Secrets to a Great Night’s Sleep
Secrets to a Great Night’s Sleep Many, many people can’t sleep through the night. Some people wake up at 3am and can’t fall back to sleep for hours, some people wake up super early like 5am and once they are up, that’s it! Still others need 1-2 hours just to fall asleep initially and some wake up feeling like they haven’t slept at all, even if it’s been 10 hours! Furthermore, so many think waking up for an hour in the middle of the night is normal? Some need the TV on all night other wise they can’t sleep at all. So, what’s got us so twisted up and restless during what should be the easiest and sweetest part of our lives? The rule of thumb from a Chinese medicine point of view is that adults need 8 hours of sleep. Obviously babies and teens need more and most seniors seem to get less, but as an average adult, we need 8 hours. Some people boast that they only need 4 or 5 hours and they feel great, we think it’s possible that they just forgot what ‘great ‘actually feels like. Sleep is a time where our body relaxes, our muscles recover, we heal, we are reborn every single night. For our health, it’s one of the most important things we do! What Are the Benefits of Getting a Good Night’s Sleep? The benefits of a good night sleep are endless, but here’s the top seven! Boosts your immune system Regulates metabolism Balances emotional wellness Decreases inflammation Reduces the risk of disease Memory and learning Increase of collagen for skin moisture and elasticity What Are Some Tips for a Better Sleep? Here’s 6 areas that could need a little tweaking so you can get that good night’s sleep, every night! Stick to the schedule I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but a bedtime routine is essential. Staying with the same bedtime; give or take 30 min, does wonders for your circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm is a pattern throughout the day and night and is measured by cortisol. Cortisol is naturally high in the morning and lowest at night. For people with crazy schedules, like working graveyard one week and then swing the next, then days- and yes, I know people with this schedule! Cortisol is usually all over the place, but luckily most of us have more predictability! With a predictable rhythm and pattern in place, the brain gets the signal and responds by releasing those lovely and very effective hormones to help us drift off easier. Tip: If you are curious what your circadian rhythm looks like, we can assess your cortisol through saliva testing, and out of those results, choose some herbal remedies and supplements that can help support the rise and fall of Cortisol at the desired time. Please note, Western MDs do measure Cortisol as well but with a blood test, unfortunately this does not give us enough info about the rhythm, since saliva testing is done at four intervals throughout the day, it’s the best choice. Not Too Hungry , Not Too Thirsty! We all know we shouldn’t drink too much water before bed since that only leads to getting up in the middle of the night to urinate. But we also don’t want to be too hungry or too full. If we are hungry, the brain has a hard time settling. Too full and the liver works overtime during the night, waking us up. And as for caffeine and alcohol, beware! Caffeine actually sticks around up to 10 hours after you’ve consumed it, so if you are having a 3pm pick-me-up that might be the culprit to keeping you up until 1am. (Read more about the bigger picture on caffeine Here) As for alcohol, the initial effects might make you sleepy, but afterwards many patients report waking up between 1am-3am. Makes total sense to us, that is the block of time when the liver organ is working its hardest processing toxins and the day’s stress (each organ in the body gets its own 2 hour window). In addition, women who are approaching menopause reported that alcohol always made sleep horrible and night sweats outrageous. So, beware! Tip: Eat a spoonful of a nut butter before bed, drink a glass of Natural Calm or eat a little bit of a raw potato! Yes, patients have said all these work, some better than others depending on the person. Go caffeine and alcohol free for a month and see what happens! Your Environment Matters! I think we know all the things; blackout shades, eye mask, ear plugs, a mattress that is less than 10 years old, the perfect pillows dependent on if you are a back or a side sleeper and lastly, turn off those screens! All of those are so true and we think the biggie are those screens, including TVs. Screens are noise, distraction and entertainment and it keeps the eyes full and the mind busy. But the biggest reason, blue light powerfully suppresses melatonin which is necessary for sleep. Here’s a short article from Harvard talking about the Dark Side Of Blue Light. They recommend getting off screens for 2-3 hours before bedtime, but let’s be honest, even I love to scroll through Instagram before bed, so I try to get off about an hour before. As for TV, not only does it emit blue light but if you’ve fallen asleep, chances are there is audio playing for hours and possibly all night. It’s just not conducive to sweet dreams or deep sleep. Tip: Not only turn off those screens an hour before bed, but put your phone on airplane mode as well. Most of us have our phones charging on the night table next to us or in the bed, did you know that your phone looks for a cell phone tower to connect to every 30 minutes? And if you’re on WIFI, the Electromagnetic Rays (EMR) are equivalent to standing
More Recipes for a Dreamy Restful Sleep during Perimenopause and Menopause
More Recipes for a Dreamy Restful Sleep during Menopause Written by Emily Edmonds Loved our last post and looking for more recipes to provide you with restful sleep during the hormone fluctuations of menopause? Read on… Grilled Tofu with Reishi, Shiitake and Wood Ear Mushrooms Firm Tofu – 1 package Wood Ear Mushroom – 16 oz Shiitake Mushrooms – 16 oz Reishi Mushroom Powder – Dried – 1 tsp Porcini Powder – optional – 1/2 tsp Black Sesame Seeds – 1 tbsp Tamari or Soy Sauce – 1 tbsp Sesame Oil – 1 tbsp Ginger – 1” knob – freshly ground 10. Green Onion – 1 fresh – white rings sliced only 11. Miso – 1 tbsp 12.Ume Plum Vinegar – 1 tbsp 13.Maple syrup – 1 tsp Make sauce – peel ginger and zest with a microplane. Combine soy sauce or Tamari, sesame oil, ginger, green onion, miso, maple syrup and Ume plum vinegar into a bowl or blender and mix thoroughly. Slice tofu in 1/2” slices. In a small frying pan, heat sesame oil until hot. Add tofu to frying pan and grill until cooked through. Finish by brushing with sauce. Remove from heat, set aside and brush with sauce. Wash the mushrooms and dry thoroughly. Add more sesame oil to the pan and sauteé mushrooms until cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Add a small amount of soy sauce to season and add some black sesame seeds and finish cooking until liquid is boiled off. Add reishi powder and porcini powder while still warm and stir thoroughly. This makes enough for about 4-5 nights so have one serving and keep the rest in the refrigerator for future use. Serve warm! Sardines with Wild Yams and Pumpkin Seeds Sardines – 1 can – wild caught Eggs – 2 *Wild Yams – 1 large Pumpkin Seeds – 1 tbsp Vinegar – 1/4 cup Celtic Sea Salt – 1 tbsp Dulse – optional Rye bread – optional This is a simple recipe to put together, but it can be an acquired taste for those who do not like fish. But sardines are the richest source of B12, they are also high in omega 3 fatty acids and quality protein. If you can adapt yourself to the taste, the health benefits you will gain will pay off dividends. Fill a pot with water and heat on the stove until boiling. Generously season with salt. Score the potatoes around the middle and make a small cut just through the skin around the entire width of the potato. Boil until fork tender, around 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat with a slotted spoon and allow to cool. Set aside. Keep the water and add the vinegar. Bring water to a boil. Boil eggs in water with the shell on for about 7-10 minutes. Remove from water and allow to cool completely. This is good to make in advance and have in the refrigerator as needed. Remove the peels from the yams and slice into 1/2” circles. Peel the eggs and slice horizontally into small circles. Slice the bread in 1/2” rounds an gently toast. Toast pumpkin seeds gently over low flame. Drain the sardines and allow to dry on paper towels if necessary. Place 1 slice of wild yam, 3-4 small slices of egg, 1-2 sardines on one slice of toast. Top with pumpkin seeds and dulse, if using. Serve warm! *Note – If you have Hashimoto’s Disease or Graves Disease or if you have been diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis – avoid dulse and season with Celtic sea salt. If you have these conditions, eat only the whites of the egg not the yolk (yolk contains a lot of iodine). If you have an allergy to gluten, avoid the rye bread but I don’t recommend eating gluten free bread. If you cannot find wild yams, the white yams are the ones that are closest and will work fine in this recipe but the wild yams are best. Millet with Almond Butter, Figs and Mulberries Millet – 1/2 cup Figs – fresh or dried – 1/4 cup Mulberries – dried – 1/4 cup Almond Butter – 2 tbsp Pea Protein Powder – 2 scoops Date syrup – 1 tbsp Lavender Flowers – 1/2 tsp – optional Boil 1 cup of water and add millet. Add figs, mulberries and lavender flowers if using. Stir frequently over low heat until cooked. Sift or sieve in pea protein powder and stir vigorously to combine. Add almond flour and stir until dissolved. Add date syrup to taste. Serve while warm. Split Pea Soup Leek – 1 – rinsed and cut into quarters Celery – 3 stalks – cut into small pieces Carrots – 2 – peeled and cut into small pieces Dried Split Peas – 1 cup Bone Broth – 2 cups Water – 2 cups Olive Oil – 1 tbsp Bay Leaf – 1 Thyme – fresh – 5 sprigs 10.Celtic Sea Salt Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Sauteé leeks and celery for 3 minutes. Add bone broth, water and split peas and season with salt. Make a bundle of bay leaf and thyme and tie with a string or cheesecloth, then submerge into the liquid. Cover and simmer for 60-80 minutes, or use in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes. Add carrots to soup. Cover and continue to simmer for about 20 minutes, or until peas have broken down (if using a pressure cooker – 10 minutes is all that is needed). Season with some more salt if necessary. Adzuki Bean Stew Ginger – 1” knob – peeled and finely grated on a microplane zester Leeks – cut and rinsed, minced into small pieces Celery – 3 stalks Soy Sauce or Tamari – 1 tbsp Ume Plum Vinegar – 2 tbsp, divided Sesame Oil – 2 tbsp Date Syrup – 1/2 tsp Adzuki Beans – 1 cup Water – 4 cups, divided Reishi powder – optional Kombu – 1 small piece
Golden Slumbers Healing Milk
Golden Slumbers Healing Milk Golden Slumbers fill your eyes Smiles await you when you rise Sleep pretty darling Do not cry And I will sing a lullaby. The Beatles Here’s my lullaby to you… I’ve seen this recipe in a few places just this past week. Not only does it promise a Golden Slumber, but with the turmeric; less inflammation and better repair of muscles and joints while you sleep. The coconut oil and milk adds a nourishing component and also is great for your thyroid and detoxification of the blood. Start with making the paste… 1/2 cup of water 1/4 cup of turmeric Heat for 7-10 minutes and put paste in a jar to store in the refrigerator. Then– drum roll please… 1 tsp of the turmeric paste 1/2 teasp cinnamon 2 cups of coconut milk 1 tsp of coconut oil 1 teasp of chopped ginger or powder (whatever you have, make it easy!) 1 teasp or less of honey or any other sweetener like maple syrup, stevia, agave 4-6 peppercorns Simmer for 10-15 minutes, strain with cheesecloth, add a little pinch of cinnamon and night, night! Makes 2 servings. A little more on turmeric; it really is one of the most important herbs available right now. Here’s what Dr. Axe has to say… Health Benefits of Turmeric When examining the research, turmeric benefits go beyond that of these 10 drugs: Anti-inflammatory drugs Anti-depressants (Prozac) Chemotherapy Anti-coagulants (Aspirin) Pain killers Diabetes drugs (Metformin) Arthritis medications Inflammatory bowel disease drugs Cholesterol drugs (Lipitor) Steroids As we grow older our bodies become dry and inflamed. So simply put, Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory, if we can bring the inflammation down in our bodies then we will have more moisture, which creates less dryness, less heat or less aging, less issues. In Health, Christina Martin, L.Ac. Tao to Wellness 809 Hearst Ave Berkeley, CA 94710