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How to Choose the Right Sleep Aids for Your Sleep Problems

Authored by: Martin Johnson, DHM, Owner and Natural Health Consultant

In the 30 years I have spent in the natural healing business, sleep issues are definitely in the top 5 of the most popular health concerns. There are many sleep aids on the market both in health stores and in general commercial retail stores, but a common statement that I hear is “I’ve tried many different products and they haven’t worked.” My comment most often is, “have you tried the right product or combination of products that address the root cause of your sleep issue?”

I have found sleep aids to be more effective when you combine the right products for the specific root cause of the sleep disruption. Below are some sleep aids to consider, based on common sleep issues.

 

Sleep Issue: Can Fall Asleep, but Wake Up at Night, and Can’t Sleep Well After

If a person has sleep issues where they can fall asleep, but in 4 hours or so they wake up and can’t fall back to sleep very sound, they may find taking melatonin has minimal effect, if the root cause is elevated cortisol, which is a hormone released from glands called adrenals. When stress is high day in and day out the adrenal glands have to respond to that stress by producing higher levels of adrenaline and cortisol. Cortisol is helpful in an emergency stress situation, but once that stress passes the cortisol should go back to normal levels. Cortisol should naturally be higher in the morning and lower during the night time. If stress stays high too often, eventually cortisol levels get out of balance and raise during the night. This puts the body in an alarm state, and keeps a person from sleeping well or not at all after a few hours of initial sleep. This situation calls for taking a natural supplement before bed that will lower cortisol, such as Seriphos. However, combining products that address root causes can provide even greater benefits. So in this scenario, combining a medical grade CBD with an amino acid product called l-theanine or Seriphos, can have a powerful effect for improving sleep. Seriphos has been shown to help metabolize excess cortisol out of the body. L-theanine can affect the levels of certain brain chemicals including serotonin and dopamine which influence: mood, sleep, and emotions associated with stress. CBD specifically helps to keep the natural brain chemical GABA elevated, which helps calm the brain and keeps it from racing.

 

Sleep Issue: Brain Racing After a Busy Day

If a person has a hard time falling asleep due to their brain racing after a busy day, the combination of CBD and supplementing with an oral GABA product would be helpful. When taking GABA supplements, I recommend a sublingual lozenge dissolved under the tongue because it gets into the blood stream more efficiently. GABA is destroyed in the gut fairly easily. Adding an herb called passionflower would also be helpful in this situation. Research from 2017, indicated passionflower to significantly increase slow-wave (deep) sleep, reduce rapid eye movement sleep and help with falling asleep more quickly.

 

Sleep Issue: Trouble Sleeping Due to Pain

Lastly, for people who have trouble sleeping due to pain, the combinations I recommend are CBD coupled with turmeric and magnesium. CBD helps the body to increase a substance called anandamide in the bloodstream, which may reduce the amount of pain a person feels. Also, CBD has a limiting effect on over-all inflammation in the brain and nervous system, which may benefit people experiencing pain and insomnia. Turmeric also has anti-inflammatory properties and synergizes very well with the compounds in CBD. Magnesium has a relaxing effect on the muscles, which helps with pain associated with tight muscle, and also creates a relaxing effect for better sleep.

 

Purchasing a Quality CBD Product

When it comes down to purchasing a quality CBD product, it is imperative you do your homework, due to many variations in the quality of CBD products on the market today. For my 7 criteria to ensuring a quality CBD purchase read my blog titled “Why and how CBD oil provides health benefits.” All of our CBD products follow this criteria, so you can purchase CBD from either one of our store locations.

 

We Can Help!

If you struggle with ongoing sleep problems, migraines, poor digestive health, weight loss resistance, allergies, fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, or even an autoimmune disease, I would encourage you to get to the root cause and don’t settle for it being covered up with medication. It can get worse over time.

Give us a call 262-251-2929 to schedule a no-charge 10-minute phone consult with a natural health practitioner, to see how we can help! You can also learn more at one of our Free Seminars!

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