More than 70 million people in the USA suffer from sleep disorders, making it one of the most common issues of our time. There are few good answers if you don’t want to take psychotropic drugs – and who wants to? With our 7 simple tips, however, you can perhaps beat insomnia.
Problems with falling asleep or sleeping through do not only influence our quality of life, but also our state of health. According to the DAK Health Report 2017 (Deutsche Angestellten-Krankenkasse) every tenth employee in Germany suffers from severe sleep disorders. In a survey, a total of 80 percent of the working population stated that they suffer from sleep problems. Since 2010, the proportion of employees aged 35 to 65 has risen by 66 percent.
Stress in everyday life, of a private or professional nature are often the cause of sleep disorders. However, in most cases these factors can only be influenced to a limited extent and the majority of the population goes through the day tired. However, most people ignore that this can cause serious health problems. The body needs time to regenerate, and if this is not possible, it can lead to depression and anxiety. Cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure can also be consequences of a lack of sleep.
Children and adolescents, in particular, are often unable to rest nowadays because they are occupied with their electronic devices until shortly before falling asleep. In some places, sleep problems begin as early as the toddler stage, when there are neither regular sleep times nor bedtime rituals in the education system. In the worst case, severe psychological consequences are already the result at puberty.
SLEEPING PILLS LEAD TO ARTIFICIAL SLEEP, THE NATURAL DEEP SLEEP CANNOT BE PRODUCED.
However, prescribing a sleeping pill right away is the wrong approach and can put even more strain on our health. “That is then only an artificial sleep. The natural deep sleep, which the body needs for recovery, cannot be manufactured by medicines, says Jörg Lindemann, professor at the Ulmer sleep laboratory.
Pharmaceutical measures have one thing in common – they only lead to improved sleep while there is no sufficient quality of sleep. Benzodiazepines are also the only psychotropic drugs with considerable addictive potential and should not be taken for longer than three weeks. The reality looks unfortunately differently – the unreported number of humans, who take regularly such means, might be enormous. This, of course, results in insomnia when these drugs are discontinued.
So what are we supposed to do? Here are 7 simple tips to counteract sleep disorders.
Tip 1: Sufficient & regular sleep
Almost as a matter of course, but still worth mentioning, our well-being and performance depend strongly on the length of our sleep. Even though fewer and fewer people are able to sleep today, we should try to cover our daily sleeping needs. According to the latest research, this is significantly more in about 7 hours for adults and children, for example with 11 hours for 7- to 9-year-olds.
How regularly we sleep is also enormously important to our biorhythm. It is particularly important for children to avoid going to bed after 9 p.m. and to adhere to constant to-bed rituals in order to build up a natural rhythm.
Tip 2: The right way to sleep
Also how we start our sleep is crucial for its quality. We should avoid sleep disturbing substances like alcohol, energy drinks or nicotine before going to sleep. For a good sleep hygiene it is also important to avoid any activation and especially stress as far as possible hours before we sink into the pillows so that our brain is ready to switch off.
Tip 3: Regular exercise
Those who do sports regularly not only consume their energy better during the day, but through the release of happiness hormones and the stimulated metabolism, we reduce stress and can usually fall asleep more relaxed. According to a study conducted by Oregon State University on the subject, this also improves sleep quality. It should be noted that we should plan for a sufficiently long break of at least a few hours between sport and falling asleep (see tip 2).
Tip 4: The right sleeping environment
Once we have made it to bed, it is important that we create a sleep-promoting environment for ourselves. This applies in particular to the immediate sleeping area in terms of the quality of the bed or mattress, and in particular to the sleeping underlays that are too hard or too soft. Also our sleeping room should be as pleasant as possible, decisive factors here are a low room temperature, no noise and no light.
Tip 5: Less (blue) light
The aspect of light, in particular, is an ever-increasing topic in our time determined by screens. The monitor light of various electronic devices such as PC, tablet or smartphone with its high blue components prevents us from a restful sleep. “If the body does not feel darkness, the release of the hormone melatonin, which is important for falling asleep, is reduced,” says sleep researcher Lindemann. Especially young people are affected by this problem. According to a survey, 45 percent of 11- to 18-year-olds use their smartphones in bed. 23 percent of them even said they looked at their mobile phones more than ten times a night.
Filters and night modes, which filter the blue tones of the light from our devices, provide a remedy here somewhat, nevertheless it is best for the genuine deep sleep to ban mobile phone and CO. from the bed.
Tip 6: healthy nutrition
A study by Columbia University in New York has shown that there is indeed a link between sleep quality and diet. According to the results, dietary fibre in particular plays an important role in sleep quality. The more dietary fibre was contained in the food, the longer the deep sleep phases were. If, on the other hand, the test persons had consumed a lot of sugar or many saturated fatty acids, this led to a shorter deep sleep and more interruptions of the sleep phases. Too much food too shortly before falling asleep also activates the body to use energy for digestion and not to “shut down” as well.
Tip 7: Natural Sleep Enhancer
In addition to a balanced diet, sleep disorders can also be combated by combining various nutrients and plant extracts such as hop extract, hemp CBD and the amino acids glycine and L-tryptophan as a simple application before bedtime. A sufficient supply of omega-3 fatty acids has also achieved good results in studies, especially for children.
The Indian sleeping berry, also known as Ashwagandha, also provides traditional support for a good night’s sleep. Ashwagandha is a central herb of Ayurvedic medicine and can not only contribute to a healthy sleep, but combines a comprehensive spectrum of action based on the versatile properties of the bioactive ingredients. Ashwagandha is also used to treat depression and anxiety or as an antioxidant in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
Supplementation with melatonin also makes sense, because it helps to shorten the time to fall asleep
But it is not only everyday stress that can cause sleep problems. There are a number of possible causes for sleeping disorders.
Nocturnal breathing disorders
2 to 5 % of the population suffer from nocturnal breathing disorders, called sleep apnea. Snoring, a sign of breathing disorders, is very common. However, not everyone who snores is immediately affected by nocturnal breathing pauses. During such breathing pauses, which usually last no longer than 30 seconds, but can also last up to 2 minutes, the oxygen content in the blood decreases. The continuity of sleep is thus considerably disturbed. These breathing pauses can occur many hundreds of times a night, which causes considerable stress reactions and contributes to the release of stress hormones. Sleep apnoea syndrome, is a disease in which the risk of developing metabolic and vascular diseases is very high. The majority of those affected do not notice the sleeping disorders themselves, only the increased tiredness during the day is noticed.
Sleeping habits
Not only the sleeping environment already mentioned (light conditions, noise, temperature), but also the sleeping habits are crucial for the quality of sleep. A late and heavy dinner, irregular sleeping hours and intensive sport before going to bed can disturb sleep.
Movement disorders during sleep
Movement disorders during sleep, such as Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), teeth grinding or periodic movement disorders of the limbs, can have an enormous impact on the quality of sleep.
Parasomnias
Parasomnias are episodic interruptions of sleep. These include nightmares, unconscious bladder emptying, moaning, talking during sleep and sleepwalking.
Sleep-wake rhythm disturbances
Sleep-wake rhythm disturbances are triggered, for example, by a change of time zone (jet lag), shift work, misuse of medication or addictive substances.
Psychiatric diseases
Psychiatric disorders often result in sleeping disorders. Sleeping disorders can also be a harbinger of psychiatric diseases. People who suffer from depression are usually tormented by problems falling and staying asleep. It is typical to wake up in the early morning hours and not be able to fall asleep again. People with anxiety disorders often cannot fall asleep, while dementia sufferers experience a change in the pattern of sleep. They are often unable to sleep during the night, which is why they usually try to get some sleep in the daytime.
The older you get, the lower the melatonin level becomes.
Other brain diseases
Sleeping disorders can be caused by many different neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, a stroke or brain tumors.
Other diseases
Not only diseases affecting the brain can cause sleeping disorders. Hormonal diseases, such as thyroid or adrenal gland disease, but also chronic inflammatory processes, such as cancer and rheumatism, can also have a negative effect on the quality of sleep. Furthermore, diseases that are accompanied by pain can lead to sleeping problems.
Medicinal plants & household remedies for sleeping disorders
There are a number of medicinal plants & home remedies that can alleviate or even eliminate sleeping disorders.
- Valerian: A plant that is attributed with sleep-promoting properties.
- Lavender has a calming effect: a hot bath before going to sleep or a tea can help, because the essential oils of lavender have a positive effect on the relaxation of our nervous system.
- Melissa: Helps against restlessness & nervous insomnia
Other herbal sleeping pills: hops, passion flower, St. John’s wort
Rituals can also help to prepare your body for falling asleep, as mentioned above: You can either read another page of a book, drink a hot cup of tea or milk with honey, do a meditation or any other activity you personally associate with falling asleep. It is important to cultivate rituals that help you to find peace.
Immune system & sleep play together:
Sufficient restful sleep is also essential for the functioning of our immune system. According to studies, during sleep there is an increase in natural defence cells, which are important for fighting bacteria and viruses. Everyone has their own internal clock, but in general the World Health Organization recommends seven to nine hours of sleep. Just three hours less sleep can weaken our immune system and make our body more vulnerable.
Melatonin for bedtime
Melatonin, the so-called sleep hormone, controls the sleep/wake rhythm of our body. The older you get, the lower the melatonin level becomes. However, as already mentioned, environmental influences, such as blue light, can also have a negative influence on the melatonin level, which can lead to sleeping disorders. Supplementation makes sense here. Melatonin helps to shorten the time it takes to fall asleep. Taking melatonin is also of great advantage in cases of jetlag.
