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.