Article for 09-2000
Sleep - Nature’s Mistake or Blessing?
By Wendy Wilson Cheslak
Are you suffering from lack of sleep? If so, you’re not alone. More than 100 million Americans are failing to get enough sleep. That means 42 percent of us are sleep deprived.
How do you know if you are not getting the required sleep your body needs? Sleep experts agree that for adults to regenerate bones, organs, and tissues they need at least 8 hours of shut-eye. If your age is between thirteen to twenty, you need 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep per night. Children under thirteen need 12 hours of sleep and infants to two-year-olds need 16 hours. Most adults and teenagers average about 6 hours of sleep per night.
If you are unconvinced that you need eight or more hours of sleep per night, then take a look at some sleep benefits and deficits for children, teenagers and adults:
| Sleep benefits: | Sleep deficits: |
assists growth | crankiness |
regenerates organs | sluggishness |
releases hormones | slowed reflexes |
builds muscle | hampered creativity |
burns calories | hampered memory |
improves memory (Einstein admitted needing 10 hours of sleep each night to function and 12 hours to do physics.) | drowsiness |
4 times higher risk of accidents |
balances emotions | higher risk of illness and disease |
improves grades | rapid aging |
If you struggle to fall asleep, rouse repeatedly during the night, rise too early and are unable to return to sleep, and wake feeling unrefreshed, then you may be increasing your risk to high blood pressure, infections, depression, anxiety, and weight gain. In a recent Lancet article, a study at the University of Chicago reported on sleep deprivation. Healthy men ages 17 to 20 produced health conditions similar to 60-year-old men when their sleep was reduced to four hours per night over a six day period. An increase in hypertension, memory problems, and diabetes was the result.
Before you run off to the doctor for the latest drug therapy (Ambein and Sonata), you may want to try a few natural alternatives to help you sleep with no toxic side effects.
- Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco. (Alcohol is a stimulant and may make you drowsy, but it interferes with REM sleep and encourages fragmented sleep. Tobacco constricts arteries and blood vessels, increases blood pressure and heart rate, reduces oxygen, increases tension and brain function.)
- Avoid acidic foods like orange juice, or spicy foods before bed. (Improve your digestion by taking some unfiltered apple cider vinegar before meals. See article archive on digestion.)
- Establish a sleep pattern. (Go to bed and wake up the same time each day. Don’t use night lights and keep your room at a comfortable temperature – not too hot or cold.)
- Exercise regularly. (Those who exercise three times a week get to sleep faster and can sleep longer than those who don’t exercise.)
- Check your medications. (Antihistamines, decongestants, beta-blockers, pain, and blood pressure medications can interfere with sleep.)
- Try meditation. (Meditation exercises help you relax and put the body, and mind, in a sleep mode.)
- Herbal therapy can remove tension and help the body relax. (Try some valerian, catnip, or lobelia tea or tincture. These herbs remove tension, aid breathing and relax muscles.)
- Drink two quarts of water per day. (Add an additional eight ounces of water for every cup of coffee, tea, soda, or alcohol you drink. See article archive on water.)
- Get the right salt. (Use Celtic Sea salt for the nutrients your body needs to regenerate and function. See article archive on salt.)
If you do decide to try prescriptions for sleep, be sure to ask your doctor about the "rebound effects" of the drug. A "rebound effect" would cause insomnia worse than your original insomnia. Most drugs for sleep, depression, etc. have rebound effects. For more information of the toxicity and side effects of prescription drugs for sleep and other conditions, I recommend these titles:
- Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? by Ann Tracy (Ms Tracy talks about various drugs and their history.)
- Toxic Psychiatry by Peter Bregan
- Ritalin is Not the Answer by Dr. David Stein
- No More Ritalin by Dr. Mary Anne Block
For more information on sleep, and natural health therapies check out these titles:
- Power Sleep by James b. Maas, Ph.D.
- The Power Herbs: 13 Herbs Every Medicine Cabinet Should Have by Wendy Wilson Cheslak
.
Wendy Cheslak is author of The Power Herbs: Thirteen Herbs Every Medicine Cabinet Should Have and an herbalist for Apothecary Herbs, Inc.
Sources:
- Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? by Ann Tracy
- Sleepless In America by Michele Meyer, BH&G 2000
- Your Body’s Many Cries for Water by F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.
- Global Health Solutions, Inc.1997
- How to Heal with Salt by Sam Biser
- University of Natural Healing, Inc.1994.
- Dr. Christopher’s Herbal Home Health Care, by Christopher Publications
- Cider Vinegar by Dr. Benedict Lust, Benedict Lust Communications,
New York, NY, 1992
- The Power Herbs: 13 Herbs Every Medicine Cabinet Should Have by Wendy
Wilson Cheslak, Apothecary Herbs Press, 2001
The information contained herein is not intended to diagnosis, treat, prevent or cure any disease. Please seek medical advice from a licensed medical physician before using any herbal products or natural therapies. The information contained herein is copyrighted by Apothecary Herbs, Inc.
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