Lobelia, Passionflower, Lady's Slipper, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Kava Kava, Skullcap, Chamomile, and Valerian are herbs reported to have a calming, relaxing effect on the body, and have been used for centuries to treat insomnia, mild anxiety, and restlessness. You can usually find these herbs at any good local herb store. Look for them in teabags or extracts to make a warm infusion to drink an hour before bedtime or as needed for relaxing. They can also be purchased in capsules. Lobelia is the most powerful herbal relaxant in the herbal kingdom.

Certain foods can hinder sleep, while other foods and supplements can help induce sleep. Research shows there is even more reason to get eight hours of sleep. It can actually help you lose weight, providing you also drink at least eight glasses of pure water each day.

Research indicates that people who are sleep deprived have lower levels of the appetite regulating hormone, Leptin. Lower levels of Leptin makes people hungrier, eat more, and be at a risk to gain weight. Gaining weight puts people at a risk for diabetes.

If you use lemon in your tea, eat the slice of lemon after your meal, as this is reported to help burn calories.

FOODS TO AVOID FOR SLEEPING:

Eliminate all caffeinated food or beverages, eight hours before bedtime. Caffeine is a mild stimulant that increases the activity of the central nervous system. Caffeine's stimulant effect peaks in about one hour and then declines as the liver breaks it down. If you're an occasional coffee drinker, you'll tend to be more sensitive to its stimulant effects. If you go to bed by 10:00 p.m., you'll have to stop your caffeine intake by 2:00 p.m. to avoid insomnia. Science has now proven that the hormornal system repairs itself during the hours of 11pm through 1 am every night. When you don't get those important hours of sleep, it can cause dark-under-the-eyes-circles and other problems. If you go to bed at 10 pm every night, you should be sound asleep by 11 pm. Caffeine is found in chocolate, coffee, tea, and soft drinks, so you need to be wary of all of them if you suffer from insomnia.

Beware of some energy drinks, which incorporate herbal caffeine including Guarana Seeds, Kola Nuts, Ma Huang, Brigham Young Tea, and Yerba Mate leaves. All those herbs contain caffeine.

Caffeine amounts in popular foods and beverages:

Brewed Coffee - 8 oz. = approx. 100 to 150 mg.

Brewed Decaf Coffee - 8 oz. = less than 5 mg.

Espresso - 1 oz. = 40 mg.

Brewed Tea, black and green - 8 oz. = approx. 50 mg.

Red Bull Energy Drink - 8.5 oz. = 80 mg.

Soft Drinks, diet and regular - 8 oz. = 25 to 45 mg.

Chocolate = 1.7 oz. bar = 12 to 20 mg. for popular brands

Caffeine amounts in over-the-counter medications:

Vivarin = 200 mg.

No Doz = 100 mg.

Excedrin = 65 mg.

Excedrin Migraine Extra Strength Caplets = 400 mg.

Look on the label of the bottle to see if your over-the-counter meds contain caffeine.

Eliminate all liquids two hours before going to bed. It takes about ninety minutes for the body to process liquids. If the need to urinate wakes you up during the night, stop drinking any fluids at least an hour and a half before going to bed. This is a common problem.

Eat no heavy meals containing more than 600 calories less than three hours before bedtime.

Meals loaded with calories and fat speed up active digestion and can often leave you feeling uncomfortably full, miserable, and bloated. They can also cause heartburn, acid reflux, or aggravate a hiatal hernia.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP:

Drink 1 cup warmed whole milk with 2 aspirins dissolved before you swallow them, an hour before going to bed. This is recommended by a doctor who says you will sleep as well as if you had taken a sleeping pill but without the morning-after effects drugs can cause.

Take one over-the-counter diphenhydramine tiny pink/white capsule an hour before going to bed.

Don't watch stimulating television shows or movies. This includes anything that can traumatize your system. Use your bed for sleep or something relaxing.

If you read a book, or play video games before bed, you should know that anything stimulating or exciting to the nervous system can cause unrestful sleep or insomnia.

Listen to a sleep audio or play relaxing music at bedtime. Use an automatic repeating machine if you want it to play more than once. To further enhance it, you can use headphones.

If you feel you must have a bedtime snack, try a light snack of 200 calories or less, that is mainly carbohydrates with a touch of protein.

Many scientists claim that by combining an ample dose of carbohydrates together with a small amount of protein that contains the amino acid tryptophan, your brain produces serotonin, which is known as the calming hormone. When we are calm, we are more apt to fall asleep.

Regular exercise can increase your odds of getting a good night's sleep. Avoid exercise within three hours of going to bed, as this will boost alertness and have a negative effect on sleep. Studies have shown that exercising more than six hours before going to bed has the most positive effect on falling asleep and staying asleep.

SUGGESTED BEFORE BEDTIME SNACKS FOR INSOMNIA RELIEF:

2 slices cooked turkey breast on 2 slices whole wheat bread with lettuce and 1 glass warmed milk with 1 tsp. honey

1 slice of whole wheat toast topped with 1 slice of cheese

1 handful dried cherries

1 cup Total cereal with 1/2 cup milk

1 banana with 1 teaspoon peanut butter

1 apple with 1 teaspoon peanut butter

4 oz. vanilla pudding

1 scoop vanilla or strawberry ice cream

1 granola bar

1 cup milk with 1 bunch seedless grapes

1 rice cake topped with 1 tomato slice

6 oz. nonfat yogurt topped with 2 Tablespoons granola

3 cups popcorn

1 mugful of warm Sleepytime tea sweetened with 1 teaspoon of honey

1 baked potato with butter

a handful of walnuts or cashews

a mugful of warmed chicken broth mixed with cooked brown rice, garlic powder, and onion powder to suit your taste

1 Tbsp. of flaxseed oil

1 bowl of cooked oatmeal

SLEEP SUPPLEMENTS:

Melatonin has gotten a great deal of attention in the past few years because this hormone controls the body's circadian rhythm, our internal 24-hour clock that tells us when to sleep and when to wake up. As we get older, we produce less melatonin, which may account in part for insomnia in older adults. I would not recommend supplemental doses without speaking with your physician first. Studies have not been conclusive in regard to its effectiveness, and these supplements may interact with other medications prescribed by your physician.

By taking a calcium and magnesium supplement, you should be able to sleep better. For those who cannot take two aspirin and drink a glass of whole milk an hour before bedtime, this would work about the same. One doctor said if more people would reach for two calcium and magnesium supplements daily, instead of taking pain pills, they would be so much better off in the long run.

Take a good sublingual B-Complex Vitamin daily, as it helps relax the nerves. It should contain approximately 100 mg. of each of the major B Vitamins. Look for Sublingual B-Complex 100 or something similar. Walmart sells a good liquid Sublingual B-Complex for around six dollars a bottle. Anything sublingual means that it is to be placed underneath the tongue.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS TO HELP YOU SLEEP BETTER:

Do you realize that 70% of your body heat is lost through the top of your head? If the head of your bed is up next to an outside wall, you could be getting that cold wind penetrating through your walls in the winter time, especially if that wall is on the north side. You might consider wearing a flannel or wool boggen or warm cap on your head at night to keep your head warmer. The older a person gets, the colder they tend to be, even in the summer months, especially if they are sick. I am now able to understand why my elderly Mother wanted to wear fleece pajamas and warm socks in the summer months without them being too warm for her. Whereas younger people could not tolerate wearing clothes like that, elderly people need them to keep their body warmer.

I keep my home thermostat set at 70 degrees year round, as it is the ideal temperature for me. You can sleep better when your body is comfortable. Make a note to yourself what that temperature is for yourself or your family, so you can adjust your thermostat accordingly all year round to be the most comfortable.

Purchase a 4-inch-thick four or five-pound-density Memory Foam Mattress Topper so your body is most comfortable when sleeping. They are so comfortable to sleep on, that you might not want to get out of bed. You don't need to spend a fortune on expensive mattress sets. Just buy a Memory Foam Mattress Topper for your bed. In the colder months, use flannel sheetsets on your bed. If you shop carefully, you can buy high quality bed linens that your body will enjoy so much sleeping on year round. In the warmer months you need to sleep on percale sheetsets to keep your body cooler. You can find all these things by doing searches online and choosing the products you feel you can enjoy most. Only you know what you would like. What works for one, might not work for another. When you find things that work for you, make a written note of them, and create your own free webpages on Angelfire.com to freely help others from your own research online.

When you do your laundry, add Downy Lavender Liquid Fabric Softener to your final rinse cycle. Then add Downy Lavender Dryer Sheets to your dryer when drying laundry. The scent of genuine lavender will help you stay relaxed so you can sleep better. I add extra when I launder my bed linens so the scent of lavender stays on my sheetsets all the time. How much extra you add is up to your own preferences. I add up to four capfuls of liquid lavender fabric softener per load of laundry, and three or four dryer sheets to my dryer when I am laundering bed linens.

Wear warm pajamas and socks when it is cold outside so your body temperature stays comfortable when you are trying to get some sleep. I also wear matching houseshoes inside my home. It is nice to use an electric blanket on your bed to preheat your sheets. A twin-sized electric blanket costs less, and works fine for a single person. If your home is cold in the winter months, think about investing in some small electric fireplace heater that Walmart sells to help supplement your heating. When I bought three of them, my home power bill actually went down during the colder months, and I stayed warmer than I had ever been, even living on the north side that gets all that cold wind every winter. Always note what the temperature will drop to so you can prepare accordingly for it. You also need to be careful that your home can handle extra heaters. You don't want to overload your electrical outlets. Watch them carefully when using them, and keep check on the electrical cords to make sure they are not overheating. NEVER leave any kind of space heater unattended for any time period using it. I never have to run my small electric fireplace heaters for very long at a time until they have warmed up the area again nicely.

If you live in an apartment with other tenants living above or below your apartment, be kind to your neighbors and wear memory foam insole slippers. Not only will your feet thank you, but your neighbors won't have to tolerate your loud walking noises. Remember that when you turn on your television, radio, or listen to music in an apartment. Your neighbors might not like the loudness of your television or music. Don't let your kids bounce balls on the floors or lift weights or fight, as the sounds are multiplied to the people below you whenever you make any kind of racket. Your neighbors in an apartment CAN hear all the noises you make. A good neighbor always respects the rights of others. Dearfoam, Isotoner, and Skecher are brands that make Memory Foam Insole Slippers and Shoes.

You can spray your bedlinens and bedroom with lavender spray to induce relaxation. The Healing Garden makes a wonderful Lavender Spray, which Walmart and Kmart sells. Healing Garden also makes a good sleep spray called ZZZZZZ. It can be sprayed on your bed linens and in the room where you sleep to relax you. You can make your own Lavender Spray by using one capful of pure lavender essential oil mixed into an 8 oz. spray bottle of pure water that can be sprayed onto your bed linens and in your bedroom to help you sleep better. Pests do not like lavender scent.

Take a warm relaxing bubble bath before going to bed to help your body relax, so you can sleep better. If you are allergic to bubble bath, try using 1 cup baking soda added to your warm bath water, and soak in it for 20 minutes. It will make your body feel smooth and relaxed. If it makes your skin itch, you need to shower to rinse it off after your bath. You can also add 1 cup dissolved Ancient Mineral Flakes (Magnesium Chloride) to a bath for helping to detoxify your body. Soak in a bathtub for 20 minutes, then rinse it off your body with a shower, or else it can cause your body to itch. If you want to learn more about these two products, go to Amazon.com and search for books by Dr. Mark Sircus on Baking Soda and Magnesium Chloride to learn of their many healthy benefits. Dr. Sircus has done a lot of research on those two products as well as many others.

DEPRESSION SMOOTHIE
1 cup apple juice
1 tsp. rhodiola rosea extract
1/2 cup shelled hemp seeds
1/4 cup blueberries
1 banana
Blend everything in your blender on high, and enjoy the drink to lift your depressed mood.

SLEEP SMOOTHIE
1 cup almond milk
1 banana
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 Tbsp. Flaxseed Oil
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
Blend everything in your blender on high to help you sleep better.