Natural Sleep Remedies 10 Natural Ways to Sleep Better

Knowing which natural sleep remedies work can make the difference in a quality of life for some folks. Why do we need sleep? A lack of sleep can encourage serious illness and cause premature aging. Experts recommend at least eight hours of sleep per night, for your best sleep aid.

Women’s Health Advisor reports that an estimated 10 percent of all Americans suffer from restless leg syndrome (RLS), a disorder marked by uncomfortable urges to move the legs, especially just before falling asleep.

Regardless of how many hours of sleep you get each night, if you wake up easily in the morning, and especially if you rarely (or ever) need the services of your alarm clock, and if you can make it through the entire day without seeming to run out of steam or feeling drowsy, you are probably getting enough sleep.

Try any of the following natural sleep remedies to help you get a better night sleep and put you in good shape for the following day.

1. In the evening, eat bananas, dates, figs, milk, nut butter, tuna, turkey, and whole grain crackers, or yogurt. These foods are high in tryptophan, which promotes sleep. Eating a grapefruit half at bedtime also helps.
2. Avoid heavy meals three hours before bedtime.
3. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine in the four to six hours before bedtime. A small amount can help induce sleep initially, but it invariably disrupts deeper sleep cycles later. While smoking may seem to have a calming effect, nicotine is actually a neuro stimulant and can cause sleep problems.
4. Experts now agree you should not stay in bed if you are not sleepy. Get up and move to another room and read or do something quietly until you are really sleepy.
5. Avoid bacon, cheese, chocolate, eggplant, ham, potatoes, sauerkraut, sugar, sausage, spinach, tomatoes, and wine close to bedtime. These foods contain tyramine, which increases the release of norepinephrine, a brain stimulant.
6. Establish a set of habits and follow them consistently to establish a healthy sleep cycle, for example, go to bed only when you are sleepy and use the bedroom only for sleep and sex – not for reading, working, eating, or watching television.
7. Exercise regularly in the late afternoon or early evening, but not within two hours of bedtime. Physical exertion is an excellent way to make your body tired so that sleep comes more easily. Exercising five or six hours before bedtime may help you sleep more soundly.
8. Do not nap during the day if this isn’t a normal thing for you to do. Especially avoid napping later than 3:00 p.m.
9. For occasional sleeplessness, try using NightCalm with 5HTP, or SerenitePlus which contains other herbs such as Scullcap and Passionflower, which are recommended for herbal sleeping aids. These are effective and safe sleep promoters.
10. One of the best natural sleep remedies is learning to put worries out of your mind. If you have occasional trouble getting to sleep, concentrate on pleasant memories and thoughts.Recreate a pleasurable time or event in your life and relive it in your mind. Learning a relaxation technique such as meditation or the use of progressive muscle relaxation is extremely helpful in getting sleep patterns back to normal for many people.

Many people who suffer from sleeping problems or insomnia resort to taking prescription sleeping medication. Sleeping pills can interfere with REM sleep. The continued use of pharmacological sleeping aids can eventually lead to disruption of all the deeper stages of sleep.

Researchers have found that up to 50 percent of people who take sleeping pills on a regular basis actually find that their insomnia becomes worse.

The next time you have difficulty sleeping try any of the suggestions above for natural sleep remedies. If you pick even a couple and stick to them, you’ll soon find a difference in better sleep!