5 Foods that help you Sleep

Article on Yahoo Health posted by
 Leah Zerbe

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Sleep restores us. And not getting enough of it can put us at greater risk of heart disease and cancer. Sleep even makes us smarter. Yet researchers are finding that more than 10 percent of the population is chronically sleep deprived. If you're having trouble slipping into -- and remaining in -- Dreamland, don't dart straight to prescription sleep drugs, which can be habit-forming, harmful if you live with certain conditions, and even downright bizarre! (Some people develop sleep-eating and sleep-driving habits when using prescription sleeping pills.) The good news is, science has found that many foods, drinks, herbs, and other natural sleep aids can help put you to sleep...naturally. In fact, just this summer, researchers made the connection between tart cherry juice and getting adequate shut-eye. Here are some natural food- and drink-based sleep aids.

Fish
Certain fish and sea creatures contain sleep-inducing tryptophan, including shrimp, cod, tuna, and halibut. But since not all seafood choices are healthy for us (some are high in contaminants) or for the planet (many are overfished, or methods for catching them kill other species), stick to catches like Pacific cod from Alaska or pole-caught Albacore tuna from the U.S. or British Columbia.

Carb/Protein Combo
If keeping track of the latest safe seafood guidelines is too complicated, you can get your tryptophan fix from other things. You've probably heard that warm milk can help you sleep, since milk contains tryptophan. But the key is to combine carbs with a protein containing tryptophan to help your body better utilize the sleep inducer. Try pairing a cup of whole grain cereal with organic milk before bedtime.

Lemon Balm
This lemon-scented member of the mint family has been a sleep-inducing superstar for ages. Other benefits include better digestion and decreased agitation. Try making lemon balm tea by steeping 1 to 2 teaspoons of the dried herb in 1 cup of hot water for 5 to 10 minutes. (If you take thyroid meds, talk to you doctor...drinking the tea could mean you'll have to adjust your dosage.)

Other Herbs
If lemon balm's not your thing, another herb, sage, also works as a natural sleep aid. Just steep 4 tablespoons in a cup of hot water, steep for four hours, strain, and reheat to drink. Chamomile tea and valerian teas, other sleep inducers, are also more widely available pre-bagged in natural food stores, if you don't want to fuss with the aforementioned straining herbs. For even more ways to naturally find your way to better sleeping patterns, check out Prevention magazine's 100 Ways to Sleep Better.

 Cherries
 In the small study, participants drank eight ounces of the tart cherry (also known as sour cherry) juice in the morning, and another eight ounces in the evening, for two weeks and reported better sleeping habits. Since all cherries are naturally high in melatonin, a compound that makes us sleepy, you can try eating a cup as a snack before it's time for shut-eye if you'd rather not drink the juice.

The Silent Treatment

I seriously have to laugh. My husband and I were just discussing why I turned off the T.V. set. I said that I like the quiet. Then, I started to flip through the Prevention Magazine to see if there was any other articles I could share with you. While I was still "discussing" this with him, I turn a few pages and come upon this article. This is why I had to laugh. And yes, I did read it to him......

Article by: SE
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Turning down the volume could save your life. Every day noises - ringing cell phones, growling trucks on your commute - may up your heart attack risk, suggests a new study. Greater noise exposure was linked to increased heart rate and decreased heart rate variability, tow risk factors for cardiac problems. "Any noise that causes stress leads to a surge in sympathetic nervous systam activity," says Seth Goldbarg, MD, an electrophysiologist at New York Hospital. "This spikes heart rate and constricts blood vessels." Protect yourself: 

Tune it out: White noise can reduce your sympathetic nervous system's response to minor but disruptive noises. Try the free White Noise Lite app for Android & iphone

Get Geared up: For louder noise, invest in sound-blocking gear, such as Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Hoise Cancelling Headphones ($300;bose.com), which "cancel" noise by producing a counteracting sound wave.

Take Deep Breaths: Dial down your body's response to racket by taking slow, deep breaths - each lasting 10 seconds- for 10 minutes at work or during a noisy commute.

Forest Medicine ~ Inhale the cancer fighting power of the woods

Another article from Prevention Magazine.
I'm finding that this magazine has some valuable info for people and their health. Especially women..
Article by: Stephanie Eckelkamp

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This time of year, Japan's Akasawa Natural Recreation Forest is a hot spot for people to experience Shinrin-yoku or "forest bathing." This practice, which involves walking through a forest and breathing in its moist earthy air, has been touted as effective preventive medicine in Japan since 1982 and new research suggests why:

Forest bathing, not only reduces stress and blood pressure but also increases the activity of the immune system's powerful cancer-fighting natural killer (NK) cells. Researchers attribute many of the benefits to woodland aromatherapy- that is, breathing in phytoncides (essential oils) produced by plants and trees to fight off insects and rot. Trees release healing essential oils, so go take a woodland hike!