Natural Sleep Aids

Herbal Sleep Aids Revealed
 
 
Sleeping problems can affect our daily lives. If you are not getting enough sleep you can suffer from depression, daytime crabbiness, lack of concentration, excessive illnesses, and possible accidents you experience during the day.

You could try going to bed earlier, but this doesn’t work for everyone and you may need help getting you off to sleep.  Prescription medications can causes problem with dependency and/or addiction.  You could also start falling asleep during the daytime, find you have a  problem keeping your balance, difficulty remembering things and problems focusing while on these medications.  You don’t get a good night’s sleep on prescription medication and you will not feel rested and alert on the prescribed medications from your doctor. 

Fortunately, there are alternatives and many of them are natural medications recommended for sleep problems that you can buy yourself.  If you  need sleep aids but you also want your body’s natural sleeping habits to kick in, you can try these sleep remedies that are natural and usually herbal in origin. 

Chamomile
This has been around for many years as a natural sleep aid. It is usually drunk as a tea and people that drinkit find that Chamomile is good for stomach irritation and also helps you feel rested and peaceful.  It is mild enough so it can be used on a regular basis but it is also good for short term use as well. If you are allergic to daisies you cannot take it .  It is not known exactly why it works but it is thought to contain apigenin, one of the flavonoids that promotes sleep. 
 
Valerian
Valerian root is dug up from the earth and used as an herbal supplement to promote sleep and relaxation.It has a strong smell that can be covered up by producing as caplets.  It is useful for people that have the occasional sleep problem. Valerian root also used to calm nerves and for anxiousness and allows people get to sleep better at night. You must be aware that very high doses can result in nausea, dizziness and headaches.
 
Melatonin
This is a hormone of the brain that affects the sleeping/waking cycle. Melatonin corrects circadian-rhythm disturbances that can and often does lead to severe and persistent insomnia in individuals who are totally blind, those who cannot perceive light,often report difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep It also helps people who are suffering from jet lag.  It works in places where there is an extended daylight time period. Melatonin works to give you the kind of sleep you need, especially if you are trying to come off of other, more addictive sleep aids.
 
SAMe
SAMe stands for S adenosyl methionine and is a derivative of a normal human amino acid.  It can be used as an antidepressant and does not have the side affects of other anti depressant medications (headaches, sleeplessness, and sexual dysfunction.),is also used in the management of chronic fatigue syndrome.  It helps get you to a normal sleep pattern after taking it for several weeks.  .
 
Tryptophan
 Adding tryptophan to your diet should help you become more relaxed and sleep better. Using foods that contain more carbohydrates is a good way to increase your tryptophan absorption and also help in the production of serotonin. Serotonin helps to relax the body and combat sleeplessness There are a wide range of foods that are good sources of tryptophan, turkey being the best well known source. Other foods that are high in tryptophan include: chicken, beef, brown rice, nuts, fish, milk, eggs, cheese, fruit, and vegetables..You can get tryptophan as a supplement.
Picking a supplement
With the large numbers of natural and herbal medications for sleep out there, it can be hard to choose which one.Talk to a naturopathic doctor, herbalist or dietician about which is the best herbal choice for you. 

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Tags: herbalist, medications, natural, natural sleep, problems, Sleep Aids, sleeping

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 12th, 2010 at 10:07 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.