We are our own worst enemies. We don’t tend to look after ourselves properly and yet we expect our bodies to perform. Most of us pay our houses or cars greater attention. As we get old our lifestyle and choices start to impact even more on our sleep. Let's look at the whys and then a possible easy solution.
The usual suspects in no particular order are:
Drinking alcohol. Helps us go to sleep faster but depletes crucial nutrients and interferes with sleep architecture denying us deep sleep. Because we don’t get deep sleep our heart does not rest and recover. Elevated heart rate and lower heart rate variability is demonstrated in nearly all cases.
Smoking. Nicotine from vapes, cigarettes or patches stimulates the nervous system and delays sleep onset. Toxins add load to an already hard-working liver which then has to work harder to utilise, process and clear from the body hormones including estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and melatonin.
Being overweight. Increased weight impacts blood sugar glucose, increased inflammatory markers, liver load (again) and the ability for your diaphragm to rise and fall, leading to snoring and or sleep apnoea. This is a vicious loop which can lead to diabetes and heart disease.
Over-eating rich food too late at night. The feelings of being uncomfortable and/or acid reflux disturbing our sleep all night are most definitely felt in the morning when we awake unrested, sluggish and bloated.
Not exercising enough. To achieve good sleep we need to build up our sleepiness during the day. This is mainly due to build-up of adenosine, which gets greater throughout the day. We do need to be tired. Exercise also keeps things moving smoothly and helps clear hormones through our bowels.
Stress. This mighty problem maker increases our cortisol, the hormone that wakes us up in the morning in response to daylight. It can also increase due to mental and emotional stress, tax our adrenal glands which may be overproducing adrenalin, and decrease our immune system. If we produce cortisol at night time it will spike and interfere with melatonin causing us to wake bolt upright and be wide awake when we should be sleeping.
How many of these are you experiencing?
A robust strategy includes making lifestyle changes now, especially before winter comes, as we are significantly more likely to get sick if we are not sleeping well due to any or all of the above.
Lifestyle can also be supported by the expert-formulated Healthy Sleep capsules from SleepDrops. A superior multi-cofactor nutritional and extract supplement which pulls 12 different levers supporting our body's ability to achieve full quality sleep, complete sleep architecture, clear hormones, phase two liver detoxification (alcohol and hangover), mediate cortisol, top up natural sources of melatonin, immune response and generally wake refreshed and ready to go for the day.
A scientific approach to supplement development is crucial to delivering outcomes for our customers. At SleepDrops we don’t just aim for mediocrity; we aim to impress. Here’s some more understanding of recommended daily intakes such as vitamin C 50mg to avoid scurvy versus therapeutic levels, which can optimise your wellbeing.
Ingredient: Amount in Healthy Sleep per dose / Recommended Daily Intake, Australia & NZ governments / Documented therapeutic dosages (practitioner level)
Vitamin C: 2,000mg; 45mg for adult females, 45mg for adult males; 4-6,000mg daily
Magnesium: 400mg equiv. elemental magnesium; 310-320mg for adult females, 400mg for adult males; 400-2,500mg daily
Tart Cherry: 4.5g equiv. to fresh fruit; Not specified; Research supports the dosage
Zinc: 10.8mg; 6.5mg for adult females, 12mg for adult males; 10-50mg daily
Vitamin B6: 30mg; 1.1-1.5mg for adult females, 1.1-1.7mg for adult males; 25-1,200mg
Vitamin B5: 54mg; 4-5mg for adult females, 6mg for adult males; 45-1,200mg daily
The professional team at SleepDrops are here to offer you reliable advice, solutions and expert sleep support supplements to help you get the best sleep possible. Life or your choices may be getting in the way but we don’t judge, we are here to help. Please reach out to support@sleepdrops.co.nz
Kirsten Taylor
Naturopathic Sleep Specialist, Managing Director, Founder
SleepDrops® International Ltd
09 418 0479
support@sleepdrops.co.nz
www.sleepdrops.co.nz
