Sleep Problems

Researchers indicate that if you starve yourself for 16 hours before a long flight, it is unlikely that you will experience jet lag. You may not experience jet lag, but if you arrive in a place at the time of night when everything serving food is closed, you will almost certainly experience anger, and may be hypoglycemic, this latter state can be accompanied with headaches, and general malaise. This is not a good way to arrive at your destination.

Our body clock, or circadian rhythm, dictates when we eat, sleep and wake up, this is all done according to light. Of course this would apply to an ideal healthy sleeping pattern, however the world is full of people who wake in the middle of the night, and hit the fridge for a snack, regardless of the light. Many people wake up when it’s dark and fail to resume sleep.

“A period of fasting with no food at all for about 16 hours is enough to engage this new clock,” says Saper.

“Avoiding any food on the plane, and then eating as soon as you land, should help you to adjust and avoid some of the uncomfortable feelings of jet lag.’

The researcher does mention that ” skipping meals ahead of a long flight has not been proven to work in humans, it may work”. He used mice in his study, can’t imagine the procedure he would have used to simulate a long air flight over numerous time zones with mice.

Do you lie awake at night spending more time staring at the ceiling than sleeping? You are not alone! Millions of other people are experiencing the same thing all across the world. They wake up in the middle of the night, can’t fall back to sleep and rise before dawn.

Forms Of Insomnia

Insomnia comes in many forms, not just in the form of sleeplessness:

Although this report that I’m reviewing here is about nutrition, and for that reason may seem to be inappropriate here,  it has much to offer as far as solving the many sleep problems by improving your nutrition.

The writer of the report says that no matter how well balanced our diet is, no matter what vitamins and power foods we ingest, we still get sick. Why is this so?  It appears that we are constantly destroying the vital ingredient when we cook food.

There are a number of health conscious people on the net who actively promote the type of diet mentioned in this report.

The writer makes some references to terminal cancer cases, which have had their lives extended, way beyond their medical prognoses . All they did was replace the missing ingredient in their diet, and their health was markedly improved. Other people with less life threatening illnesses had their health completely restored.

The report seemed to be a bit over the top in its claims, however, I was curious and bought the book, and to my surprise it made a lot of sense. There’s no mystery, it’s the way our digestive system works, simple common sense.

If you would like to solve your esophageal reflux, your snoring, your sleep latency, your insomnia, your restless leg syndrome, or whatever other sleep disorder may be troubling you, then take a look at the report, visit: http://www.runurl.com/xx.php?l6g

Many studies agree that if your sleep is of short duration, you increase your chances of becoming obese. Researchers have found that sleep deprivation impacts on 2 hormones related to appetite, one is ghrelin which is produced in the stomach and triggers appetite, the other hormone known as leptin is produced by fat cells. When leptin levels are low it signals a need for more calories to be consumed.

Researchers have found that people who sleep for five or less hours on a regular basis have higher ghrelin levels and lower leptin levels, than those who sleep for eight or more hours. Researchers noted that the combination of increased ghrelin , which increased appetite, and the easy access to food in some societies accounted for increased obesity.

Maybe by simply increasing the waking hours, exposure to food is increased, more time for snacking, and those who sleep longer hours have decreased opportunity to snack.

Part 1 fight for your health

Part 2 fight for your health

Part 3 fight for your health

Part 4 fight for your health

Part 5 fight for your health

1. Discover the proper amount of sleep in which one feels best the next day, as the body knows what is good for it. Too much or too little can be adverse, both feeling and health wise. Knowing the proper amount of rest necessary, and since it is so important to one’s health and feelings, one might consider altering and constructing one’s lifestyle to that necessity. Develop a pattern. Like if one’s body expects to eat at certain time everyday and the stomach juices begin flowing, it is the same with sleep. The body will adjust to preparing itself for sleep at a specific time every evening. Begin a wind down process some 2 hours before bedtime. Do not watch television, movies, radio or Internet that may excite the mind, if those things affect getting to sleep. Begin to slow the mind by refusing to think about one’s daily duties and all the stress, tension, bad feelings, anger and negative emotions. Ritualize a successful pattern of winding down.
2. A good mattress is a prerequisite and there all kinds of them out there. One might use a (Goldilocks) firm mattress, not too hard and not too soft. One might consider a 4 inch thick cotton Futon style mattress without springs, on some stiff surface like a bedspring, plywood or some stand that may come with it.
3. One might consider temperature as critical for some people, where even a single or a couple of degrees may make the difference, and where the temperature may continually change throughout the night. Use any number of blankets in layers that can peeled back or added for the right degree. Sometimes the problem is that the feet get too hot or cold, and which may make all the difference. Make sure the bedding is loose, so that one can regulate the temperature of one’s feet and body by exposing one or both to fewer or no blankets. If one gets too cold heat is lost from the body through the top of the head. Try wearing some type of cap or loose fitting hood, and pajamas may be a good idea.
4. Find the proper pillow(s). There are pillows for the head and for the body. There are foam pillows, feather and even water pillows. There are pillows of the normal size and pillows that may be about 6 to 12 inches in diameter and anywhere from 3 to 10 feet long. For some, sleeping on the stomach may be necessary to calm the nerves. One might use a pillow under the stomach to concentrate pressure, and to take strain off the back. Also sleep with one leg folded up to further lessen strain on the back.
5. Study the affects of foods and drink consumed throughout the day and how they may affect sleep. Every individual is different, like coffee keeps some people awake and puts some to sleep. Caffeine is usually a stimulant as is sugar. For some even coffee after twelve noon will cause difficulty in sleeping. Too much sugar may keep one awake at night. The digestion of food affects the body as it enters the bloodstream. One might consider the time at which dinner and or dessert is eaten. One might exclude sugary desert. One can also try various kinds of herbal teas and drinks such milk and honey, usually warmed. Search Google for home remedies. One might try a really strong Irish style beer to knock themselves out. The right beer will not make one urinate, since its ingredients will most all be digested as food. If one finds a tolerance developing such that one will need two beers to accomplish the same affect as one, then one is using the wrong beer.
6. Pharmaceuticals might be employed when absolutely necessary, but should be avoided if not. Pharmaceuticals generally have side affects, in which for any given particular individual, the long range affects cannot be determined. As a substitute for Pharmaceuticals one might try aspirin or search home remedies.
7. Learn to relax. In the long run any problems that might keeping one from sleeping in the now, and thus perhaps negatively affecting one’s health, cannot be all that important if one cannot recall them in the future. Refuse to think of the problems or resolve them by changing the circumstances of their creation. Some types of thinking will excite the mind and some will slow and retard it. Leave work/school related problems, stress, worry etc. at work. Thinking about it won’t change anything. Employ day dreaming style free flowing magical thinking that more corresponds to dream/sleep frame of mind. Try to remember the last dream one had, or any dream. Maybe read the comics. Read a chapter of something very enjoyable, slowly and for the ambiance, if it makes one drowsy just before going to bed. Concentrate on a single problem that is enjoyable for one to think about. Concentrate on slowing the mind.
* Sleeping in the same bed with others can also affect one’s sleep and a restless partner may disturb one everytime they toss, turn, snore, whatever. May have to consider sleeping in a separate room.

A number of studies have been done using aromatherapy essential oils to relieve the anxiety and agitation of dementia patients. The researchers used 2 essential oils, lavender and melissa, and both were found to be effective in calming the patients.

Far better to use an essential oil which caused no side effects, and in no manner compromised the patients health.

For more information on the study visit: http://www.sleep-problems-nomore.com/Aromatherapy_in_Dementia.html

Tryptophan, one of the eight essential amino acids, is the precursor for serotonin,
food sources for tryptophan are cottage cheese, fish, beef, peanuts, lentils, pumpkin and sesame seeds, however, eating any of these protein foods on their own will not provide your brain with the serotonin it needs.

The protein food needs to be combined with carbohydrate in order to assist the passage of tryptophan across the blood brain barrier. If only protein is eaten, other competing amino acids will deny access to tryptophan. Tryptophan is only found in small amounts in protein food, and it needs to be combined with not only carbohydrates, but also vitamin B6, and B3. Deficiencies in either of these vitamins will impair tryptophan absorption.

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