Not so long ago I was feeling very tired, a spate of our two year sleeping cross ways in bed being the problem! On one particular night I decided to have a very early night to catch up and went tombed before 9. I slept through and woke at 6 amazingly refreshed, wide awake and ready for the day. It was then that I realised how powerful and rejuvenating sleep would be to my patients whose health is under par. Imagine having a week of going to bed at 9pm, and implementing all the other advice too, the improvements would be fantastic.
If you are a regular reader of this column you will know that I always look at each patient as an individual and again insomnia is no different. What works for one may not work for another and may even make them worse. In particular, when individualising a treatment plan it is foods and vitamins and minerals that differ in how they help. For example, some people may be aided by carbohydrates before bed, others protein. On the minerals side calcium, magnesium or potassium can help, but it will also vary person to person.
However, there are enough basic tips that everyone can try that can achieve good results. Firstly avoid all caffeine products, the main culprits being coffee, tea, colas and chocolate. Also tobacco, alcohol and sugar can be nervous system stimulants so avoid these too close to bed time. Reserve the bedroom primarily for sleep, so no watching tv, playing video games, working on a laptop, doing paperwork or even exercising which will be priming the mind for activity not rest.
Regular exercise during the day however has been researched to improve sleep patterns. It has to be regular though, not the occasional piece here and there. Another useful tip is to not spend too long trying to get to sleep. Spend no longer than 30 minutes trying and then get up and leave the bedroom if you haven't successfully fallen asleep. Do something productive for a while and then return to bed to try and sleep again. This helps habituated the mind to sleeping in the bedroom only. Sleep tight.
Author : Christian Bates is an osteopath & naturopath how consults from The Perrymount Clinic in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England http://www.theperrymount.com/ He has a unique approach to health, incorporating osteopathy, electro dermal screening, body biotyping and Metabolic Typing to help his patients in a functional, holistic way. To find out more about your individual needs for foods and nutrients fill out the Metabolic Typing questionnaire here http://www.theperrymount.com/shop/shop.html
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