularly tasks which may be mentally taxing and require our concentration.
Lack of sleep also results in increased levels of the hormone cortisol being released.  This promotes hunger.
Lower levels of the hormone Leptin are released.  These hormones indicate whether our body is hungry or not.  Our bodies react tolower levels of leptin we experience by increasing hunger desires and cravings for carbohydrates.  This article has illustrated the negative effects the sleep deprivation can have on out metabolism and in turn weight control.

Sleepless nights and tiredness are a common and widespread problem for many people.  Many people often experience being over alert and their mind racing with thoughts from their day.  It is the subconscious part of our mind however that knows how to sleep and promotes good sleep patterns.  Sleep is supposed to be a natural process which just happens, but as we all know this is not the case.  We’ve all tried to will ourselves to sleep through our conscious mind, but it is our subconscious which is required to do the work.
In order to cure this, our subconscious need to work to its best ability, but this is often hindered by stress, anxiety and depression.  However it is possible to ‘relearn’ how to sleep and retraining our body, reinforcing our ability to sleep.
Dealing with insomnia can be a complex process, however there are various techniques which can be adopted and aid in curing sleep deprivation.
It is important to allocate time during your day to relaxing and unwinding, particularly if you have a stressful job, as stress only contribute to sleeping disorders, so it is crucial to reduce or even eliminate it entirely prior to attempting to sleep.
Aromatherapy and a hot bath, is often an incredibly effective way to unwind.  It is important to ensure that one’s bedroom is dark and cosy, and one’s bed and pillows comfortable to ensure one doesn’t experience back problems or un-comfort during the night.
Deep and slow breathing, whilst concentrating n ones inhaling and exhaling is often a good way to relax and wind down after a long day at work, and so on.
Counting whilst breathing is also a good method, counting with each exhalation.  If you find that you lose track whilst counting, then this is a good sign that you’re drifting off to sleep.
Another important consideration is to maintain and healthy balanced diet, light and regular exercise often helps, and avoid caffeine, as this only increases alertness and prevents sleep.