Sleepless nights have become a real nightmare for many and this condition of not getting sleep at night is called ‘Insomnia’. Sleep is a very natural process of the body that comes on its own in accordance with daily cycle after the day’s work. A person should get at least 7-9 hours of sleep at night to reprocess his brain, retain the daily memory and give rest to the brain nerves.
Without proper rest and good night sleep, the person tends to develop many health issues. Among them are heart disease, obesity, depression and Alzheimer’s disease.
Many factors attribute to insomnia like technology, smoking, alcohol, stress, anxiety, sleep medications and many medical conditions too.
The medical conditions causing insomnia are heartburn, hyperthyroid, asthma and allergies.
Technology includes light and signal emitting cell phones, tablets, laptops etc. Overexposure to these things has serious effects upon the body, causing a number of diseases, unrest, anxiety and sleepless nights.
While suffering from insomnia, never rush for medicines prescribed by the doctors, as these tend to intensify your sleeping troubles. If earlier you were having trouble sleeping, then now it would become impossible to sleep without taking these medicines.
So it’s better to take precautions and avoid using such things that hinder your sleep. Try these natural remedies which are sure to give you relief and do not have any side effects.
Home remedies for Insomnia are:
1. Lavender
Lavender oil is known to relax the mind and enhances sleep-inducing hormone in the body. It is a great stress buster, soothing the body and helping it attend the state of infinite peace.
- Apply lavender oil to your head gently and massage for few minutes applying light pressure with the fingertips.
2. Meditation
Most of the times, stress and anxiety doesn’t allow the person a good night’s sleep and creates a condition of insomnia. So to manage stress, practice yoga and meditation. These are the best stress busters and send calming signals to your brain. Yoga relieves the tired body after full day’s work and meditation calms down the stressed brain nerves.
- Practice yoga for 15-20 minutes daily before sleeping. Empty your mind of every thought of the outer world and all the tensions. Just concentrate on one focal point with a numb mind free of any random thoughts.
3. Sleep-inducing environment
For insomniac people, in order to get a few hours of sleep, they need to try all that they can. And among them, the calm and soothing sleeping environment is very important. Sleeping itself is a quiet, relaxing and calming activity so it requires the same peaceful surroundings for its fulfillment.
- Close all the sources of light that can interrupt your sleep.
- Keep away or shut down all the light emitting digital devices like phone, laptop, camera or anything else. Also, the signal networks of these devices are bad for the overall health.
4. Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a very good remedy for many diseases. Putting pressure on certain body points stimulates the cells to open up, which have contracted due to stress. Research has shown that person suffering from insomnia when adopt acupuncture, gets to fall asleep faster, gets sound sleep without any disturbances and stress.
5 before the bed snacks to help you sleep better:
These foods are rich in amino acid named tryptophan which increases the amount of serotine and melatonin in the brain. These hormones are the natural sedatives that lull the brain to sleep.
1. Warm milk
Warm milk contains tryptophan that makes sleep-inducing hormone serotonin in the brain. Now, some carbohydrates are also required to make the tryptophan enter the brain easily.
- Take a glass of warm milk with a cookie (carbohydrate).
- Or else, take a spoon full of honey with warm milk.
2. Cherries
Cherries naturally contain a small amount of serotonin and thus is very useful to those suffering from insomnia. Apart from that, it contains many vitamins and minerals, that help maintain the overall health. Grapes also very efficiently serve the same purpose.
- Drink a glass of cherry juice half an hour before going to bed.
- Or else, just munch on the raw fresh cherries at least an hour before going to bed.
3. Banana
Banana contains magnesium and potassium. It also contains tryptophan to induce calming and peaceful sensations to the brain. Also, it is a great muscle relaxant that helps de-stress the whole body and let you have good night sleep.
- Eat one banana an hour before lying down.
4. Almonds
Almonds are a great food for those suffering from insomnia. It contains magnesium that calms down the brain. Also, tryptophan is present that produces melatonin and serotonin in the brain and help you fall asleep.
- Eat 4-5 almonds 1 hour before sleeping. These are high in fat and calories so don’t eat them in excess.
5. Peanuts
Peanuts contain niacin which increases calming and sedative hormone, serotonin, in the brain and let you sleep.
- Eat 5-6 peanuts as a nighttime bites. Eat in moderation as they are also rich in fats and high in calories.
Dont’s:
- Avoid caffeinated beverages before going to bed.
- Avoid alcohol and smoking at the sleeping time, as they stimulate the central nervous system.
- Avoid overuse of medicines for any disease.
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