by Mike Geary – Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of the best sellers: The Fat Burning Kitchen & The Top 101 Foods that FIGHT Aging

I’ve noticed in my travels and with working with clients that a large majority of people in today’s fast-paced stressful world are struggling at least part of the time with falling asleep at night.

Over the years, I’ve also struggled on occasion with insomnia because of the stress placed on me by running a large publishing business. And I’ve researched and learned quite a few tips and tricks over the years to help fight insomnia and fall asleep faster.

Without diving into every single technique I’ve learned over the years, I’ll just touch on a few really simple, but powerful tips, foods, drinks, etc. that I think can help you to fall asleep easier and faster too!

Here goes:

The most important sleep tip to start with:

This one isn’t a specific food or drink, but rather probably THE most important tip I can give you… if you don’t follow this one, your chances of being able to wind down at night and fall asleep fast are unlikely…

You NEED to eliminate use of devices, computers, emails, and any other work related to your job (or other stressful things) at least 3 hours before you plan to go to sleep. Using devices or computers for casual reading at night is fine, but don’t do any work that gets your mind overly activated, such as anything dealing with work or other stressful things in life. Also, even for casual reading, it’s best to turn off devices at least 1 hour before bed as keeping your eyes focused on the light from devices is one thing that some researchers are saying could interfere with getting quality sleep.

An overly active mind late at night is one of the BIGGEST things keeping many people from falling asleep. As a success-driven entrepreneur myself, I used to work really late at night and then I’d find that my mind was always too active to actually be able to fall asleep, so I’d lay there for hours sometimes until I could get my mind to slow down so I could fall asleep.

This may sound weird, but one trick that’s worked for me is to grab a book while I lay in bed on something that I find sort of boring and try to read the book in bed. Because the topic is “boring” to me personally, it keeps my mind away from things that I find more interesting, and it allows me to fall right to sleep. So for example, if you find health and fitness interesting (I hope you do!), but you find economics boring, try reading an economics book as you lay in bed. I bet you’ll get sleepy and fall asleep much faster than if you laid in bed letting all your thoughts about daily life race through your mind.

No caffeine after mid-day:

You’ve probably heard this tip many times, so I’ll keep this one short… It takes about 6 hours for caffeine to be fully processed and eliminated by your body, so make sure your last caffeinated drink of the day (coffee, black tea, mate, etc.) is at LEAST 6 hours or more before your planned bedtime. And if you’ve been showing any adrenal fatigue from lab hormone tests, you should also consider reducing your daily caffeine intake if you currently use it.

Tart cherries or tart cherry juice:

Tart cherries (Montmorency) actually contain a natural form of melatonin that can help you to naturally get sleepy and more easily fall asleep. I’ve found frozen tart cherries a few times in specialty grocery stores and I use them for a late night smoothie occasionally.

I’ve also found a tart cherry concentrate in Whole Foods and other health food stores that you can add to a drink or caffeine-free tea at night to help get you that low dose natural melatonin. I use 1 spoonful of this tart cherry concentrate in a cup of chamomile or mint tea late at night. This helps immensely for calming down and falling asleep at night.

A side benefit is that tart cherry also contains powerful antioxidants that fight joint pain, gout, and other inflammation related problems.

DON’T overdose on melatonin supplements (most contain TOO MUCH)

Did you know that MOST people overdose on melatonin supplements. Most melatonin supplements come in either 3 mg or even 5 mg doses. However, according to some researchers, anything more than 1 mg might be too high of a dose, which can disrupt your sleep cycle the following day, making it hard to wake up in the morning, and harder to fall asleep the following night, disrupting your overall sleep cycle.

The proper dose seems to be something less than 1 mg from most experts on this topic (this was even discussed on the Dr. Oz show too), which is why I choose to NEVER use melatonin supplements, and only get the small natural quantities found in tart cherries or tart cherry juice.

Night time teas:

Try “night time teas” that have relaxing qualities such as chamomile tea, mint tea, lemongrass tea, or all of them mixed. A side benefit of chamomile tea, and another reason that I try to include it in my weekly night tea repertoire is that chamomile tea contains unique phytonutrients that can help fight estrogenic overload from all of the xenoestrogens that we are exposed to from chemicals, pesticides, etc. in today’s chemical laden world.

Also remember that you can add a spoonful of the tart cherry concentrate and you’ll get a double-whammy of sleep aid! This works well about 1-2 hours before bedtime to help your body and mind relax.

One more tip…

If you still have troubles falling asleep even after implementing all of these tips, make sure to pay attention to fixing any hormonal issues you might have, including any possible adrenal fatigue, since being overly stressed out during the day can cause imbalances in your natural cortisol cycle which can make you more awake at night and more tired in the morning (obviously the opposite of what you want).

Eliminate any stressors from your life that you can, and also trying other relaxation techniques including meditation as a way to deal with stress if you still feel that you’re too stressed out each day.

Here’s one more reason to pay attention to this advice and make sure to do everything possible to get better sleep…

Did you know that a lack of sleep can actually make you GAIN weight?

A proper hormone balance is very important not only for losing fat, but keeping it off, and lack of sleep (including restless sleep, going to bed too late, getting up too early, and any other types of sleep deprivation), can throw your body’s hormones out of balance.

This means that regardless of how much you exercise or what type of diet you go on, you will still struggle to lose your unwanted fat, especially from your stomach.

So you can see how important sleep really is, as it touches multiple aspects of your health.

And one more thing to note, if you are still having trouble falling asleep, our friends from YuSleep have this special message for you…

Do You Wake Up At 3 AM Too?

If you fall asleep just fine but you wake up around 3 am almost every night, mind racing and you can’t fall back asleep for hours…

You lie there staring at the ceiling, watching the clock tick toward 5 AM… 6 AM…

Then drag yourself through another zombie day…

You should do this 30-second cherry trick this evening before going to bed.

A sleep expert with 18 years of sleep research says it quiets your racing mind and relaxes your body so your brain can enter deep stages of sleep.

Many people over 50 have already tried it and they sleep through the night like a baby with NO MORE 3 am wake-ups and wake up refreshed!

Here’s the simple cherry trick to try tonight…

👉 Click here to see how to do it!

The post Drink this 2 hours before bed to sleep better (plus 5 tips for insomnia) appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

By: Cat Ebeling, RN, MSN-PHN, co-author of the best-sellers:  The Fat Burning Kitchen, The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging & The Diabetes Fix

Alcohol usage went way up this past year and it’s pretty easy to see why. There was this pandemic that kept us all home, for one thing. Stress levels were high with kids and spouses all at home trying to work and study. And hey, it’s not difficult to just walk a few feet over to the fridge and pull out a beer with lunch or pour yourself a glass, or two, or three of wine. No worries about drunk driving, and hey–it’s a whole lot cheaper than ordering drinks in a restaurant.

I get it. It happens to the best of us. That slow and steady slippery slope. Before you know it, ‘Happy hour’ starts at 3pm and continues as long as you want it to.

According to a recent study published in JAMA Network Open, more people than ever used alcohol to cope with career, social, healthy and financial uncertainty and stress.

The study’s researchers found that alcohol consumption among adults increased 14% from 2019 to 2020. And women, in particular, exhibited a whopping 41% increase in heavy (four or more drinks in a 2-hour period) alcohol consumption last year over 2019.

There’s really nothing good that comes from excess drinking. Drinking does nothing good for your health.

With heavy consumption, alcohol can lead to damage to the liver, heart, brain, and many other organs in the body.

But even moderate consumption can wreak havoc on hormones, causing an increase in estrogen in both MEN and women!

In men, alcohol will cause testosterone to convert to estrogen, leading to low libido, ED, weight gain, man boobs, even shrinkage!

Drinking also has negative effects on women’s hormones. In women, alcohol will also cause a rise in estrogen, but this is not necessarily a good thing. Women who are in mid 30s, 40s and 50s, will find they can have an overabundance of estrogen, creating condition called estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance comes with its own problems including:

• Heavy periods
• Weight gain
• Endometriosis
• Depression/Anxiety/Irritability
• Low Libido
• Increased risk of breast and endometrial cancer

Excess estrogen also interferes with thyroid function and can slow the thyroid, creating symptoms of hypothyroid.

And for women who are on Hormone Replacement Therapy, alcohol can increase the amount of estrogen in the body by up to 300%, while decreasing progesterone. If you wonder why your HRT may not be working or why you are still gaining weight, it may have to do with your alcohol intake.

One other thing about alcohol—if you are dealing with menopause symptoms, drinking increases hot flashes and night sweats.

One other hormone that alcohol affects—cortisol. Alcohol consumption has been shown to increase cortisol in the body Cortisol is the hormone released by the adrenals when you are stressed. Excess cortisol comes with another range of unpleasant side effects including:

• Insomnia
• Stress
• Food cravings/Weight gain
• Anxiety and depression
• Increase in blood pressure
• Decrease in ability to focus
• Increase in blood sugar, insulin resistance

Alcohol also interferes with thyroid function, causing a decrease in T3, T4 and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) production. This creates a hypo, or low thyroid reaction to alcohol. Hypothyroid symptoms include:

• Weight gain, bloating
• Extreme fatigue
• Depression
• Hair loss
• Slowed thinking
• Decreased libido

Two other necessary hormones that alcohol doesn’t play well with—melatonin, our sleep hormone, and growth hormone. Alcohol inhibits the release of melatonin. And because growth hormone is released during our sleep, alcohol drinking reduces growth hormone release.

Human Growth Hormone or (HGH) is important for growth, cell regeneration, and cell reproduction. HGH helps to maintain, build, and repair healthy tissue in the brain and other organs.

This hormone can help to speed up healing after an injury and repair muscle tissue after exercise. Growth hormone helps to build muscle mass, boost metabolism, and burn fat. And HGH is also said to benefit the quality of the skin to help us look younger. HGH slows down the aging process.

One last thing, drinking not only makes you hungrier, but it also makes you lose your ability to control what you are eating. Before you know it, you are ordering that large order of French fries or mowing through that box of cookies. Not a great way to stick to a healthy diet.

Alcohol adds to depression and anxiety and it messes up your gut microbiome which affects everything–including your immune system!

Drinking makes your skin look pale and sallow. Drinking will also contribute to dehydration while draining your body of important nutrients—especially B vitamins B-l (thiamin), vitamin B-3 (niacin) and folate, as well as zinc and magnesium.

All that being said, I just want to say, it is OK to enjoy a drink now and then, so let’s talk about how to drink LESS and to stay in control if and when you have a drink.

First--Don’t reach for that wine glass as soon as you finish work. Start learning to associate a new ‘reward’ for the end of your day. Go for a short walk to relax. Do some yoga, play outside with the kids, stretch, meditate. It’s important to replace your drinking with something positive. Otherwise, you’ve just left a hole in your routine. Put something you look forward to in that place.

Find an a non-alcoholic or low-alcohol drink. I love mixing sparkling water with kombucha and adding a lime garnish. It’s delicious and refreshing. Or try some of the new hard seltzers or hard kombuchas. They are delicious and light with about half the alcohol of a normal beer or glass of wine.

Here’s an important one—don’t drink alcohol when you really should be drinking water. Often we are just thirsty and need a glass of water or something to hydrate with. So drink a great big glass of water before you have a drink. And when you do order a drink, order a glass of water or sparkling water to go with it. You should end of drinking half as much.

Learn to sip your drink and enjoy it, don’t guzzle it waiting for the alcohol to hit your system. Be mindful. And it helps if you order a drink that you have to sip slowly, like tequila, red wine, vodka on the rocks—anything that isn’t sweet.

And most importantly, have an accountability partner like a spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend or good friend. Let them know you want to cut back on drinking and have them help you out with that. It’s best to avoid people who are heavy drinkers, because willpower ends up going out the window. It’s tough to stop when everyone else is drinking. Be mindful of the people you hang around with.

It’s not that difficult to cut back on drinking. It’s just a matter of being MINDFUL of what you are doing, paying attention to the health risks, and take the above steps to deal with it. If you find you are drinking out of control, or if it is affecting your family or career, it’s time to ask for professional help. There is no shame in taking back control of your life.

Cheers, to you and your health!

before you go…

5 Warning Signs Your Liver is Damaged:

There are 5 early signals of liver trouble that are easy to spot; IF you know what to look for…

Honestly… these are sorta weird.

What are the liver warning signs?

And how can you overcome them?

Don’t fall victim to liver disease. Especially when it’s so easy to prevent.

>>> Discover the 5 warning signs now (and how to detoxify them)

References
https://www.verywellhealth.com/covid-19-higher-alcohol-consumption-5094355#citation-1
https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm
https://riahealth.com/2019/08/20/alcohol-and-womens-hormones/
https://www.realsimple.com/health/nutrition-diet/how-drink-less
Pollard MS, Tucker JS, Green HD. Changes in adult alcohol use and consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(9):e2022942. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.22942

The post How to Drink Less Alcohol appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

By: Cat Ebeling, RN, MSN-PHN, co-author of the best-sellers:  The Fat Burning Kitchen, The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging & The Diabetes Fix

Perimenopause and menopause start in the 40s and continue into the 50’s for most women. Some of the uncomfortable symptoms can last for 10 years or more as hormone levels decline.

The majority of women in the U.S. and Europe and other modern countries experience many of the uncomfortable symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, insomnia and fatigue.

As hormone levels continue to decline, menopausal women are at higher risk of developing serious chronic diseases such as heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes and fatty liver disease.

While hormone therapy is available, many women are not comfortable using it, often because of a fear of health risks. Some women have tried hormone therapy and found they experienced adverse effects from them and stopped using them. And other women just prefer to go it alone and deal with perimenopause and menopause naturally.

Many women turn to diet, lifestyle, natural supplements and other remedies for relief. These are the best options to consider first. The biggest plus about making diet and lifestyle changes is that these things have a positive impact on your overall health as well as helping with hormone balance.

Proper hormonal balance can change your outlook, your health, and the entire trajectory of your life. Hormones most definitely have an effect on us—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Hormones for women include more than the sex hormones of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Our bodies function optimally with the proper balance of sex hormones, thyroid hormones, leptin, insulin, cortisol, growth hormone, serotonin, melatonin and more.

When any one hormone level goes up or down, it can wreak havoc on all the other hormones. So instead of a symphony of hormones working together, out of whack hormones can become just a cacophony of noise. And that’s when we get a lot of the unpleasant hormonal symptoms.

Hormones can affect almost every function in our body. Hormones play a part in our hunger or satisfaction, how well we sleep, how we react to stress, how we respond to exercise, how we metabolize our food, our sex drive, our moods, our energy levels and how quickly we age. And, hormones have a lot to do with our feelings of self-confidence and overall wellbeing.

Signs that Your Hormones May be Out of Balance (no matter what your age)

• Weight gain—especially around the middle
• Low thyroid symptoms—weight gain, fatigue, depression, hair loss
• Moodiness
• Anxiety and depression
• Endometriosis
• PMS
• Breast tenderness
• Insomnia
• Irritability
• Loss of interest in sex
• Fatigue
• Hot flashes
• Hair loss or hair growth in unusual places
• Blood sugar instability
• Food cravings
• Lack of ambition and drive
• Fluid retention
• Headaches/Migraines

Estrogen and Health Issues

Estrogen is the hormone that makes us ‘female’ and is responsible for our female characteristics such as breast development, menstrual periods, and the tendency to store fat around our hips. Estrogen surges at adolescence and begins its decline in our forties.

Estrogen comes in different forms—estradiol, estrone and estriol. Each of these have different roles in our bodies. Estrogen is produced by the ovaries pre-menopause, produced in large quantities by the placenta during pregnancy, and even after menopause we still produce small amounts of estrone in the adrenals and body fat. The more body fat a woman has, the more estrogen is produced.

Estrogen also has a dark side and too much of it can cause many of the uncomfortable symptoms that women experience in perimenopause and menopause. Estrogen is responsible for causing weight gain, especially in the hips, thighs and breast tissue. Too much estrogen can also raise the risk of breast, ovarian and endometrial cancers.

What is Estrogen Dominance?

Estrogen dominance is a condition that occurs when estrogen levels are too high in relation to progesterone. This can be characterized by symptoms such as:

• Breast tenderness or fibrocystic breasts
• Premenstrual syndrome
• Mood swings
• Decreased sex drive
• Uterine fibroids
• Weight gain

Estrogen dominance also dramatically raises your risk of ovarian cancer and breast cancer. Estrogen dominance can also contribute to depression, headaches, infertility, insomnia, thyroid dysfunction and water retention. Estrogen dominance is present in the majority of women in their 40’s and 50’s.

What Causes Estrogen Dominance?

• Conventional hormone therapy using synthetic estrogen, or contraceptive pills
• Exposure to Xenoestrogens (artificial estrogens in plastics, personal care and our environment)
• Being overweight
• Hysterectomy
• Declining progesterone levels (often begins in the forties)
• Peri-menopause
• Menopause
• Diet and inflammation

As we age, progesterone levels tend to drop fairly quickly after the age of 40 or so. By the time we reach menopause, our progesterone has hit rock bottom, while estrogen is still in a gradual decline. Due to diet and lifestyle factors, most women in American tend to have estrogen levels approximately twice as high as they naturally should be.

Many of the peri-menopause and menopause symptoms we attribute to lack of estrogen are actually from low levels of progesterone.

In fact, at menopause, progesterone decreases to about 1/120th of our premenstrual levels, while estrogen only decreases by about ½. While conventional thinking is that we have too little estrogen by the time we reach menopause, in fact, most women have too much estrogen in relationship to progesterone.

In less industrialized countries such as rural China and Japan, women who eat a primitive diet consisting of large amounts of vegetables, high fiber and wild caught fish, have far lower levels of estrogen. Not surprisingly, women from these cultures do not report difficulties with menopause or peri-menopause.

Fiber in the diet also helps to clear the body of excess estrogen by carrying it out in bowel movements. Circulating estrogen is sent to the liver to be processed, and then sent to the large intestine to be eliminated. If there is not enough fiber in a woman’s diet to carry out the estrogen, estrogen gets reabsorbed. So consequently, a diet high in fiber is helpful to balance out estrogen dominance.

What about Xenoestrogens?

Let’s talk briefly about Xenoestrogens. Xenoestrogens are artificial, chemically-produced estrogens. Xenoestrogens are far more potent and dangerous to our health than natural estrogens. Xenoestrogens compete at the same receptor sites in our bodies as our natural hormones and can easily cause estrogen dominance. In fact, Xenoestrogens are powerful enough to affect even men. Ever seen a man with ‘man boobs’? This is the effect of Xenoestrogens. Xenoestrogens can dramatically increase cancer risk (for men or women) as well as exacerbating estrogen dominance.

Where do Xenoestrogens come from? Unfortunately, they are all around us. Xenoestrogens are in pesticides, herbicides, our food supply, birth control, car and truck exhaust, nail polish, cosmetics, toiletries, shampoos, dry cleaning chemicals, and nearly all plastics. However, you can minimize the effects of Xenoestrogens by being aware of them by eating organic foods, naturally raised meats and using only natural personal care products on your body. You should also minimize your use of plastics and avoid toxins in your environment.

What About Progesterone?

Progesterone is what we call a ‘master hormone’. It is essential as a building block for our other hormones. Even men require small amounts of progesterone as a precursor to testosterone. Progesterone is made by our ovaries. Progesterone for women serves as a balancing hormone to estrogen and offsets the risks of too much estrogen.

When progesterone levels plummet in a woman’s forties, supplemental progesterone can actually help to reduce many of the symptoms of estrogen dominance. But that’s not all, progesterone can have far-reaching benefits for the whole body. Other benefits of progesterone include:

• Reduces ovarian cysts
• Helps prevent uterine cancer, breast cancer, endometrial cancer
• Lessen the chances of ovarian cysts
• Stimulates bone formation
• Helps prevent autoimmune disease
• Improves estrogen receptor sensitivity
• Helps prevent arterial plaque and prevents heart disease and strokes
• Lessens fibrocystic breast issues
• Aids the body in metabolizing fat
• Gets rid of excess stored fluids
• Increases GABA in brain and drastically reduces anxiety
• Antidepressant
• Facilitates deeper, more restful sleep
• Helps balance and normalize thyroid function
• Normalizes and balances blood sugar
• Protects against blood clots
• Helps with weight loss
• Protects the brain from injury after strokes or traumatic brain injuries
• Important for repair of nerves, especially the myelin sheath (MS)

Is it any wonder we have noticeable symptoms when progesterone drops?

The Dance of Hormones

Our bodies also create other hormones including:

• DHEA-made by the adrenal glands, and a precursor to testosterone, estrogen and some progesterone. DHEA peaks at age 25 then declines. We need it to help fight aging.

• Testosterone-made by the ovaries and adrenal glands. Helps burn fat, build muscle, create stronger bones and adds to motivation, energy and a sense of wellbeing

• Cortisol-Made by the adrenals and also from progesterone. Helps us manage stress, maintains blood sugar, and metabolize nutrients. Too much cortisol (usually from stress) can cause weight gain, sleeplessness, other health problems. A progesterone imbalance causes problems with cortisol. Low cortisol also equals poor thyroid function.

Chronic stress can affect many bodily systems and can wreak havoc on hormone balance. Chronic stress can make you feel exhausted and ‘out of gas’ and cause adrenal fatigue. Stress can affect insulin, progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, thyroid, melatonin and cortisol levels. Nothing in the body works as it should with high levels of stress.

Estrogen, Progesterone and Thyroid Hormones

The thyroid hormone regulates metabolism. A low thyroid or hypothyroid can cause you to gain weight, have low energy, hair and nails grow slowly, intolerance to cold, and low immune function. A hyperthyroid causes high metabolism, weight loss, hair loss, sleeplessness, and anxiety.

Women with estrogen dominance and low progesterone often have symptoms of low thyroid—even if thyroid lab work shows up normal. Other issues that interfere with thyroid function include high cortisol levels and gluten intolerance.

Thyroid hormones include T3 and T4. T3 is the active form of thyroid hormone in the body. If your body is not efficient at converting T4 into T3 you can have low thyroid levels, but it may not even show up on a standard thyroid test. Many physicians never check this part of thyroid function, but it is essential. If the thyroid is not functioning optimally, cortisol, estrogen and progesterone may be low as well.

Inflammation and Hormones

Many people have chronic inflammation due to poor diet, too much sugar, food sensitivities, toxins in the environment, high stress, and lack of sleep. Chronic inflammation can show up in many different forms including: Belly fat, chronic pain, accelerated aging, food allergies, blood sugar problems, autoimmunity, IBS and other inflammatory bowel diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancer, skin problems and hormone imbalances—especially thyroid hormones, estrogen and progesterone.

Inflammation levels can be tested by looking at C-Reactive protein (CRP), blood sugar levels (HbA1c), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and plasma viscosity (PV).

However, our hormones are at their highest levels in the mid-twenties and as they decrease, inflammation levels tend to rise. Changing one’s diet to avoid inflammatory foods like sugar, refined flours and processed foods lowers inflammation. In addition, following an elimination diet to eliminate any foods you may be reacting to, will lower inflammation levels as well.

How Do We Get Our Hormones Back into Balance Naturally?

These steps will help you lower inflammation, regain balance in your hormones and lose weight:

1. 1. First, eliminate inflammatory foods along with strategic detoxes that clear excess hormone levels from the body, stop food sensitivities, and clear hormone receptors. A diet that eliminates all grains, dairy, and all processed foods and vegetable oils is a good start. Eat only whole foods, lots of organic veggies and naturally raised meats/fish/poultry, along with healthy fats. Be sure to get lots of fiber which helps eliminate excess estrogens. Avoid sugars of all kinds.
   2. Avoid dangerous hormone-disrupting artificial estrogens in the environment by avoiding commercial home cleaning supplies, pesticides, weed killer, laundry soaps, dry cleaning, toiletries, makeup, shampoos, hair styling products, pesticides and other chemical-based products.
   3. Practice good self-care to lower stress such as meditation, getting good sleep and daily exercise.

Generally, these steps will often make a huge difference in how you feel and help to bring your hormones back into balance. If you still feel ‘off’, as your functional medicine doctor or health practitioner for a saliva hormone test to determine your hormone levels.

Natural Supplements to Ease Hormonal Symptoms

And lastly, some natural hormone supplements are available over the counter without a prescription that are safe and easy to use.

While some of these therapies are backed by clinical research, many others have very little research, and only anecdotal evidence to support their use.

Always talk to your doctor or other healthcare provider before you try any alternative treatment. They can discuss possible dosage, side effects, and interactions with you.

Here are the most common natural supplements for reducing symptoms of menopause:

B vitamins

B vitamins, especially with methylfolate (a usable form of folate), methylcobalamin and other B vitamins help the body with the methylation cycle. The methylation cycle is key in the transfer of the fat-soluble form of folate into the brain, as well as contributing to the formation of important neurotransmitters: epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and melatonin. B vitamins are also responsible for energy, brain and nerve function.

When methylation is going well, the process helps repair your DNA, regulates hormones, produces energy, protects against cancer, supports detoxification, keeps your immune system healthy, supports the protective coating along your nerves, strengthens the nervous system and on and on and on.

Methylfolate (the most bioavailable form of folate) is helpful in reducing the length and severity of hot flashes. And B vitamins are great to prevent anxiety, depression and irritability by regulating the brain neurotransmitters responsible for mood regulation.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a powerful hormone of its own. Vitamin D will boost your immune system, help maintain a strong bone structure, and help and with hormone regulation and vaginal dryness. IT’s also known to improve your moods.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Omega 3’s may help lubricate your body and decrease vaginal dryness. Omega 3 fats are also vital to healthy brain function and lowering inflammation. When taken in addition to B vitamins and magnesium, omega 3 supplements improve depression.

Magnesium

Magnesium is an essential mineral that most of use do not get enough of. Women in perimenopause or menopause can definitely benefit from magnesium supplements. Magnesium is known to help sleep by regulating the body’s circadian rhythms, and promoting muscle relaxation. This small study found that 500mg of magnesium daily led to a significant increase in sleep quality, as well as melatonin production.

Adequate magnesium levels may also lessen anxiety and depression, improving brain function, mood regulation and reactions to stress. Magnesium also lowers blood pressure, lowers inflammation, and decreases the risk of heart disease.

Herbal Supplements

Some herbal supplements claim to help manage perimenopause and menopause symptoms. However, it is important to remember that the FDA doesn’t regulate supplements and there is little research on many of them—especially for menopause symptoms.

It’s important to talk to a healthcare provider before adding supplements. Potency of herbal supplements can vary widely, and some products may also interact with over-the-counter and prescription medications.

Black cohosh

Black cohosh is a flowering plant that is often suggested to help with hormonal symptoms. Taking black cohosh may help decrease the frequency or severity of hot flashes.

Dong quai

Dong quai is an herb often used in Chinese medicine. Dong quai works like a phytoestrogen (plant based estrogen) in the body. Phytoestrogens are weaker than normal estrogens and take up the estrogen receptors in the body, helping to lessen the effects of estrogen, and balancing your hormones during menopause. Dong Quai helps to enhance metabolism, improve liver function (which improves the excretion of excess estrogen), aids in the utilization of vitamin E, and has a mild sedative activity.

Maca

Often suggested as a supplement for men, maca works for women as well. Maca works to improve sex drive and sexual function, while helping balance hormone levels.

Valerian Root

Valerian is an herbal tranquilizer and is often used to alleviate anxiety and insomnia—two problems women in perimenopause and menopause report frequently.

Over the Counter Natural Progesterone

Natural progesterone is inexpensive, safe and easy to use. Natural progesterone may help ease the symptoms of estrogen dominance (see list above), help you feel calmer, relieve anxiety and promote sound sleep. Natural progesterone may also help thyroid function, as well as reducing the risk of breast and endometrial cancers. Natural progesterone when used regularly, can balance hormone levels and help eliminate some of the negative symptoms of estrogen dominance.

Natural Hormone Balance

There is a natural way to rebalance your hormones and get your estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and thyroid back into balance. In the process, you will most likely lose weight, sleep better, feel better, eliminate anxiety, and also get rid of many of those unpleasant menopause or peri-menopause symptoms.

Making changes in diet, weight loss, removal of Xenoestrogens and lowering inflammation will help you regain hormone balance—perhaps even better than ever!

And if none of the above things help you, it may be time visit a doctor who specializes in natural hormone replacement therapy and investigate bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

Check out this next story below if you want an innovative new way to lose weight:

> Do THIS 1 hour before bed to pee out stubborn fat in the morning

References
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/magnesium-for-menopause#sources
https://thrivenfunctionalmedicine.com/methylation/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-natural-menopause-tips#TOC_TITLE_HDR_12
https://www.healthline.com/health/menopause/alternatives-to-hrt#herbal-supplements
https://www.drnorthrup.com/traditional-herbs-or-bioidentical-hormones-which-is-better/
https://www.naturalgrocers.com/article/natural-menopause-symptom-relief

The post Natural Solutions for Hormone Balance (for women only) appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

Back in the days when my kids were very young, one of them would occasionally come down with a cold or the flu. With three kids, it seemed like at least one of them would be sick fairly often. And when two or more kids were sick, there wasn’t a lot of sleeping for me.

I personally do not get sick very often—although after a few nights of being up with sick kids and missing out on valuable sleep–BOOM! I’d be sick too.

Now that my kiddos are all grown up, I travel frequently–and traveling to faraway places means a long flight, usually cramped up in a seat, trying to sleep while flying through several time zones. The sleep deprivation that results from a day’s worth (or more) of traveling and time zone changes almost always causes me to end up getting sick.

I’m convinced there has to be a big connection between sleep and immune function.

Turns out there is. People who generally sleep six hours or less have altered immune responses, in several different parts of the immune system. Sleep deprivation especially impacts the body’s white blood cells, which are part of the innate immune system, the body’s first line of defense against invading pathogens.

In one study of identical twins, conducted at University of Washington’s Sleep Center, it was found that the twin who got the least amount of sleep was more likely to get sick. Lead scientist in the study, Dr. Nathaniel Watson said, “What we show is that the immune system functions best when the body gets enough sleep. Seven or more hours of sleep is recommended for optimal health.”

Sleep deprivation can also actually increase inflammatory markers and over-activate immune cells. The study showed for the first time that chronic sleep deprivation (less than six hours a night) shuts down the immune response effectiveness of circulating white blood cells.

Sleep is so essential to immune system function that sleep deprived people don’t even develop a very strong antibody response to a vaccine.

How does sleep affect your immune system?

The Innate Immune System, the Body’s First Line of Defense

Our immune system–while complex--has two basic functions. One is the innate immune system, which is our body’s first line of defense against any invading pathogens. Its purpose is to disable or kill any invader before it has a chance to enter our cells and reproduce.

Research shows that sleep deprivation has a strong negative effect on the innate immune system, which acts immediately to prevent the spread and movement of foreign pathogens.

One study of looked at exposure to the common cold virus among two groups–one that had more than 7 hours of sleep and the other with less than 6 hours of sleep. The group that got less than 6 hours of sleep were four times more likely to be infected than the group that got more than 7 hours of nightly rest.

The white blood cells and immune proteins that work as barriers to kill off infecting pathogens in the innate immune system are weakened by sleep deprivation.

T Cell Function

Numerous studies have looked at the benefits of a good night’s sleep, and researchers from Germany have found that sound sleep improves a vital part of the immune system in cells known as T cells. T cells are an essential part of the body’s immune system, critical to the immune response.

T cells are a type of immune cell that fight against pathogens that make their way into a cell, such as virus-infected cells including Covid19, all types of influenza, HIV, herpes, and cancer cells.

When T cells recognize a pathogen or an infected target cell, such as a cell infected with a virus, they activate proteins that attach to their target and, in the case of a virally infected cell, kill it.

The researchers compared T cells from healthy volunteers who either slept or stayed awake all night. The T cells in the well-rested participants showed higher levels of activation than in the T cells of those who had not slept.

For people who get poor sleep, stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline also tend to rise, and these stress hormones also tend to dampen the ability of T cells to fight off pathogens effectively, as well as raising inflammation levels.

These findings show that sleep has the potential to enhance the efficiency of T cell responses, which is especially important considering that sleep disorders are also tied to mental health conditions such as depression, chronic stress, and aging.

Cytokines and Inflammation

During sleep, your immune system also releases proteins called cytokines, some of which help promote sleep. Certain cytokines also play a role when you have an infection or inflammation, or when you’re under stress.

Cytokines are actually a set of proteins that serve as chemical messengers. These proteins, tell immune cells what to do and also tell the body to produce more of them to help deliver a knockout blow, if necessary, to the infection.

Sleep deprivation has been shown to decrease the production of these protective cytokines. In addition, infection-fighting antibodies and cells are reduced during periods when you don’t get enough sleep.

Sleep also helps reduce stress hormones while raising helpful sleep hormones such as melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone made naturally by your body and produced in the pineal gland in the brain.

Melatonin is considered the sleep hormone as its rising levels at night help you fall asleep and sleep more soundly. Melatonin is also a powerful antioxidant, which may provide a variety of other health benefits, including strengthening the immune system.

Cytokines can be pro-inflammatory, increasing an inflammatory response from the immune system. Other inflammatory cytokines also increase with shorter sleep periods, and one in particular, IL-17 can remain elevated up to two days after recovery sleep.

In severe cases of the flu or Covid19, cytokine production can grow out of control. Immune cells release cytokines that tell the body to produce more immune cells, and in turn these new cells release even more pro-inflammatory cytokines.

These excessive amounts of cytokines can lead to something called a cytokine storm, which creates an overwhelming inflammatory immune response that can damage lungs and kidneys and bring about death. Cytokine storms are one of the reason that many people die from Covid19.

Sleep can help to modulate–or slow down–the effects of an over-reaction of cytokines while protecting and balancing the immune system. Sleep also helps to lower inflammation, including CRP levels (an inflammatory marker), while strengthening the overall immune response.

Adults should have a minimum of seven hours of sleep on a regular basis for improved health, lower stress levels and lower inflammation. A good night’s sleep also goes a long ways towards protecting your health and effectively fighting off dangerous pathogens such as Covid19, flu and even colds.

Unfortunately, more one third of American adults are getting less than seven hours of sleep, according to a study in 2016 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Less than five hours of sleep a night on a regular basis is actually associated with higher ‘all-cause’ mortality, increased risk of depression, stress, infections, weight gain, and blood sugar issues.

Key to remember:

• Try to go to sleep at around the same time every night and get up at the same time.
• Avoid too much alcohol or heavy meals right before bed.
• Avoid hard workouts right before bedtime.
• Get plenty of exercise during the day.
• Get out in the sunshine daily.
• Avoid stimulants such as caffeine, within 6 hours of bedtime.
• Try to ease stress and if necessary, try a pre-bedtime meditation.
• Avoid looking at your phone or computer right before bedtime.

If necessary, take a healthy natural supplement containing natural melatonin to help you get sleepy and sleep more soundly, as well as giving a try to this delicious HOT golden latte. Drink right before bed, if you struggle with “winding down” and relaxing at the end of the day, or falling asleep at night.

Not only will it help you relax and fall asleep, but it’ll help you STAY asleep, providing for a more restful night, and let you wake up feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and full of energy

> Drink this HOT Golden Latte 1hr before bed to sleep better, fight inflammation, & wake up feeling refreshed

Take 1 sip an hour before bed to boost your Growth Hormone and flatten your belly while you sleep:

Recent studies are now showing how a simple tweak to your bedtime ritual can have dramatic effects in shrinking fat tissue while reversing the signs of premature biological aging every time you fall asleep.

This pre-bedtime daily ritual also helps you sleep deeper while increasing specific hormones that FORCE your body to release stored abdominal fat while you sleep… AND it works equally well for BOTH men and women, as you’ll see below…

>> Take 1 sip an hour before bed to boost fat-burning hormones while you sleep (boosts GH while also helping you to sleep deeper)

References
https://todayspractitioner.com/sleep/sleep-cytokines-and-inflammation/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7102583/
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/how-sleep-bolsters-your-immune-system#The-importance-of-T-cells
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324432#Sleep-could-enhance-T-cell-responses
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190212094839.htm
https://rupress.org/jem/article/216/3/517/120367/G-s-coupled-receptor-signaling-and-sleep-regulate
https://www.ucihealth.org/blog/2020/04/sleep-immunity-covid

The post Sleep Deprivation: How it Affects Your Immune System to Fight Off Viruses appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

By: Cat Ebeling, RN, MSN-PHN, co-author of the best-sellers:  The Fat Burning Kitchen, The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging & The Diabetes Fix

Ten Deadly Things That Can Happen When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is one of the most important things you can do to take care of your health. I actually rank sleep up there with eating organic healthy food and getting regular exercise. It is my top three priorities and I am a shameless guardian of my sleep. It is just THAT important.

But—hormone changes, stress, lack of exercise and other lifestyle factors can totally interfere with sleep. Most of the industrialized world is sleep deprived to some extent.

1. Disasters

Sleep is so important though, that the lack of it can have devastating and dire consequences. In fact, sleep deprivation has been a factor in some of the biggest disasters in recent history: the 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill, the 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl, the space shuttle Challenger explosion, Air France flight 447 (killing all aboard), the Great Heck rail crash in UK, and many, many more.

2. Automobile accidents

Lack of sleep is also a huge public safety hazard every day on the road. Drowsiness can slow reaction time as much as driving drunk. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that sleepiness is related to over 100,000 auto crashes and 1,550 sleep-related deaths a year in the United States alone.

3. Work Accidents

Studies show that sleep loss and poor-quality sleep also lead to accidents and injuries on the job. In one study, workers who complained about excessive daytime sleepiness had significantly more work accidents, particularly repeated work accidents. Sleepy workers are 70 percent more likely to be involved in accidents and workers with chronic insomnia are far more likely to report industrial accidents or injuries.

People with excessive sleepiness who also snore (a potential sign of sleep apnea) are twice as likely to be involved in workplace accidents. And tragically, a Swedish study of nearly 50,000 people found that those with sleep problems were nearly twice as likely to die in a work-related accident. Sleep deprived people also had more sick days per accident.

4. Deadly Medical Errors

The Institute of Medicine’s report estimates that as many as 98,000 deaths occur per year in the United States’ hospitals–due to medical errors. Long work hours and patient overload among hospital workers contributes to this serious problem.

5. Mental Dysfunction

But that’s not all. Sleep loss actually affects your thought processes, making you more forgetful, clouding your judgement, and making it harder to comprehend information. Sleep deprivation also causes irritability, moodiness, depression and excess anxiety.

Studies show people who are sleep deprived report increases in negative moods (anger, frustration, irritability, sadness) and decreases in positive moods. And if you go long enough without sleep, you will actually start to hallucinate. A lack of sleep can also trigger manic episodes in those with bipolar disorder. Other psychological risks include:

• Increase in impulsive or criminal behavior (lack of judgement)
• Increase in anxiety and depression
• Paranoia
• Suicidal thoughts

Sleep deprived people can also experience something called “micro-sleep” where you fall asleep for a few seconds without realizing it. This can be incredibly dangerous depending on the situation.

6. Chronic Disease

Lack of sleep actually makes you more at risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and obesity. And this recent European Heart Journal study showed that those people getting less than 7-8 hours of sleep a night had a 35 percent higher of cardiovascular disease and strokes.

7. Hormone Production

Hormone production is super dependent on your sleep. Sleep is vital for growth hormone production. Growth hormone is necessary for building muscle, repairing cells and rebuilding tissue and collagen production.

For testosterone production, you need at least three hours of uninterrupted sleep, which is about the time of your first REM episode. Not sleeping enough depletes hormone production.

8. Poor Immune Function

During sleep, the immune system releases a type of protective protein called cytokines–some of these actually help promote sleep. Cytokines are a line of defense that is needed to fight off infection or inflammation, or during times of stress. Sleep deprivation decreases these protective cytokines, along with infection-fighting antibodies and cells, making it difficult for the body to fight off any infectious illnesses.

9. Out of Control Appetite

Hormones that make you feel hungry like ghrelin or full, like leptin get out of control. Leptin goes down while ghrelin goes up, making you crave the munchies. In addition sleep deficiency actually creates a higher than normal blood sugar level, causing more insulin to be released. When insulin is released, appetite goes up. All of this means sleep deprivation will most likely cause hunger and weight gain.

10. Accelerates Aging

Sleep deprivation can cause your skin to age faster, according to a new study. In a clinical trial by skin care specialists, it was found that poor sleepers showed definite signs of aging skin. Sleep deprived women showed signs of premature skin aging, and a decrease in their skin’s ability to recover from sun exposure.

Researchers found that those who didn’t sleep well exhibited more signs of skin aging including fine lines, uneven pigmentation, poor color, and reduced skin elasticity. The researchers also found that those who enjoyed quality sleep were more quick to recover from stressors to the skin such as sun and environmental toxins.

Considering the importance of sleep, how do you safeguard those 7-8 hours every night? Well, of course, try to get to bed at about the same time every night. This gets your body into a habit of sleeping/waking that is vital to good sleep.

Be sure to get some vigorous activity in every day—especially outside during daylight hours if possible. If you can just get outside for a brisk walk at lunchtime, it can help a lot! Lifting weights or any other type of strenuous exercise will help even more—as long as you don’t do it within 2 hours of bedtime.

WATCH the Caffeine in your drinks, food or medications. Caffeine has a half-life of 6 hours. So think of this—ONE cup of coffee contains about 100 mg of caffeine. With a half-life of 6 hours, that means that six hour later, you still have 50 mg in your system and another 6 hours later, you have 25mg in your system. Obviously if you drink coffee at lunch time, you will still have caffeine in your system at bedtime. And some people are genetically inclined to be even slower metabolizers of caffeine.

Don’t get dehydrated. Drink plenty of water, because dehydration can actually make heart pound harder as it works to get that slightly thicker blood around the body.

Too much alcohol will definitely mess up your sleep—even more than a couple of drinks will disrupt sleep and REM cycles, often causing you to wake up in the night. Too much alcohol can also cause more night sweats and hot flashes—especially for women.

Stress. We all have it. If you can, try to find relaxing ways to end your day, like meditating, stretching, yoga, or a hot Epsom salts bath. Even a hot shower works well–as your body cools off, it actually helps you feel sleepier.

We know prescription sleeping pills are certainly not the best solution for sleep, but many of us turn to these as a last resort—or our Doctors are pushing them on us, so we take them.

The thing is, sleeping pills can cause a lot of unpleasant side effects from headaches and sleep hangovers to nausea, irritability, and dizziness.

They can also cause you to do crazy things like raid the fridge at night in a sleepy stupor, drive your car in your sleep, sleep walk, grind your teeth, snore, or have sleep apnea, and more.

Here are a few natural ways to promote a sound and restful sleep—with beneficial side effects!

Magnesium

Magnesium helps your muscles relax and it helps you feel more calm. Magnesium also helps with deep sleep phases. And its super important for overall health as well, as it contributes to about 300 other necessary functions in the body, including heart health. Epsom salts contain magnesium so a Epsom salt hot bath is awesome way to relax and get to sleep.

Theanine

L-theanine is a natural chemical that helps calm down the activity in the brain. And it does help with sleep and to help you feel calm and rested. But be aware that theanine or L-theanine can have a bounce back reaction, and it cause anxiety when it wears off.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a natural brain chemical that helps with sleep. The biggest problem with melatonin is that it can cause you to wake up when it wears off in the middle of the night.

To solve this, you can take melatonin in a time release form.

It is better if you only take it once in a while like when you are changing time zones, drink too much or stare at your computer too late at night.

Collagen

You’ve probably never heard of this one, but Collagen is excellent for sleep—and it’s great for your hair, skin and nails as well. Try a nice steaming mug of collagen/bone broth before bed. The primary amino acid in bone broth or collagen is glycine, which is very effective for inducing sleep. Glycine also helps lower your body temperature, which induces sleep, and it restores your natural REM pattern to your sleep as well.

CBD Oil

If you don’t already know, CBD is the non-psychoactive ingredient in hemp or marijuana. In other words, CBD does not get you ‘high’ and is legal. CBD is also an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-nausea, and calming pain killer, that helps stimulate melatonin production as well. If you do decide to try out CBD oil, please check out this link from our friends from Healthy Living Nutritional.

For Women–Progesterone

Progesterone starts do decrease around ten years before menopause ever starts. Progesterone is a relaxing, “feel good” hormone for women. It really helps to promote a sense of calm– getting rid of anxiety and irritability.

So even if you are in your 40s and having trouble sleeping at night, you may need progesterone. Progesterone is relatively safe and easy to use. You can purchase it in an over-the-counter natural cream and apply it right before bed, using as much or as little as you need.

Sex

Sex helps stimulate endorphins, oxytocin and vasopressin—all hormones which help create calming feelings of attachment, security, and relaxation. So perhaps you can nudge your partner to see if they are interested in helping you get a good night’s sleep.

And finally, If none of these things help, it may be worth a visit to the doctor to have blood work done to check hormone, nutrient and thyroid levels, and to rule out other health conditions.

Good night. Sleep well.

Natural Alternative to Help You Sleep Fast

Looking for a natural way to fall asleep and keep asleep, this remedy has been around since the 1600’s, and is still used today as a form of natural anesthesia for surgery!

This natural ingredient in this knock-out tea works as good as ambien WITHOUT the side effects.

>> knock-out tea (will knock you out in 20 minutes)

References
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sleep-deprivation-accidents-disasters_n_4380349
https://www.optisom.com/en/learn-about-sleep/sleeps-impact-on-workplace-and-employee-safety
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19958/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130723155002.htm
https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-deprivation/effects-on-body#6
https://chriskresser.com/the-diet-heart-myth-how-to-prevent-and-reverse-heart-disease-naturally/

The post Why Not Enough Sleep Can Actually Kill You appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

By: Cat Ebeling, RN, MSN-PHN, co-author of the best-sellers:  The Fat Burning Kitchen, The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging & The Diabetes Fix

Insomnia. I bet most of us have struggled with this at least a few times in our lives.

As we age, insomnia can get worse. There is nothing worse than struggling through the day on a poor night’s sleep, especially if it happens over and over.

Poor sleep can increase stress, cause weight gain, contribute to irritation, anxiety and depression, and even put a strain on relationships.

Let’s talk about some of the causes of insomnia and how you can fix these.

1. Activity levels

Ever noticed after a day of hard exercise or physical work, that you can just fall into bed and sleep like a rock? Exercise definitely helps you sleep more deeply and more soundly, but keep in mind, exercise late at night can rev up your body and make it hard to relax into sleep. However, soaking in an Epsom salts bath or just taking a long, hot shower can actually help relax your body and help you get ready to sleep. Here is an amazing article on 17 unique uses for epsom salts.

Definitely try to get some form of exercise everyday—whether it’s walking, running, gardening, housework, weight lifting, moving furniture, or anything that gets you moving and working your muscles.

2. Caffeine

You may be aware that you cannot drink a cup of coffee in the evening, but did you know that that caffeine has a 6 hour half-life. That means in 6 hours you still have half as much in your system, and that can still be pretty substantial.

For example, a cup of coffee contains, on average, 100mg of caffeine. Six hours later that means you still 50mg in your body, and six hours after that, 30mg. So beware if you drink that espresso at noon—it may be keeping you up at night.

Also, decaf coffee still contains a decent amount of caffeine as well. In fact, one cup of decaf from Dunkin Donuts has shown that it contains about 32 milligrams of caffeine while another cup of decaf from Seattle’s Best packed 29 milligrams. And, some of us are actually genetically slower at processing caffeine, or very sensitive to caffeine, so it could take even longer for your body to process the caffeine out.

While coffee does contain caffeine, it also has some amazing health benefits. Coffee can be good for your body!

Other drinks may contain sneaky amounts of caffeine as well. These include sports drinks, energy drinks, many flavored waters and even energy bars and snacks.

Don’t overlook chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Caffeine occurs naturally in cocoa beans, as does the compound theobromine, which also acts as a stimulant. Even a cup of hot chocolate can contain a fair amount of caffeine and theobromine.

Keep in mind too, the average cup of iced tea contains 70 mg or so of caffeine (almost as much as coffee) and most sodas contain around 50 mg of caffeine. Pay attention to those sneaky caffeine drinks and avoid them after noon or before. Better yet, drink water!

Speaking of water…

3. Dehydration

You don’t have to be dying of thirst for this to keep you awake. Dehydration occurs more frequently in the summer than we probably realize, and can definitely keep you awake.

Going for that cold beer or sipping a margarita after activity outside sounds tempting, but unless you have replaced fluids lost from sweat, and then replaced the fluids lost from the alcohol, you have created a double whammy that will dehydrate your body quickly!

And, pay attention to allergy medicine. Many allergy medications are designed to dry you out, so an antihistamine or decongestant or any one of a huge variety of over-the-counter or prescription medicines will definitely dry out not only your nose, but the rest of your body as well.

How does dehydration affect sleep, you ask? When the body is dehydrated, our blood volume drops. Our hearts are made to optimally pump a specific amount of blood volume, and slight variations in this volume can have a big effect. Your blood actually becomes thicker when you are dehydrated.

When the optimal amount of blood volume drops, then the heart must pump even harder to distribute the blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. Combine a hot sweaty day, not enough to fluids drink, and too many diuretic substances (caffeine, alcohol, antihistamines, etc), and the heart has to work a lot harder. Result–when you try to relax at night, your heart may be pounding and this will make it harder to sleep.

Be sure to drink plenty of water during the day to stay hydrated. Drinking lots of water before bed will have you up all night, going to the bathroom.

4. Medications

That includes things like cold and allergy medicines, thyroid medications, blood pressure medicine, cortisone, and ADD medication. Ask your doctor if any of your prescription meds can be affecting your sleep.

Alcohol, which is also a drug, can make you sleepy, but too much of it disrupts your normal sleep cycle as well. You may sleep for a few hours, but then wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go back to sleep. Limit yourself to 1-2 drinks if you want to ensure that you get a good night’s sleep—and to protect your health.

5. Junk food, preservatives and additives

Eating junky processed foods before bed can not only elevate blood sugar, but keep your digestive system working late into the night as well. Of course, starchy, sugary foods right before bed can wreak havoc, by elevating the blood sugar too much, and then a resulting crash in the middle of the night.

Not only does that lead to excess fat storage (you won’t burn those calories off while sleeping!) but you also will probably feel groggy, tired and irritable in the morning, as you will wake with lower than normal blood sugar, and the buzz you may get from the sugar high may also keep you awake instead of sending you off to dreamland.

In addition, artificial preservatives, sweeteners and other chemical additives can actually cause your brain and nervous system to go haywire, totally disrupting your normal sleep rhythm and ability to relax.

6. Stress

Of course, we all encounter stress to some degree or another and yes, it can definitely keep you up at night. What can we do about stress? Well of course, exercise helps. And so does meditation.

Meditation is not that fancy. It’s simply a matter of being still, relaxing and allowing your thoughts to flow past, while you try to quiet your mind. Meditation is extremely helpful at helping you clear your mind, become present, feel gratitude and to relax. If you find you cannot shut your mind off at night, try clearing your head with meditation. It doesn’t have to be a complicated process and a mere 10 minutes a day can actually do wonders.

There are many helpful apps you can get on your phone that will guide you through this process.

7. Hormone Fluctuations

As we get older, declining levels of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone in women, and lowered levels of testosterone in men can take away from a good night’s sleep.

The body’s natural progesterone levels begin to drop and fluctuating levels of estrogen can cause hot flashes at night, as well as restlessness. For women, progesterone declines first and even if you are years away from menopause, declining levels of progesterone can cause anxiety, tension and restlessness.

And for men over the age of 40, declining levels of testosterone can also cause insomnia, so be sure to have your hormone levels checked and see if you need supplemental testosterone.
In addition, thyroid hormone problems can cause jitteriness and nervousness or, excessive fatigue and sleepiness during the day. A couple of suggestions on this:

• Have a Doctor check all hormone levels and if they are low, your best bet is bioidentical hormones as in estradiol and micronized progesterone to balance your missing hormones.

• Have your thyroid levels (T3 and T4) checked and take the thyroid medication that best suits your needs. A natural, bioidentical thyroid supplement usually works best for most.

Nine Natural Solutions to a Good Night’s Sleep

Certainly, prescription sleeping pills are not the best answer. Sleeping pills can cause a variety of unpleasant side effects from headaches and hangovers to nausea, irritability, and dizziness. Ambien has also been shown to decrease cognitive performance and increase sleepiness the next morning. Sleeping pills can also cause you to do crazy things like raid the fridge at night while in a medicated, sleep-induced state, drive in your sleep, grind your teeth or have sleep apnea, rearrange furniture and more.

1. Magnesium

Ever been around a fidgety person? Usually, one of the issues is that they need magnesium. People who are low on magnesium have a hard time being calm and their nervous system can’t stop firing. Not only does magnesium help with over 300 different body reactions, but it also helps your body convert protein to muscle, improves nerve function, blood glucose, and blood pressure. Magnesium is also required for energy production, developing and strengthening bones, and helping to synthesize DNA and RNA. Magnesium also helps with nerve impulse conduction, muscle contraction and a steady heartbeat.

Magnesium helps everyone relax better, sleep more soundly and feel more calm. But as we age, even if we are healthy, we tend to sleep less deeply. Magnesium helps with that age-related decline in sleep quality. If interested in learning more on how important Magnesium is to your body, check out Top 7 Benefits of Magnesium.

2. Theanine

Theanine is a natural chemical that helps calm down the activity in the brain. Theanine helps to increase serotonin (a relaxing, feel good brain chemical), GABA (a calming neurotransmitter) and glycine in the brain. These neurotransmitters all help you sleep better. Theanine helps you relax and let go of stress, without feeling groggy or drowsy. Theanine is found mainly in green tea, so be careful–green tea (unless it is decaffeinated) contains caffeine which will keep you wide awake.

I recently discovered the benefits of theanine and find that it helps me work better and be more focused during the day, as well as sleep more soundly at night.

3. Melatonin

Melatonin is a natural brain chemical that is affected by natural light. When the brain sees that it is getting dark outside, it starts to pump out a hormone called melatonin. This helps to initiate sleep and regulate your natural sleep/waking cycle.

Melatonin is available in supplements and which can help initiate sleep. The difficulty however, is that the body naturally makes a continuous supply of melatonin during sleep. Supplemental melatonin will wear off and while it can help you fall asleep easily, you may wake up in the middle of the night once the melatonin is gone.

Melatonin works best if you take it only on occasion, and in a time release form, so it releases slowly. Take melatonin with you when traveling and changing time zones to adjust more quickly. Take melatonin if you happen to drink a little too much, since alcohol tends to suppress melatonin, and it’s also effective if you’ve been staring at your computer screen a little too long late at night.

4. Collagen

Have you ever had a nice steaming mug of collagen/bone broth before bed? The main amino acid in collagen/bone broth is glycine, which can be very effective for inducing sleep. Glycine actually also helps to lower body temperature, which is key to help induce sleep. (This is also why a hot bath is good before bedtime, as your body temperature comes down, you fall asleep.) Glycine is also very effective to restore a natural REM pattern to your sleep as well.

While everyone raves about the health benefits of bone broth and collagen for joints, hair and skin, glycine remains a healthy alternative for aiding sleep as well.

Check out some of the additional Healing Benefits of Bone Broth, especially for your gut and joint health.

5. CBD Oil

CBD or cannabidiol is the non-psychoactive ingredient in either hemp or marijuana. In other words, CBD will not get you ‘high’, and is legal. According to a 2013 study published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, CBD benefits include anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant, antioxidant, anti-nausea, anti-anxiety, and even antipsychotic. It has been used very effectively to treat cancer, nerve inflammation and pain (peripheral neuropathy), epilepsy, nausea and vomiting, anxiety, schizophrenia and more.

CBD can help to stimulate melatonin production by boosting tryptophan in the bloodstream. Trytophan, you may remember, is one of those amino acids (like in turkey) that helps promote sleepiness. CBD also helps to improve serotonin production as well, a key brain ingredient to a happy, calm state.

CBD is also great at battling inflammation and pain, so if you happen to have health issues that cause these things that interfere with sleep, CBD will come to the rescue for both! This study of insomnia patients, showed that 160 mg/day of CBD increased sleep time and reduced the number of arousals during the night.

If you do decide to take CBD oil for its amazing health benefits, check out this amazing offer from our friends at HealthyLivingNutritionals.

6. Lutein and Zeaxanthin

Did you realize that the blue light emitted from your computer, pad device or cell phone at night can suppress melatonin in your body? This turns off your body’s natural ability to recognize bedtime and become sleepy. Blocking this blue light in the evening with a pair of orange goggles will prevent this from happening. OR—did you know that the nutrients lutein and zeaxanthin which are carotenoids found in colorful veggies can also help this?

Human studies show that taking lutein and zeaxanthin on a regular basis will improve sleep quality, reduce sleep disturbances, and lower your dependence on supplemental or pharmaceutical sleep aids. There are plenty of supplements available (generally labeled as being good for your vision) that contain lutein and zeaxanthin—also great for sleep.

7. Progesterone (for women)

Menopause and peri-menopause are brought about by the decline in production of hormones, especially estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. These hormones work together to regulate a woman’s reproductive function and menstrual cycle. They also affect mood, energy, sexual drive, cognitive and emotional abilities—and sleep.

While estrogen falls most sharply after menopause, progesterone can begin to decline years before menopause comes about. Progesterone works to offset and balance out estrogen, and promotes the growth of bone tissue to offset osteoporosis, among other things.

I think of progesterone as largely a sleep-promoting, “feel good” hormone for women. Higher levels of progesterone tend to promote a sense of calm, boosting relaxation and facilitating sleep. Progesterone increases production of GABA, the neurotransmitter that helps promote sleep. Low progesterone can cause anxiety and insomnia, including a tendency wake frequently at night. Progesterone is safe and easy to use. You can purchase it in an over-the-counter natural cream and apply before bed.

8. Choline

Choline is another important nutrient in food that plays a role in sleep. It’s the primary building block for acetylcholine … the neurotransmitter that affects thought, memory, sleep … even muscle control and balance.

Lots of acetylcholine helps make your mind sharp, your memory clear, and gives you energy. As you age, though choline drops, and one of the most noticeable symptoms of low choline is problems with falling asleep and staying asleep. Other symptoms include lack of energy, brain fog and confusion, irritability, and memory loss. Choline can be found in whole pastured eggs, organic/free-range chicken and turkey livers, and naturally raised pork and beef.

If these things don’t help, it may be worth a visit to the doctor to have some blood work done to check hormone and thyroid levels, and to rule out any other health conditions. Some hormones are best prescribed by a doctor, especially when it comes to estrogen, testosterone and thyroid hormones.

9. Sex

One last thing that is very effective for a sound night’s sleep—sex. It doesn’t have to be wild, hanging on the chandelier sex, just a normal, healthy sex life. Sex stimulates endorphins, oxytocin and vasopressin in men and women, which serve to create feelings of attachment, security, and relaxation. Sex gets rid of anxiety and stress, and also goes to help promote a healthier relationship with your significant other. So when all else fails, tap your partner on the shoulder and see if they are interested in contributing to a good night’s sleep.

If none of these things help, it may be worth a visit to the doctor to have some blood work done to check hormone and thyroid levels, and to rule out any other health conditions. Some hormones are best prescribed by a doctor, especially when it comes to estrogen, testosterone and thyroid hormones.

Here’s to a deep and restful night’s sleep!

And speaking of better QUALITY sleep (we’re talking blissful sleep where you wake up refreshed and feeling amazing every day), here’s another great article laying out ONE simple method you can do every night before bed to sleep better than you have in years…

> Do THIS 1­hr before bed to get PERFECT sleep & balance your hormones (Cuts your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc)

References:
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/10-natural-sleep-aids-what-works-and-why/
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/sleep-hacking/
http://www.reevolution.com/html/nutrition_energy_mood.htm
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/582688
https://ministryofhemp.com/blog/cbd-sleep/
https://thesleepdoctor.com/2018/01/05/menopause-affects-sleep/

The post Seven Things That Can Keep You Up at Night and Natural Remedies to Sleep Better appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.

By: Catherine Ebeling & Mike Geary
Co-author of the best-sellers:  The Fat Burning Kitchen, The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging & The Diabetes Fix

I love cherries! Dried, fresh, frozen, tart or sweet…in smoothies, on salads, even in main courses. They are an excellent sweet healthy snack full of antioxidants, and fat burning ingredients.

Cherries contain some unique and pretty awesome bioactive components that can help prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and other inflammatory diseases—as well as prevent muscle soreness, and help you sleep. Not only that, cherries are an extremely effective treatment for arthritis pain, gout, hemorrhoids, and allergies.

Cherries have boatloads of antioxidants in them that fight free radical damage and protect our cells’ DNA. Free radicals are linked to many diseases including cancer, heart disease, and dementia. Cherries also contain the super-nutrients quercetin, hydroxycinnamates, potassium, carotenoids and melatonin. Even sweet cherries have a healthy low glycemic index of 22, making them a healthy food for people trying to keep their blood sugar stable.

Anti-Inflammatory

Cherries are one of the best anti-inflammatory foods you can eat. These little red powerhouses contain phytochemicals called “anthocyanins” that give them their deep red color. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University found that the powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins in tart cherries were as effective at decreasing inflammation as the anti-inflammatory drugs Ibuprofen, aspirin and Tylenol. Another study published in the Journal of Natural Products showed that anthocyanins and cyanidin isolated from tart cherries worked better than aspirin. And many studies have shown that Tylenol and Ibuprofen can be extremely harmful to the liver and very toxic, so eating foods that are anti-inflammatory is far better for your health.

In fact, cherries can even help your workouts. Cherries have been proven to get rid of the aches and pains from an intense workout. They can actually reduce muscle soreness as well. This study published in Journal of International Society of Sports Nutrition looked at cherries’ power to reduce muscle damage and soreness from working out.  54 runners ran a 16 miles race, while drinking tart cherry juice or a placebo. The group drinking the cherry juice reported a significantly smaller increase in pain compared to the placebo group, which was attributed to cherries’ anti-inflammatory effect.

Arthritis and Gout

Over 33 million Americans have osteoarthritis. Arthritis can physically affect the joint, creating friction and lots of pain when the cartilage wears down. In one study done at the Osteoarthritis Research Center with 58 osteoarthritic patients who drank two 8-ounce bottles of tart cherry juice for six weeks, Western Ontario McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores decreased significantly after the tart cherry juice treatment. The WOMAC index is standardized questionnaire used by health professionals to evaluate patients with osteoarthritis of the knee and hip, including pain, stiffness, and physical functioning of the joints.

Gout is another type of arthritis that is extremely painful, usually affecting the big toe. Uric acid crystals build up in the toe joint, causing major inflammation, swelling, redness and serious pain. High uric acid levels in the body can also be associated with diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease. A large study of 633 people with gout were treated with cherry extract over a two-day period showing a 35% lower risk of gout attacks. When cherry intake was combined with allopurinol, a prescribed medication for gout and kidney stones, the risk of gout attacks was 75% lower.

Anti-Cancer

Anthocyanins from cherries, especially sour cherries have such strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, they inhibit tumor development in mice and the growth of human cancer cells. On a study done with mice with a genetic risk of colon cancer, a diet of tart cherries and anthocyanins helped prevent colon cancer and tumor growth. This study also showed that these two compounds from cherries reduced the growth of human colon cancer cells as well.

One other study done on humans with cherry extract showed a reduction in the growth of colon cancer cells and human breast cancer cells as well.

Sleep Soundly with Cherries

Cherries also help you sleep more soundly because they are one of the only foods that contain a natural substance called ‘melatonin’. Melatonin is a hormone in the body that regulates sleep cycles and helps you sleep deeply. Tart cherries contain the highest levels of melatonin. It only takes two tablespoons of concentrated tart cherry juice to promote good quality, deep sleep necessary for healing and repair of the body.

Melatonin contains powerful antioxidants that helps reverse aging as well. What’s more, a good night’s sleep helps to reduce cortisol which helps you burn fat better as well! In a study published in the European Journal of Nutrition, 20 volunteers consumed either a placebo or tart cherry juice concentrate for seven days. As a result of this treatment, total melatonin content was significantly elevated in the cherry juice group.

Healthy Hearts

Tart cherries can also protect the heart and reduce the risk of strokes. Research done at University of Michigan shows tart cherries activate something called PPAR (peroxisome proliferator activating receptors) in the body. These receptors are connected to glucose and fat metabolism and can help reduce heart attacks and cardiovascular disease. There are prescribed medications that do the same thing, but they come with serious side effects, such as increasing the risk of heart attacks and stroke!

While sweet cherries are effective, tart cherries contain even more of the powerful antioxidants that burn fat, help with muscle aches and soreness and help you sleep more soundly. Enjoy cherries in your next smoothie, on top of your breakfast oatmeal, throw in a salad, or just plain for a sweet, satisfying snack! One of my favorite snacks is frozen organic cherries mixed with raw almonds, and sprinkled with a little bit of cinnamon.  Give it a try!

(Mike’s cherry-infused cocktail tip: I have a sour cherry tree in my yard, so I get literally 1000’s of tart cherries every July… My favorite way to use all these sour cherries is to fill a bunch of mason jars with cherries and then add rye whiskey to the top of each jar, so that the sour cherries are infusing in the whiskey.  I let the jars sit at least for a couple weeks before I start drinking the cherry-infused whiskey, although many of the jars will soak for months before we get around to beginning to drink them.  

Each night after dinner, I like to take 1 shot of the cherry-infused whiskey, add a few shakes of organic digestive bitters, and a splash of sweet vermouth, and enjoy a super-healthy cocktail that’s a healthier version of a manhattan. The antioxidants and natural melatonin get extracted very effectively from the cherries by the alcohol (the cherries become white over time as the whiskey extracts all the phytonutrients) and help you fight inflammation, joint pain, and can help to get me to fall asleep easier from the natural melatonin.  I used to have knee pain years ago, but I think this combination of having 1 drink per day of my cherry-infused whiskey and my 1 mug per day of bone broth has completely eliminated my knee pain.  My joints have never felt better since I’ve been doing this nightly ritual!)

And some more tips on sleeping better, using tart cherry syrup and other tips too:
Drink tart cherry syrup and THIS tea to sleep deeper (plus 5 tips for insomnia)

Now you know cherries are one of the best anti-inflammatory foods you can eat. They are as effective in decreasing inflammation as those anti-inflammatory drugs you buy over the counter.

But cherries are not the only anti-inflammatory food out there, and you probably have this one food in your household right now.

Before you go… Our friend and favorite Doctor, Dr. Joshua Levitt, ND would like to share some of his trade secrets he has learned over the years…

This food kills knee, hip & back pain

As a naturopathic physician, for the better part of the last 20 years my main job has been to keep my patients’ joints moving freely…

Or to free them up when they’re stuck.

Today, I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned over all these years…

And let you in on a “trade secret” that will help your joints feel like they just got an oil change.

Read Now: 6 Anti-Inflammatory Foods for Your Knees, Hips, and Back

References:

Axe, J. Dr. Benefits of Cherries: Weight Loss, Gout Healing & Less Inflammation. Dr. Axe Food is Medicine. Retrieved from https://draxe.com/benefits-of-cherries/

Cherries, Dec 2007. Life Extension Magazine. Retrieve from
http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2007/12/sf_cherries/page-01

Kang SY, Seeram NP, Nair MG, Bourquin LD. Tart cherry anthocyanins inhibit tumor development in Apc(Min) mice and reduce proliferation of human colon cancer cells. Cancer Lett. 2003 may 8;194(1):13-9.

Kuehl, Perrier, Elliot, Chesnutt. (April 2010). Efficacy of tart cherry juice in reducing muscle pain during running: a randomized controlled trial. Retrieved from https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1550-2783-7-17

Olsson ME, Gustavsson KE, Andersson S, Nilsson A, Duan RD. Inhibition of cancer cell proliferation in vitro by fruit and berry extracts and correlations with antioxidant levels. J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Dec 1;52(24):7264-71.

Tall JM, Seeram NP, Zhao C, Nair MG, Meyer RA, Raja SN. Tart cherry anthocyanins suppress inflammation-induced pain behavior in rat. Behav Brain Res. 2004 Aug 12;153(1):181-8.

Schumacher, Pullman-Mooar, Gupta, Dinnella, Kim, McHugh. (August 2013). Randomized double-blind crossover study of the efficacy of a tart cherry juice blend in treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23727631

Wang, Nair, Strasburg, Chang, Booren, Gray, DeWitt. (Feb 1999). Antioxidant and antiinflammatory activities of anthocyanins and their aglycon, cyanidin, from tart cherries. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10075763

The post Five Good Reasons to Eat More Cherries (Plus a Healthy Cherry-Infusion Cocktail Recipe!) appeared first on thenutritionwatchdog.com.