Over 400 million sleeping pills get prescribed every year in the United States alone according to pharmaceutical statistics. The main cause of this is acute onset insomnia. People in our troubled times seem to be increasingly having more difficulty in getting to sleep at night. The reason for this varies from person to person. If you are also a victim of onset insomnia, then here are some key points to understanding the how insomnia affects you and how you can find all natural sleeping aids at your home.
The Cause of Onset Insomnia
People with onset insomnia have been subjected to brain imaging prior to going to bed. This technology non-intrusively scans the brains for active areas similar to how a CAT scan can show the images of human internal organs. The brain imaging revealed that insomnia patients have exhibited activity in the arousal circuits even though they are scheduled to go to sleep. The normal person would normally have little activity going on inside the brain as he or she prepares to go to sleep.
However the explanation for the increased activity can be explained in two ways. The first reason being entirely psychological. The unconscious mind is a difficult thing to control. Anxiety, depression, stress, excitement, and fear or worry can cause onset insomnia. People have often believed they had insomnia and worried about their insomnia not knowing that this was the cause of their insomnia in the first place. The remedy for this is obviously to convince yourself that worrying will not solve the problem, and neither will being excited will make time go faster. This is of course far easier said than done. That is where the natural sleeping aids come in later.
The other cause of onset insomnia is the lack of right chemicals and the introduction of some chemicals into the brain through food and drink. Caffeine, sugar, and nicotine act like the ignition keys to your mind’s engine. Caffeine temporarily blocks the neuro-receptors in your brain that normally absorb the neurotransmitters that help you go to sleep. Nicotine is primarily found in cigarettes and nicotine patches. Truck drivers who drive all night and need to pull-off a 48-hour drive normally use this by smoking some cigarettes to keep themselves up. Simple sugars just temporarily heightens brain activity causing hyperactivity. It gets your body pumping and ready for action. These chemicals can be found in coffee, cigarettes, and sweet white food or candy, respectively. Try to avoid these food 4-5 hours before bedtime to avoid onset insomnia.
The All Natural Sleeping Aids
There are certain types of food you can eat before going to bed that will make you all the more drowsy and prone to dozing off when relaxing. These food are classified into two. The first being food rich in tryptophan, and the other being food that are rich in carbohydrates. Tryptophan is an essential ammino acid that can be found in poultry, milk, nuts, corn, and fat protein-rich food. This chemical helps you get to sleep by being metabolized into serotonin and melatonin. Melatonin is a naturally occuring neurotransmitter hormone secreted by the Pineal gland. It is responsible for the sleep rhythms we have relative to the light and dark cycles of the day. Melatonin is prescribed clinically to cure sleeping disorders such as jet lag and irregular sleep. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter responsible for the feeling of satisfaction and well-being. This can help a bit psychologically to get to sleep faster. Lastly, food rich carbohydrates, such as wheat bread, oats, and cereals, make the metabolism of tryptophan faster by triggering the release of insulin. Insulin not only balances the sugar levels in your bloodstream, it also makes the metabolism of tryptophan faster, making you get drowsy quicker.
Related posts: