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HAVING A HARD TIME GOING TO SLEEP?

By Dr. Jerry Lee Hoover N.D. 

                          
                     Harmful effects of not getting enough sleep.     Some people have no problem falling asleep. However, many others have severe difficulty falling and staying asleep through the night.  Your body needs sleep just as it needs water and air to stay healthy.  Lack of sleep can cause diabetes, high blood pressure, a weakened immune system, (which can cause many diseases).  Results published in 2007 showed that adults who slept five hours or less  a night doubled their risk of death from all causes.


                            How much sleep does one need?     The amount of sleep varies from person to person, but The National Sleep Foundation says adults should get between 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night.  Babies under one year old need 16 hours of sleep, 4 years old 11-12 hours, 8 years old 10-11 hours, teenagers 9-10 hours, adults 7-9 hours.


                       Medications to help one sleep           About 9 million U.S. adults use prescription medications to go to sleep  according to a recent CDC study, over the counter medications are used mostly by those who are older, female, white and better educated.  Approximately 70 million Americans have problems going to sleep.  The side effects of these medications are numerous, here is a partial list, addiction, memory problems, burning or tinging in the extremities, headache, changes in appetite, heart burn, constipation, dry mouth, dizziness, daytime drowsiness, weakness, etc.  There are many natural ways to fall asleep that do not have these side effects listed below.


       Simple Ways To Improve Ones Sleeping Problems
         Your sleeping room should be as dark as possible.  At night, darkness promotes feelings of sleepiness. In fact, research shows that darkness boosts the production of melatonin an essential hormone for sleep. Our body temperature changes as you fall asleep, it cools down when you lie down. If your room is too warm, you might have a hard time falling asleep. Setting your thermostat to a cool temperature between 60–67°F (15.6–19.4°C) will help you to fall asleep.  The quieter the environment the easier it is to fall asleep.  If there is a lot of outside noise the next best thing to do is put on a fan, the consistent hum of a fan can help block out distracting noises without being distracting itself.  Having a window partially open allowing a higher concentration of oxygen in the room also helps one to sleep better. Taking a neutral bath or shower, not too hot or cold, before going to sleep. 

A comfortable mattress and bedding, (preferably made of cotton), can have a remarkable effect on the quality of your sleep.  A medium firm mattress is best.  Best position for sleeping is on the right side, as the liver the largest organ in the body is on your right side.  Not good to sleep on your stomach because of the stress it puts on your neck.  Sleeping on your back can lead to blocked airways and snoring.  Eating just before bed interrupts your sleeping cycle, best to eat a few hours before going to sleep and drinking coffee before bed will only keep you awake longer.  Do no heavy exercising before bed as it increases the adrenalin in the body , a short walk though is fine.  Best to turn off the TV, video games  and cell phone a short while before trying to go to sleep as these electronic devices emit blue light which suppress melatonin which is an essential hormone for sleep. 

If you have WiFi in your home please turn it off before bed, that way you are not bombarded 24 hours a day with  electro magnetic radiation which is harmful for your health.  I personal do not use WIFi in my home because of that, my computer is hard wired in. You can find a lot of scientific information on the harmful effects of WiFi on the internet.  Life is quite stressful and stress is a big factor in not being able to sleep, so here are some herbs that can help with the problems of stress. 

Three herbs that you can make into a tea form, they are valerian, chamomile and catnip.  Take them a half hour before going to bed.  There is one more that is much stronger than  the three listed above and it is the leaves of the orange tree.  Boil the fresh leaves for 5 minutes, they are bitter, but have strong sedative properties and are perfect for falling asleep and also for calming ones nerves during the day, take this also a half hour before going to bed.  There are two minerals that help one to fall asleep easily, they are calcium and magnesium and I do not recommend them in supplement form I recommend them in a food source such as black strap molasses, one tablespoon has over 40 mg of these two minerals.  Add one tablespoon to a cup of hot water stir and drink two hours before bedtime.


     Next time you cannot go to sleep, try this, they say it works 99% of the time.  Drink a glass of water then put a few grains of salt on your tongue and let it stay there, you will fall into a natural deep sleep within minutes.

CONCLUSION

        A healthy person cannot stay healthy if they are not getting their proper amount of sleep.  Babies and young children need extra sleep as their body’s are still growing, but Adults need less as they are already fully grown.  But during the sleep cycle is when the body is repairing itself.  When we continue to cut short our needed sleep the body cannot function in its normal capacity, we have less energy, do not think as clearly, become sick more often because our immune system has been weakened due to lack of sleep.  Sleep is one of natures way of keeping us in great shape.  I have never had a problem sleeping, as soon as I hit the bed in a very short time I am fast asleep.  A good nights sleep makes you feel great in the morning, this is what I wish for all my readers!

About the Author      Dr.  Jerry Lee Hoover N.D. is retired and lives in Granada Nicaragua.  Is the author of three books, NATURAL MEDICINE which has been translated into 6 different languages and has 47 chapters on just about every topic, high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, etc. This free book in English and Spanish can be down loaded from his website.   www.cancernaturalcure.com


His second book Natural Ways To Prevent Cancer was published 3 years ago and can be purchased through Amazon Kindle. His latest book Radiation From Cell Phones, WiFi,  can also be purchased through Amazon Kindle.