Preparing yourself for sleep – some quick reminders
I thought it would be useful to remind you of a few simple things that it might be worth trying to hopefully give yourself some releief from insomnia. A number of the things have been discussed in previous blogs in more detail, but sometimes it’s useful to look back and review some of the information.
There are a few different techniques here or things that you can alter which you never know might just provide that elusive cure for insomnia or help some relief for your sleep depravation.
Clear your mind. Do not watch TV, or read a book or go on the internet right before sleeping. Your brain can feel overwhelmed with all the information it has just heard that it will all linger on for a few more hrs and thus deprive you of sleeping right away. A clear mind can fall asleep quite easier.
Breathing technique. Lay down on your back, comfortably, and breathe in and out, slowly, but deeply. Do this over and over again. This breathing ritual will help relax you and cleanse your being, thus making it ripe for a good night of sleep.
Visualization. Close your eyes, and imagine the most beautiful, and peaceful place you know. Picture yourself there, and submerge yourself into the amazing feeling it's giving you. This will give you something relaxing and soothing to focus on, which will help calm you down and make you ready to fall asleep.
Sleep at regular hours. If you're awake until 3am and wake up in the afternoon, then you'll never overcome this problem. You need a normal sleeping schedule, which is waking up early in the morning, and going to bed not too late into the evening. Try it, and you'll notice immediate improvement.
Get rid of any addictions. The thing with addictions, is that they are constantly bugging you, and this even translates to the time when you're supposed to sleep. Therefore, if you have a caffeine, smoking, alcohol, or drug addiction, your best bet is to overcome the addiction first (which will help you not only for insomnia but for a lot more reasons) and then tackle your insomnia problem, which should already be much better with the loss of the addiction problem.
Listen to relaxing music. Music can guide our entire being into its tempo and mood. Same with relaxation music, and it can greatly help you feel at ease and stress free, which will help you fall asleep. You can also take it a step further and use self hypnosis or subliminal courses, which will help guide you mentally to overcome your insomnia, while also providing a relaxing music.
I particularly found that the listening to chilled out music helped me as one of the things that helped me gains some insomnia relief. I can particularly recommend a band called Lemon Jelly who are particularly chilled our even some of the Ibiza Chill out stuff - you can find from café del Mar on Amazon.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Showing posts with label diet and insomnia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet and insomnia. Show all posts
Monday, 15 November 2010
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Tart cherry juice, a natural insomnia cure
Tart cherry juice, a natural insomnia cure
A new research has suggested that drinking tart cherry juice daily can help reduce the severity of insomnia and time spent awake after going to sleep.
To reach the conclusion, a team of University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester and VA Center of Canandaigua researchers conducted a pilot study on the sleep habits of 15 older adults.
The adults drank 8 ounces of tart cherry juice beverage (CheriBundi www.cheribundi.com) in the morning and evening for 2 weeks, and a comparable matched juice drink, with no tart cherry juice, for another 2 week period.
There were significant reductions in reported insomnia severity and the adults saved about 17 minutes of wake time after going to sleep, on average, when drinking cherry juice daily, compared to when they were drinking the juice drink.
The researchers suspect tart cherries'' natural benefits could be due in part to their relatively high content of melatonin – a natural antioxidant in cherries with established ability to help moderate the body's sleep-wake cycle.
Produced naturally by the body in small amounts, melatonin plays a role in inducing sleepiness at night and wakefulness during the day.
Russel J. Reiter, a biomedical scientist at the University of Texas Health Science Center and one of the world's leading authorities on melatonin, says while melatonin supplement pills have been heavily promoted as a sleep aid, foods such as cherries – available year-round as dried, frozen and juice – may be a better alternative for boosting the body's own supply of melatonin.
"When consumed regularly, tart cherries may help regulate the body's natural sleep cycle and increase sleep efficiency, including decreasing the time it takes to fall asleep. And, because cherries are so rich in other antioxidants, such as anthocyanins, you get other important health benefits," Reiter said.
The study has been published in the Journal of Medicinal Food.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
A new research has suggested that drinking tart cherry juice daily can help reduce the severity of insomnia and time spent awake after going to sleep.
To reach the conclusion, a team of University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester and VA Center of Canandaigua researchers conducted a pilot study on the sleep habits of 15 older adults.
The adults drank 8 ounces of tart cherry juice beverage (CheriBundi www.cheribundi.com) in the morning and evening for 2 weeks, and a comparable matched juice drink, with no tart cherry juice, for another 2 week period.
There were significant reductions in reported insomnia severity and the adults saved about 17 minutes of wake time after going to sleep, on average, when drinking cherry juice daily, compared to when they were drinking the juice drink.
The researchers suspect tart cherries'' natural benefits could be due in part to their relatively high content of melatonin – a natural antioxidant in cherries with established ability to help moderate the body's sleep-wake cycle.
Produced naturally by the body in small amounts, melatonin plays a role in inducing sleepiness at night and wakefulness during the day.
Russel J. Reiter, a biomedical scientist at the University of Texas Health Science Center and one of the world's leading authorities on melatonin, says while melatonin supplement pills have been heavily promoted as a sleep aid, foods such as cherries – available year-round as dried, frozen and juice – may be a better alternative for boosting the body's own supply of melatonin.
"When consumed regularly, tart cherries may help regulate the body's natural sleep cycle and increase sleep efficiency, including decreasing the time it takes to fall asleep. And, because cherries are so rich in other antioxidants, such as anthocyanins, you get other important health benefits," Reiter said.
The study has been published in the Journal of Medicinal Food.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Balancing your blood sugar to help cure insomnia
Balancing your blood sugar
Sleep can often be affected by hunger. This means that eating in a way that will keep your blood sugar steady during the daytime will help your sleep by ensuring it isn’t then affected by hunger!
Here are some top tips on things that uou can do to help balance your blood sugar to help sleep and get over bouts of insomnia.
1. Don’t starve or stuff yourself!
Whatever you do – don’t stuff your face and over eat at bedtime. It can lead to discomfort that can prevent you from sleeping soundly.
One of the other problems with eating lots late at night is that it causes a massive surge in body temperature – which in turn leads to stopping people from being able to drop off to sleep.
There are also issues with not eating enough before bedtime – so don’t eat too little before bedtime so you feel hungry. Not eating enough can lead to hunger pangs which can keep you from falling asleep and or cause you to wake up in the middle of the night. Also your body needs nutrients to repair itself.
2. Eat low GI foods
GI means Glypercaemic index. Gypercaemic Index is a measure of the rate by which a food raises sugar in the blood.
Carbohydrates are a particular food with a high Glypercaemic Index. Foods in this group include things like bread, chips ,pasta, rice, couscous, pastries, biscuits, cakes, buns, crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks. All these foods have one thing in common – they are all converted by the body into glucose quickly. This causes the blood sugar level in the blood to rise rapidly.
But remember that there are some carbohydrates with a low Glypercaemic Index – these tend to be more of the wholemeal/brown versions of food – so things like wholemeal bread, bran flakes, porridge, sweet potatoes, wholewheat pasta, brown rice, baked potatoes, and anything containing large amounts of fibre.
The benefit of these low GI foods is that they take a really long time to digest. This has the added advantage of making the glucose in them to be released more slowly. This then has the positive effect of keeping your blood sugar steady – which then leads you to feeling full for longer.
This is great if you are struggling to sleep by keeping waking up in the night because you are hungry. (The same principal also works for when you have breakfast with low GI items which can keep you full up at work till lunchtime!)
3. Fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy products
For a low GI diet, as well as eating these slow release carbohydrates – you also need to include lots of fruit, vegetables, beans and pulses. It would also help if you eat low fat dairy products such as yoghurt, skimmed milk and cheese. This helps you to have a more balanced diet.
So you see – you don’t have to eat masses before bedtime so that you don’t wake up during the night hungry. Doing this can cause a negative effect – you are much better eating a low GI diet – so that you stay hungry longer whilst remaining healthy.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Sleep can often be affected by hunger. This means that eating in a way that will keep your blood sugar steady during the daytime will help your sleep by ensuring it isn’t then affected by hunger!
Here are some top tips on things that uou can do to help balance your blood sugar to help sleep and get over bouts of insomnia.
1. Don’t starve or stuff yourself!
Whatever you do – don’t stuff your face and over eat at bedtime. It can lead to discomfort that can prevent you from sleeping soundly.
One of the other problems with eating lots late at night is that it causes a massive surge in body temperature – which in turn leads to stopping people from being able to drop off to sleep.
There are also issues with not eating enough before bedtime – so don’t eat too little before bedtime so you feel hungry. Not eating enough can lead to hunger pangs which can keep you from falling asleep and or cause you to wake up in the middle of the night. Also your body needs nutrients to repair itself.
2. Eat low GI foods
GI means Glypercaemic index. Gypercaemic Index is a measure of the rate by which a food raises sugar in the blood.
Carbohydrates are a particular food with a high Glypercaemic Index. Foods in this group include things like bread, chips ,pasta, rice, couscous, pastries, biscuits, cakes, buns, crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks. All these foods have one thing in common – they are all converted by the body into glucose quickly. This causes the blood sugar level in the blood to rise rapidly.
But remember that there are some carbohydrates with a low Glypercaemic Index – these tend to be more of the wholemeal/brown versions of food – so things like wholemeal bread, bran flakes, porridge, sweet potatoes, wholewheat pasta, brown rice, baked potatoes, and anything containing large amounts of fibre.
The benefit of these low GI foods is that they take a really long time to digest. This has the added advantage of making the glucose in them to be released more slowly. This then has the positive effect of keeping your blood sugar steady – which then leads you to feeling full for longer.
This is great if you are struggling to sleep by keeping waking up in the night because you are hungry. (The same principal also works for when you have breakfast with low GI items which can keep you full up at work till lunchtime!)
3. Fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy products
For a low GI diet, as well as eating these slow release carbohydrates – you also need to include lots of fruit, vegetables, beans and pulses. It would also help if you eat low fat dairy products such as yoghurt, skimmed milk and cheese. This helps you to have a more balanced diet.
So you see – you don’t have to eat masses before bedtime so that you don’t wake up during the night hungry. Doing this can cause a negative effect – you are much better eating a low GI diet – so that you stay hungry longer whilst remaining healthy.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Monday, 11 October 2010
Curb the Caffeine
Curb the Caffeine
Caffeine is a strong stimulant and its effect can last for hours.
Research has shown that just one single mug of coffee before bedtime can lead to severe problems getting to sleep. It can also effect quality of sleep, especially that of deep sleep.
There are different levels of caffeine in different coffee’s – so a cup of instant coffee may contain around 5.4mg of caffeine whereas a cup of proper ground coffee can contain as much as 2.5 times as much caffeine – averaging between 105 and 125mg.
But don’t think tea is the answer – a cup of tea can also contain about 40mg of caffeine – so this can act as a stimulant too!
Our advice - don’t drink tea or coffee too close to bedtime – especially if you have trouble dropping off.
Whilst it is not necessary to give up coffee completely if you have a problem sleeping – its best just not to drink it after 2pm in the afternoon. The other option is to try drinking de-caffeinated tea or coffee – which are both easily available from most supermarkets.
Hope this helps a bit – but basically if you want a good night’s sleep you need to CURB THE COFFEE.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Caffeine is a strong stimulant and its effect can last for hours.
Research has shown that just one single mug of coffee before bedtime can lead to severe problems getting to sleep. It can also effect quality of sleep, especially that of deep sleep.
There are different levels of caffeine in different coffee’s – so a cup of instant coffee may contain around 5.4mg of caffeine whereas a cup of proper ground coffee can contain as much as 2.5 times as much caffeine – averaging between 105 and 125mg.
But don’t think tea is the answer – a cup of tea can also contain about 40mg of caffeine – so this can act as a stimulant too!
Our advice - don’t drink tea or coffee too close to bedtime – especially if you have trouble dropping off.
Whilst it is not necessary to give up coffee completely if you have a problem sleeping – its best just not to drink it after 2pm in the afternoon. The other option is to try drinking de-caffeinated tea or coffee – which are both easily available from most supermarkets.
Hope this helps a bit – but basically if you want a good night’s sleep you need to CURB THE COFFEE.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Caffeine Calculator
Just a quick note for those of you concerned that caffeine intake is effecting your sleep.
If you want to be sure how much caffeine is contained in various drinks or foodstuffs ( a 50g bar of chocolate can contain as much as 50mg of caffeine!) there is a great resource available on The National Sleep Foundation Website which can be found at:
www.sleepfoundation.org
Worth a look...
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
If you want to be sure how much caffeine is contained in various drinks or foodstuffs ( a 50g bar of chocolate can contain as much as 50mg of caffeine!) there is a great resource available on The National Sleep Foundation Website which can be found at:
www.sleepfoundation.org
Worth a look...
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Restless Leg syndrome
Restless Leg syndrome
You may have heard about something called restless leg syndrome as being one of the main causes of insomnia.
This is where you have an irresistible urge to move your legs which stops you falling or staying asleep. These sudden movements happen without warning and are often so severe they wake the sufferer up with a jolt in the middle of the night.
A recent study showed that iron deficiency is often the cause of Restless Leg Syndrome.
You can increase iron levels in your diet and therefore aid the symptoms of Restless Leg Syndrome.
Good sources of iron include:
Salmon
Sardines
Tuna
Eggs
Liver
Meat
Chicken
Green vegetables
Dried fruit and nuts
Wholemeal bread
It has been found that the absorbtion of iron by the body can be increased by vitamin C intake. So remember to have lots of fruit juice and fresh fruit with your meals.
Hope this helps you.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
You may have heard about something called restless leg syndrome as being one of the main causes of insomnia.
This is where you have an irresistible urge to move your legs which stops you falling or staying asleep. These sudden movements happen without warning and are often so severe they wake the sufferer up with a jolt in the middle of the night.
A recent study showed that iron deficiency is often the cause of Restless Leg Syndrome.
You can increase iron levels in your diet and therefore aid the symptoms of Restless Leg Syndrome.
Good sources of iron include:
Salmon
Sardines
Tuna
Eggs
Liver
Meat
Chicken
Green vegetables
Dried fruit and nuts
Wholemeal bread
It has been found that the absorbtion of iron by the body can be increased by vitamin C intake. So remember to have lots of fruit juice and fresh fruit with your meals.
Hope this helps you.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Monday, 13 September 2010
Eat a lettuce sandwich before bedtime helps you sleep easier!
This is a really weird bit of advice that someone told me about this weekend. It was apparently mentioned on a BBC documentary a couple of years ago as a way to help cure insomnia.
The advice on a programme about how to get to sleep faster and stay asleep suggested you eat a lettuce sandwich before bedtime.
So is there any science behind this or is it just an old wives tail?
We traced back and it appears that this is the basis of a very old English recipe for curing insomnia dating back to the eighteenth century.
So I asked Maureen Lumsden a nutritionalist friend of mine to explain why this should be?
It turns out that there is a lot of truth in this – but the sandwich needs to be made more specifically of the lettuce stem and it needs to be fresh. It’s the white latex from the plant’s stem — known as lettuce opium — that does the job.
Looking into it further Food expert and Author Anne McIntyre explains in her book Simple Home Remedies for Common Ailments that the substance in the plant’s stem “looks and works the same way as the opium poppy.”
So salad for supper tonight – At least it will be healthier than biscuits or a slice of toast!
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
The advice on a programme about how to get to sleep faster and stay asleep suggested you eat a lettuce sandwich before bedtime.
So is there any science behind this or is it just an old wives tail?
We traced back and it appears that this is the basis of a very old English recipe for curing insomnia dating back to the eighteenth century.
So I asked Maureen Lumsden a nutritionalist friend of mine to explain why this should be?
It turns out that there is a lot of truth in this – but the sandwich needs to be made more specifically of the lettuce stem and it needs to be fresh. It’s the white latex from the plant’s stem — known as lettuce opium — that does the job.
Looking into it further Food expert and Author Anne McIntyre explains in her book Simple Home Remedies for Common Ailments that the substance in the plant’s stem “looks and works the same way as the opium poppy.”
So salad for supper tonight – At least it will be healthier than biscuits or a slice of toast!
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Monday, 19 July 2010
Cure Your Insomnia with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Recent research shows that one of the most effective cures for insomnia is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy or CBT. It was initially pioneered by two leading researchers, Albert Ellis and Aaron beck throughout the late 60’s and early 70’s as a cure for depression. But further research has shown that the approach can also be highly effective as a treatment for other psychological disorders such as anxiety, stress and insomnia.
With nearly 10% of adults experiencing some form of insomnia or sleep depravation throughout their lives – it is a huge problem which is rarely discussed in public.
Lack of sleep can lead to side effects such as a constant “hung over” feeling (without any alcohol intake) to stress and depression and even physical danger from sleep driving or accidents whilst fatigued.
Whilst there are medicines to treat insomnia, many people experience long term side effects or find they only treat the condition temporarily. The greatest benefit of using Cognitive Behaviour Therapy as a cure for insomnia is that it treats the cause of the insomnia itself and not just the symptoms as medication does.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy works by helping to reduce the arousal associated with stressors in the brain. This over arousal (or a too addictive awake system in the brain) is the main cause of most sleep issues and a key reason for insomnia. CBT helps reduce arousal through positive thinking – helping sufferers from banishing negative thoughts associated with the condition.
The key principle behind Cognitive Behaviour Therapy working when tackling sleep depravation and insomnia is in reducing worry, anxiety and fear that one won’t sleep by providing “real” accurate information about sleep. Using real examples – we can now look at how you could use CBT to challenge self deprecating thoughts that fuel insomnia.
Some worries which seem to regularly re-occur with insomniacs are as follows, along with the sort of suggested method of turning these thoughts around:
1.” I’m not getting enough sleep”
But you maybe getting more sleep than you think, by misconceiving the lighter stages of sleep as wakefulness. Or in understanding that you may need less sleep than you thought – can help reduce anxiety about not getting enough sleep and paradoxically lead to being able to sleep better.
FACT
The minimum amount of sleep people need to maintain alertness is 5.5 hours. (You might not feel fully refreshed but it is adequate for normal functioning)
2. “I’m never going to get to sleep – how will I cope with tomorrow”
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy techniques can help people to challenge these negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.
So with the above example, CBT teaches you to change this thought to “I’m not sleeping well tonight, but I’ve had other nights like this and I did function reasonably well at work anyway”.
3. “I’ve been lying here for ages unable to sleep”
If you are spending 8 hours in bed, but need only 6.5 hours sleep – cut your time in bed to 7 hours. This will reduce the amount of time you experience the unpleasant, stressful feeling of being in bed awake at night.
4. “I should be able to sleep well every night like a normal person”
Understand that this is a fairly unrealistic statement. Lots of people struggle to slppe from time to time. Think “I will be able to sleep with practice”.
5. “It’s the same every single night, another night of sleepless misery”
Isn’t this a slight exaggeration – not every night will be exactly the same. Some nights don’t you sleep better than others?
6. “If I don’t get some sleep I’ll blow my presentation tomorrow and jeopardise my job”
This is catastrophizing at its worst. You’ll be able to get through that big presentation even if you’re tired. You’re still resting even if you’re not asleep.
7. “It’s going to take me at least 2.5 hours to get to sleep tonight”
Stop “fortune telling”! You don’t know what will happen tonight. You could get to sleep quickly if you’ve used the techniques of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.
8. “I’m never going to be able to sleep well – it’s out of my control”
This feeling of hopelessness has to stop. You can cure your insomnia. Stop focussing on the negatives and focus on being positive – “you can beat insomnia”
There are many more examples but Cognitive Behaviour Therapy as you can now see is about replacing those self defeating thoughts. If you are suffering from insomnia try it yourself.
Write a list of negative thoughts you have had about your lack of sleep – now see if you can come up with a positive way of disputing this thinking. It’s easier than people think.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
With nearly 10% of adults experiencing some form of insomnia or sleep depravation throughout their lives – it is a huge problem which is rarely discussed in public.
Lack of sleep can lead to side effects such as a constant “hung over” feeling (without any alcohol intake) to stress and depression and even physical danger from sleep driving or accidents whilst fatigued.
Whilst there are medicines to treat insomnia, many people experience long term side effects or find they only treat the condition temporarily. The greatest benefit of using Cognitive Behaviour Therapy as a cure for insomnia is that it treats the cause of the insomnia itself and not just the symptoms as medication does.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy works by helping to reduce the arousal associated with stressors in the brain. This over arousal (or a too addictive awake system in the brain) is the main cause of most sleep issues and a key reason for insomnia. CBT helps reduce arousal through positive thinking – helping sufferers from banishing negative thoughts associated with the condition.
The key principle behind Cognitive Behaviour Therapy working when tackling sleep depravation and insomnia is in reducing worry, anxiety and fear that one won’t sleep by providing “real” accurate information about sleep. Using real examples – we can now look at how you could use CBT to challenge self deprecating thoughts that fuel insomnia.
Some worries which seem to regularly re-occur with insomniacs are as follows, along with the sort of suggested method of turning these thoughts around:
1.” I’m not getting enough sleep”
But you maybe getting more sleep than you think, by misconceiving the lighter stages of sleep as wakefulness. Or in understanding that you may need less sleep than you thought – can help reduce anxiety about not getting enough sleep and paradoxically lead to being able to sleep better.
FACT
The minimum amount of sleep people need to maintain alertness is 5.5 hours. (You might not feel fully refreshed but it is adequate for normal functioning)
2. “I’m never going to get to sleep – how will I cope with tomorrow”
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy techniques can help people to challenge these negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.
So with the above example, CBT teaches you to change this thought to “I’m not sleeping well tonight, but I’ve had other nights like this and I did function reasonably well at work anyway”.
3. “I’ve been lying here for ages unable to sleep”
If you are spending 8 hours in bed, but need only 6.5 hours sleep – cut your time in bed to 7 hours. This will reduce the amount of time you experience the unpleasant, stressful feeling of being in bed awake at night.
4. “I should be able to sleep well every night like a normal person”
Understand that this is a fairly unrealistic statement. Lots of people struggle to slppe from time to time. Think “I will be able to sleep with practice”.
5. “It’s the same every single night, another night of sleepless misery”
Isn’t this a slight exaggeration – not every night will be exactly the same. Some nights don’t you sleep better than others?
6. “If I don’t get some sleep I’ll blow my presentation tomorrow and jeopardise my job”
This is catastrophizing at its worst. You’ll be able to get through that big presentation even if you’re tired. You’re still resting even if you’re not asleep.
7. “It’s going to take me at least 2.5 hours to get to sleep tonight”
Stop “fortune telling”! You don’t know what will happen tonight. You could get to sleep quickly if you’ve used the techniques of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.
8. “I’m never going to be able to sleep well – it’s out of my control”
This feeling of hopelessness has to stop. You can cure your insomnia. Stop focussing on the negatives and focus on being positive – “you can beat insomnia”
There are many more examples but Cognitive Behaviour Therapy as you can now see is about replacing those self defeating thoughts. If you are suffering from insomnia try it yourself.
Write a list of negative thoughts you have had about your lack of sleep – now see if you can come up with a positive way of disputing this thinking. It’s easier than people think.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Diet Changes To Cure Your Insomnia
Does what you eat affect your sleep – I’ve had lots of people share with me things they have done regarding eating which have had positive effects on their insomnia.
I’m not a scientist but if you speak to dieticians, nutritionalists and doctors they will all back up that this is the case.
Firstly it is important to realise that good health promotes good sleep. The basic reasons behind this is that the body and mind require enough nutrition to renew cells and provide the body energy.
During sleep the body is sensitive to the balance between what is called “feast and famine”. You basically need to get that balance right.
Feeling full at bedtime isn’t necessarily the answer
Most people I’ve met who have experienced prolonged periods without enough sleep, think that going to bed with a full belly is going to help them sleep.
This is a common mistake.
Too much food near bedtime will leave your body restless as it tries to digest and absorb the meal. Sugar should be avoided before bedtime. Not wanting to bore you with science, but you might as well know the logic behind this.
Sugar apparently raises the level of two things called cortisone and adrenalin in the blood. Adrenalin is a stimulant – a bit like coffee – and works to keep you awake. The cortisone stops the body creating a natural growth hormone which not only helps you to relax but also helps repair muscle and tissue.
So what should I do?
I’m sure know the obvious things like not drinking coffee or caffeine based energy drinks close to bedtime.
But there are other things which really can help. They would not cost you the earth to add to your shopping list but combined they would make a big, big difference to insomnia after only about 4-5 days. If you have insomnia and you’re at the end of your tether – it’s definitely something you should give a go to.
I’ll now explain in lay mans terms the reason and the logic behind the tips on tweaking your diet . So here goes...
Breakfast
1. Start the day with a glass of warm water (this isn’t going to cost you anything!). This warm drink will help to kick start your digestive system.
2. Fuel the body with foods that will provide energy for the rest of the day. Cereal, porridge and eggs are a good choice. There are other health reasons why these are good for you – but I’m going to concentrate on why things are good for sleep.
3. Eat a small bowl of berries – raspberries, blueberries, strawberries etc ( you can add these to your porridge, cereal or eggs with pancakes. These top up something called your anti-oxidant levels which basically improves you bodies natural immune system – helping you from getting colds and annoying snuffles that stop you sleeping.
4. Try and eat a couple of spoonfuls of natural yoghurt – this will also help your digestive system and prepare your gut for the rest of the day.
5. Try and avoid a massive fry up – or at least keep it to a special occasion!
Lunch
1. Don’t skip lunch – this is the best time for you to have a balanced meal and bulk up for the rest of the day.
2. You still have a good time before bedtime so you can indulge yourself with foods that might inhibit or stop sleep like curry, Mexican or Chinese.
They might be stimulating but you’ll still have time to digest.
3. See it’s not all bad! Sleep might be making your life a misery but you don’t have to add to it by missing out on what you enjoy.
4. That said – if you can add a few vegetables or nuts to help top up your vitamins and minerals – it will help your ability to sleep by helping your bodies nutrition.
Dinner/Tea
1. Ideally dinner should lighter and avoid stimulating spicy foods.
2. A light meal or sandwich, at least 2/3 hours before bedtime is best – giving the body time to digest.
3. This doesn’t mean you have to eat just salads – by light meal I mean not a massive plate full!
4. Avoid too much alcohol, coffee and over indulging if you can.
5. Where you can, have a bit of fruit as desert instead of cakes or puddings
Supper
1. A small late night snack is good because it keeps hunger pains at bay.
2. The secret is not to over do it!
3. Try warm milk or a herbal tea to drink instead of coffee or hot chocolate.
4. Warm food is more easily digested – so if you have a biscuit – try dunking it in some warm milk or if you have a bowl of cereal put it the microwave for 30-60 seconds.
5. A small amount of carbohydrate (the stuff you get from potatoes, pasta, biscuits and bread) helps to increase something called serotin. This I have discovered helps reduce anxiety and improve sleep.
6. Don’t be greedy! – keep it to 1 or2 biscuits or a small bowl of cereal.
7. Try and avoid fatty snacks such as crisps or chips – as these will have the opposite effect.
The tips I’ve just given you as to changing your diet aren’t anything to do with weight loss. This is about changing the way you eat – to create a diet which helps promote sleep.
It might not work for everyone ( but it certainly won’t do you any harm) and it’s something else you can try for free without starting courses of drugs with harmful side effects.
You don’t have to give up the things you like – just re-adjust when you eat certain things.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
I’m not a scientist but if you speak to dieticians, nutritionalists and doctors they will all back up that this is the case.
Firstly it is important to realise that good health promotes good sleep. The basic reasons behind this is that the body and mind require enough nutrition to renew cells and provide the body energy.
During sleep the body is sensitive to the balance between what is called “feast and famine”. You basically need to get that balance right.
Feeling full at bedtime isn’t necessarily the answer
Most people I’ve met who have experienced prolonged periods without enough sleep, think that going to bed with a full belly is going to help them sleep.
This is a common mistake.
Too much food near bedtime will leave your body restless as it tries to digest and absorb the meal. Sugar should be avoided before bedtime. Not wanting to bore you with science, but you might as well know the logic behind this.
Sugar apparently raises the level of two things called cortisone and adrenalin in the blood. Adrenalin is a stimulant – a bit like coffee – and works to keep you awake. The cortisone stops the body creating a natural growth hormone which not only helps you to relax but also helps repair muscle and tissue.
So what should I do?
I’m sure know the obvious things like not drinking coffee or caffeine based energy drinks close to bedtime.
But there are other things which really can help. They would not cost you the earth to add to your shopping list but combined they would make a big, big difference to insomnia after only about 4-5 days. If you have insomnia and you’re at the end of your tether – it’s definitely something you should give a go to.
I’ll now explain in lay mans terms the reason and the logic behind the tips on tweaking your diet . So here goes...
Breakfast
1. Start the day with a glass of warm water (this isn’t going to cost you anything!). This warm drink will help to kick start your digestive system.
2. Fuel the body with foods that will provide energy for the rest of the day. Cereal, porridge and eggs are a good choice. There are other health reasons why these are good for you – but I’m going to concentrate on why things are good for sleep.
3. Eat a small bowl of berries – raspberries, blueberries, strawberries etc ( you can add these to your porridge, cereal or eggs with pancakes. These top up something called your anti-oxidant levels which basically improves you bodies natural immune system – helping you from getting colds and annoying snuffles that stop you sleeping.
4. Try and eat a couple of spoonfuls of natural yoghurt – this will also help your digestive system and prepare your gut for the rest of the day.
5. Try and avoid a massive fry up – or at least keep it to a special occasion!
Lunch
1. Don’t skip lunch – this is the best time for you to have a balanced meal and bulk up for the rest of the day.
2. You still have a good time before bedtime so you can indulge yourself with foods that might inhibit or stop sleep like curry, Mexican or Chinese.
They might be stimulating but you’ll still have time to digest.
3. See it’s not all bad! Sleep might be making your life a misery but you don’t have to add to it by missing out on what you enjoy.
4. That said – if you can add a few vegetables or nuts to help top up your vitamins and minerals – it will help your ability to sleep by helping your bodies nutrition.
Dinner/Tea
1. Ideally dinner should lighter and avoid stimulating spicy foods.
2. A light meal or sandwich, at least 2/3 hours before bedtime is best – giving the body time to digest.
3. This doesn’t mean you have to eat just salads – by light meal I mean not a massive plate full!
4. Avoid too much alcohol, coffee and over indulging if you can.
5. Where you can, have a bit of fruit as desert instead of cakes or puddings
Supper
1. A small late night snack is good because it keeps hunger pains at bay.
2. The secret is not to over do it!
3. Try warm milk or a herbal tea to drink instead of coffee or hot chocolate.
4. Warm food is more easily digested – so if you have a biscuit – try dunking it in some warm milk or if you have a bowl of cereal put it the microwave for 30-60 seconds.
5. A small amount of carbohydrate (the stuff you get from potatoes, pasta, biscuits and bread) helps to increase something called serotin. This I have discovered helps reduce anxiety and improve sleep.
6. Don’t be greedy! – keep it to 1 or2 biscuits or a small bowl of cereal.
7. Try and avoid fatty snacks such as crisps or chips – as these will have the opposite effect.
The tips I’ve just given you as to changing your diet aren’t anything to do with weight loss. This is about changing the way you eat – to create a diet which helps promote sleep.
It might not work for everyone ( but it certainly won’t do you any harm) and it’s something else you can try for free without starting courses of drugs with harmful side effects.
You don’t have to give up the things you like – just re-adjust when you eat certain things.
Dan Kennedy has written a free ebook on how to Cure Your Insomnia. To download it visit www.cure-your-insomnia.com
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